inter/docs/index.html

---
layout: default
---
{%

assign release_version = site.data.fontinfo[0].version %}{%

capture download_url
  %}https://github.com/rsms/inter/releases/download/v{{ release_version }}/Inter-{{ release_version }}.zip{%
endcapture %}{%

for file in site.static_files %}{%
  assign _path = file.path | remove_first: "/inter" %}{%
  if _path == "/index.css" %}{%
    assign index_css_v = file.modified_time | date: "%Y%m%d%H%M%S" %}{%
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%}
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css?v={{ index_css_v }}">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index-var.css?v={{ index_var_css_v }}">
<input type="text" id="hidden-text-input">

<div class="row white"><div>
  <!-- <h1>The Inter<br>typeface family</h1> -->
  <grid columns=8>
    <c span=row>
      <h1>The Inter typeface family</h1>
    </c>
    <c span=1-2 span-s=row>
      Inter is a typeface carefully crafted &amp; designed for
      computer screens.
    </c>
    <c span=3.. span-s=row>
      <!-- <p>Inter is a typeface specially designed for computer screens.</p> -->
      <p>
        Inter features a tall x-height to aid in readability of mixed-case and
        lower-case text. Several OpenType features are provided as well,
        like contextual alternates that adjusts punctuation depending on the
        shape of surrounding glyphs, slashed zero for when you need to
        disambiguate "0" from "o", tabular numbers, etc.
      </p>
    </c>

    <c span=3.. span-s=row style="margin:3rem 0 5rem 0">
      <div id="subway-nav">
        <a class="dest dest1" href="#charset">
          <div class="disc">2.5k</div>
          <div class="label">Glyphs</div>
        </a>
        <a class="dest dest2" href="#weights">
          <div class="disc">18</div>
          <div class="label">Styles</div>
        </a>
        <a class="dest dest3" href="#features">
          <div class="disc">33</div>
          <div class="label">Features</div>
        </a>
      </div>
    </c>

    <c span=2 span-s=row class="only-large-screen">
      <h3>Inter Regular<br>Sample</h3>
    </c>
    <c span=3.. span-s=row>
      <a href="samples/" class="plain"><img src="samples/img/a-z-regular.svg" width="100%"></a>
    </c>
    <c class="spacer"></c>
    <c span=2 span-s=row class="only-large-screen">
      <h3>Inter Bold<br>Sample</h3>
    </c>
    <c span=3.. span-s=row>
      <a href="samples/" class="plain"><img src="samples/img/lineup-bold-black.svg" width="100%"></a>
    </c>
    <c class="spacer"></c>
    <c span=3.. span-s=row>
      <a href="samples/" class="plain"><img src="samples/img/regular-text.png" srcset="samples/img/regular-text@2x.png 2x" width="100%"></a>
    </c>

    <c class="spacer"></c>

    <c span=2 span-s=row>
      <h3><a id="usage" href="#usage">Using</a></h3>
    </c>
    <c span=3.. span-s=row>
      <p>
        Using Inter is as easy as
        <a class="download-link" href="{{download_url}}">downloading &amp; installing</a>
        the font files. If you're making a web thing, you can use the following CSS.
        <!-- or get it from <a href="https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Inter">Google Fonts</a>. -->
      </p>
      <pre>@import url('https://rsms.me/inter/inter.css');
html { font-family: 'Inter', sans-serif; }
@supports (font-variation-settings: normal) {
  html { font-family: 'Inter var', sans-serif; }
}</pre>
    </c>

    <c class="spacer"></c>

    <c span=2 span-s=row>
      <h3 id="dynamic-metrics"><a href="dynmetrics/">Dynamic Metrics</a></h3>
    </c>
    <c span=3.. span-s=row>
      <p class="dynmet-calc">
        Size
        <input id="dynmet-font-size" type="number" value="16" min="4" max="99" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false"
        ><span title='Display points — "px" in CSS, "pt" on iOS, "sp" on Android, and "pt" (1/72 of an inch) in print'>dp</span>
        <span class="arrow">=</span>
        <span title='letter-spacing in CSS; also called "tracking" in some software.'>spacing
        <input id="dynmet-tracking" type="number" value="0.008" autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false">
        <span id="dynmet-unit">em</span>
      </p>
      <p>
        There's of course no absolute right or wrong when it comes to expressing yourself with typography, but Inter <em>Dynamic Metrics</em> provides guidelines for good typography. You simply provide the optical font size, and the tracking and leading is calculated for you to produce the best results.
      </p>
      <p>
        <a href="dynmetrics/" class="plain">Explore dynamic metrics &rarr;</a>
      </p>
    </c>

    <c class="spacer"></c>

    <c span=2 span-s=row>
      <h3><a id="free" href="#free">Free &amp; <br class="only-large-screen">Open source</a></h3>
    </c>
    <c span=3.. span-s=row>
      <p>
        Inter is a <a href="https://github.com/rsms/inter">free and open source</a> font family.<br>
        You are free to use this font in almost any way imaginable.<br>
        Refer to the <a href="https://choosealicense.com/licenses/ofl-1.1/">SIL Open Font License 1.1</a> for exact details on what the conditions and restrictions are.
      </p>
      <p>
        <a id="sponsor-button"
           title="Help Inter by becoming a sponsor and donating a coffee or two"
           href="https://github.com/sponsors/rsms">
           <span>Sponsor</span>
        </a>
      </p>
    </c>

  </grid>
</div></div>


<div id="weights" class="row yellow"><div>
  <h2><a href="#weights">Weights & Styles</a></h2>
  <p>
  There are nine weights, each with italic counterparts,
  making a total of 18 styles.
  </p>
  <img src="res/weights-and-styles.svg" class="weights-and-styles">
</div></div>



<div id="variable" class="row white variable"><div>
  <h2><a href="#variable">Variable</a></h2>

  <p flow-cols=2 flow-cols-s=1>
  Inter is offered as both traditional constant font files
  (one per style, e.g. Bold Italic, Medium, etc.) as well as a
  <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_fonts">Variable Font</a>
  which contains all styles in a much smaller file size.
  Additionally, a variable font is ...variable! You can mix and match weight
  and italic angle as you please, forming theoretically infinite variations.
  </p>

  <div class="unsupported-message">
    <p>Variable Fonts not supported by this web browser</p>
  </div>

  <div class="ctrl">
    <div class="ctrlrow">
      <label title="Weight in the range of 100 to 900">
        <span class="label var">Weight:</span>
        <input type="range" value="400" min="100" max="900" name="weight">
      </label>
      <label title="Slant angle in the range of 0° to 10°">
        <span class="label var">Slant:</span>
        <input type="range" value="0" min="0" max="10" step="0.01" name="slant">
      </label>
      <label class="tight">
        <input type="checkbox" name="animate"> Animate weight &amp; slant
      </label>
      <label class="tight">
        <input type="checkbox" name="invert"> Negative
      </label>
    </div>
    <div class="ctrlrow">
      <label title="Font size">
        <span class="label">Size:</span>
        <input type="range" value="96" min="11" max="400" name="size">
      </label>
      <label title="Space between letters">
        <span class="label">Tracking:</span>
        <input type="range" value="0" min="-0.1" max="0.1" step="0.001" name="letterSpacing">
      </label>
      <label>
        <span class="label">Line height:</span>
        <input type="range" value="1.2" min="0.7" max="2" step="0.01" name="lineHeight">
      </label>
    </div>
  </div>
</div></div>
<div class="row white variable-sample-row">
  <div class="variable-sample" contenteditable spellcheck="false">
  ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890
  ?!()[]{}&*^%$#@~
  </div>
</div>
<script src="index-var.js?v={{ index_var_js_v }}"></script>
<div class="row white"><div>
  <p>
    Variable fonts is a new and emerging technology.<br>
    <a href="var-test.html">This test</a> can be used to discover
    what a web browser is capable of.
  </p>
</div></div>



<div id="features" class="row features"><div>
  <h2><a href="#features">Features</a></h2>
  <p style="max-width:38rem">
    Inter comes with many OpenType features that can be used to
    tailor functionality and aesthetics to your specific needs.
    Some of these features can be combined to form a great number of
    alternative variations.
  </p>
  <boxes class="features">
    {% for f in site.data.feature_samples %}
    <box class="feat-{{f.tag}}" id="features/{{f.tag}}">
      <h3><a href="#features/{{f.tag}}"><q title='OpenType feature ID'>{{f.tag}}</q> {{f.title}}</a></h3>
      {%

      if f.description %}
        <p>{{f.description}}</p>
      {% endif %}{%

      assign feat_tag = f.tag %}{%
      assign has_feature_col = false %}{%
      for s in f.samples %}{%
        if s.feat %}{%
          assign has_feature_col = true %}{%
          break %}{%
        endif %}{%
      endfor

      %}
      {% if has_feature_col %}
      <grid columns=7>
        <c span=1 class="low-contrast ">Feature</c>
        <c span=3 class="low-contrast">Disabled</c>
        <c span=3 class="low-contrast">Enabled</c>
      {% else %}
      <grid columns=8>
        <c span=4 class="low-contrast">Disabled</c>
        <c span=4 class="low-contrast">Enabled</c>
      {% endif %}
      {% for s in f.samples %}
        {%

        if has_feature_col %}{%
          assign sample = s.sample %}{%
          assign feat_tag = s.feat %}{%
        else %}{%
          assign sample = s %}{%
        endif %}{%

        assign sample_in = sample | replace: "›", "<em>" | replace: "‹", "</em>" %}{%
        assign sample_out = sample | remove: "›" | remove: "‹"

        %} {% if has_feature_col %}
        <c span=1 class="">{{feat_tag}}</c>
        <c span=3 class="sample ff-none">{{sample_in}}</c>
        <c span=3 class="sample ff-{{feat_tag}}">{{sample_out}}</c>
        {% else %}
        <c span=4 class="sample ff-none">{{sample_in}}</c>
        <c span=4 class="sample ff-{{feat_tag}}">{{sample_out}}</c>
        {% endif %}
      {% endfor %}
      </grid>

      <br>
      <!-- <p class="example" title="CSS code">
        <tt>font-feature-settings: '{{feat_tag}}' 1</tt>
      </p> -->

      {% if f.footer %}
        <p>{{f.footer}}</p>
      {% endif %}
    </box>
    {% endfor %}
  </boxes>

  <p>
    Additional features, not highlighted above:
    <q title='OpenType feature ID'>locl</q>,
    <q title='OpenType feature ID'>salt</q>,
    <q title='OpenType feature ID'>aalt</q>,
    <q title='OpenType feature ID'>cpsp</q> and
    <q title='OpenType feature ID'>ordn</q>.
    <br>
    You can explore features in the <a href="lab/">interactive lab</a>.
  </p>
</div></div>


<div id="languages" class="row white"><div>
  <h2><a href="#languages">Language support</a></h2>
  <br>
  <div class="language-list">
  {% for c in site.data.languages %}
    <h4>{{c.category}}</h4>
    {% for language in c.languages %}
      <p>{{language}}</p>
    {% endfor %}
  {% endfor %}
  </div>
</div></div>


<div id="charset" class="row green charset-title">
  <div>
    <h2><a href="#charset">Character set</a></h2>
    <p>
      All {{ site.data.glyphinfo.glyphs | size }} characters provided with Inter.
      Tap a glyph to copy it to your clipboard.<br>
      Use the <a href="glyphs/">Glyphs Browser</a> to inspect details like kerning and style variation.
    </p>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="row green charset">
{% include charset-table.html %}
</div>
<script>
;(function(){

  function shouldHandleEvent(ev) {
    if (!ev.metaKey && !ev.shiftKey && !ev.ctrlKey) {
      ev.stopPropagation()
      ev.preventDefault()
      return true
    }
    return false
  }

  function onClickChar(ev) {
    // Copy to clipboard.
    // Clipboard management on the web is _ABSOLUTELY INSANE_
    // This is an elaborate and ugly workaround to make it not suck
    // on various browsers.

    // document.location.href = "/glyphs/?g=" + encodeURI(ev.target.dataset.glyphname)

    if (!shouldHandleEvent(ev)) {
      return false
    }

    var origel = ev.target
    var el = origel.cloneNode(true)
    var r = ev.target.getBoundingClientRect()

    el.style.position = 'fixed'
    el.style.left = r.left + 'px'
    el.style.top = r.top + 'px'
    el.style.width = r.width + 'px'
    el.style.height = r.height + 'px'
    el.style.webkitUserSelect = 'text'
    el.style.userSelect = 'text'
    document.body.appendChild(el)

    el.innerText = el.innerText // + " " + el.title

    el.contentEditable = true
    el.readOnly = false

    var range = document.createRange()
    range.selectNodeContents(el)

    var s = window.getSelection()
    s.removeAllRanges()
    s.addRange(range)

    document.execCommand('copy')

    document.body.removeChild(el)

    s.removeAllRanges()

    HUDNotification.show('Copied ' + origel.innerText + ' to clipboard')


    // flash the glyph
    clearTimeout(origel._flashTimer)
    if (origel.classList.contains('flash')) {
      origel.classList.remove('flash')
      if (typeof requestAnimationFrame != 'undefined') {
        requestAnimationFrame(function(){ origel.classList.add('flash') })
      } else {
        setTimeout(function(){ origel.classList.add('flash') }, 1)
      }
    } else {
      origel.classList.add('flash')
    }
    origel._flashTimer = setTimeout(function(){
      origel.classList.remove('flash')
    }, 300)
  }

  var activeListener = { capture: true }

  let cv = document.querySelector('.charset-table').querySelectorAll('a')
  for (let i = 0; i < cv.length; i++) {
    let c = cv[i]
    if (typeof PointerEvent == "undefined") {
      c.addEventListener('mousedown', onClickChar, activeListener)
    } else {
      c.addEventListener('pointerdown', onClickChar, activeListener)
    }
    c.onclick = ev => !shouldHandleEvent(ev)
  }
})();
</script>


<div id="story" class="row white"><div>
  <h2><a href="#story">The story behind Inter</a></h2>
  <div flow-cols=2 flow-cols-s=1>
    <p>
    Inter started out in late 2016 as an experiment to build a perfectly
    pixel-fitting font at a specific small size (11px.) The idea was that
    by crafting a font in a particular way, with a particular coordinate system
    (Units Per EM), and for a particular target rasterization size (11), it would
    be possible to get the best of both sharpness and readability.
    </p>
    <p>
    However after a few months of using an early version of Inter, it dawned
    on everyone exposed to the test that this approach had some serious real-world
    problems. Most notably that it was really hard to read longer text. Because of
    the pixel-aligning nature of that approach, the font took an almost
    <a href="https://www.figma.com/file/HPqDViSCB8fAWuxaV2ousFMv">mono-spaced appearance</a>,
    making it really easy to read numbers, punctuation and very short
    words, but eye-straining to read anything longer.
    </p>
    <p>
    The project was rebooted with a different approach, sticking with the
    specific UPM, but crafting glyphs and kerning in a way that made for
    more variation in the rhythm and smoother vertical and horizontal stems.
    As Inter was being developed, it was tested on an internal version of
    <a href="https://www.figma.com/">Figma</a>—where the author of Inter works as a designer—and slowly improved upon based on experience and feedback.
    </p>
  </div>

  <p id="faq">&nbsp;</p>
  <h2><a href="#faq">FAQ</a></h2>
  <grid columns=2 columns-s=1 class="faq">

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-using-features"><a href="#faq-using-features">
        How do I enable and disable font features?
      </a></h4>
      In web browsers you'll want to use
      <a href="https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/font-feature-settings"><q>font-feature-settings</q></a>.
      In Figma you can access features via the
      <a href="https://help.figma.com/article/250-working-with-fonts#opentype">Advanced Type panel.</a>
      In Illustrator, Photoshop and friends, you can access features via the
      <a href="https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/special-characters.html#opentype_panel_overview">Characters and OpenType panels.</a>
      Sketch doesn't provide a UI for configuring font features, but there's
      <a href="https://sketchtalk.io/discussion/comment/1478/#Comment_1478">a workaround using macOS's native font UI.</a>
    </c>

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-unhinted-vs-hinted"><a href="#faq-unhinted-vs-hinted">
        What is the difference between hinted and unhinted fonts?
      </a></h4>
      The font files in the "hinted" folders have additional data in them
      for assisting
      <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClearType">ClearType</a>,
      the text rasterizer used by Microsoft Windows (and some Linux distributions.)
      You want to use the "hinted" fonts only if you are targeting Windows users
      <em>and</em> prefer the different look of these "hinted" fonts.
      Additionally, hinting data makes the font files larger, so if you are
      using Inter on websites, the extra size of these files is another
      consideration to make.
      <a href="https://www.typotheque.com/articles/hinting">
      This article explains hinting at a greater length.</a>
    </c>

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-cdn"><a href="#faq-cdn">
        How reliable are the fonts served from rsms.me/inter?
      </a></h4>
      <tt>rsms.me/inter</tt> is distributed globally over CloudFlare's CDN,
      backed by GitHub's servers, making usage of
      <q>https://rsms.me/inter/inter.css</q> and associated font
      files very reliable and fast throughout the world.
    </c>

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-contribute"><a href="#faq-contribute">
        Can I help with improving Inter?
      </a></h4>
      Yes you can! Inter is an open-source project, meaning the source
      code—or "source design" if you will—that is used to build the font files
      <a href="https://github.com/rsms/inter">are freely available</a> to improve upon.
      Font making requires a fair bit of technical work and
      depending on what you'd like to do, some things might be more fun
      depending on your technical skills.
      The <a href="https://github.com/rsms/inter/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md">"Contributing" document</a> is a great place to start. The document outlines where
      you can have the biggest impact, how things are setup and how to get
      started.
    </c>

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-subset"><a href="#faq-subset">
        How do I subset the font files?
      </a></h4>
      <!--The web fonts provided by <a href="inter.css"><tt>inter.css</tt></a> and
      <a href="inter-display.css"><tt>inter-display.css</tt></a> are already subset
      (variable version.)
      If you need special customized subsets, or subsetting OTF or TTF files,
      have a look at-->
      Have a look at
      <a href="https://fonttools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/subset/"><tt>pyftsubset</tt></a>
      and
      <a href="https://github.com/filamentgroup/glyphhanger"><tt>glyphhanger</tt></a>.
    </c>

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-otfeat-customize-compile"><a href="#faq-otfeat-customize-compile">
        How do I access alternate glyphs if my software doesn't provide OpenType control?
      </a></h4>
      Have a look at
      <a href="https://github.com/twardoch/fonttools-opentype-feature-freezer"><tt>pyftfeatfreeze</tt></a>
      which is a tool that allows you to build font files with certain OpenType features turned
      on "by default".
    </c>

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-start-date"><a href="#faq-start-date">
        This website claims work started in 2016, but the git repository's log says it started later?
      </a></h4>
      Inter was developed in a private, internal git repository
      starting in November 2016, prior to being published on August 22, 2017.
      Between November 2016 and August 2017, there were
      <num>2&#x2006;990&#x2006;150</num> line edits made across 247 versions.
    </c>

    <c>
      <h4 id="faq-contact"><a href="#faq-contact">
        I've made a cool thing that uses Inter, can I share it with you?<br>
        or, I have a different question.
      </a></h4>
      Reach out on <a href="https://twitter.com/rsms">Twitter (@rsms)</a> or over <a href="mailto:rasmus@notion.se">email</a>
    </c>

  </grid>

</div></div>


<div class="row white"><div>
  — <a href="https://twitter.com/rsms" class="plain">@rsms</a>
</div></div>

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(function(){

var fontSizeEl = $('#dynmet-font-size')
var trackingEl = $('#dynmet-tracking')
var unitEl = $('#dynmet-unit')

var unitFormatters = [
  ['em', 'em', function(fontSize, tracking) {
    return tracking.toFixed(3).replace(/(?:\.000|0+)$/, '')
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  }
}

function onPointerdownTracking(ev) {
  if (ev) {
    ev.preventDefault()
    ev.stopPropagation()
  }
  copyToClipboard(trackingEl.value + unitEl.innerText)
  trackingEl.select()
}

var passiveListener = { passive: true, capture: false }
var activeListener = { capture: true }

fontSizeEl.addEventListener('input', updateTracking, passiveListener)
fontSizeEl.addEventListener('change', updateTracking, passiveListener)

unitEl.addEventListener('pointerdown', onPointerdownUnit, activeListener)
unitEl.addEventListener('mousedown', onPointerdownUnit, activeListener)

trackingEl.addEventListener('pointerdown', onPointerdownTracking, activeListener)
trackingEl.addEventListener('mousedown', onPointerdownTracking, activeListener)

updateTracking()

})();</script>