font-optical-sizing

The font-optical-sizing CSS property sets whether text rendering is optimized for viewing at different sizes.

Syntax

/* keyword values */
font-optical-sizing: none;
font-optical-sizing: auto; /* default */

/* Global values */
font-optical-sizing: inherit;
font-optical-sizing: initial;
font-optical-sizing: revert;
font-optical-sizing: unset;

Values

none

The browser will not modify the shape of glyphs for optimal viewing.

auto

The browser will modify the shape of glyphs for optimal viewing.

Description

Optical sizing is enabled by default for fonts that have an optical size variation axis. The optical size variation axis is represented by opsz in font-variation-settings.

When optical sizing is used, small text sizes are often rendered with thicker strokes and larger serifs, whereas larger text is often rendered more delicately with more contrast between thicker and thinner strokes.

Formal definition

Initial value auto
Applies to all elements. It also applies to ::first-letter and ::first-line.
Inherited yes
Computed value as specified
Animation type discrete

Formal syntax

auto | none

Examples

Disabling optical sizing

<p class="optical-sizing">This paragraph is optically sized.
 This is the default across browsers.</p>

<p class="no-optical-sizing">This paragraph is not optically sized.
 You should see a difference in supporting browsers.</p>
@font-face {
    src: url('AmstelvarAlpha-VF.ttf');
    font-family:'Amstelvar';
    font-style: normal;
}

p {
  font-size: 36px;
  font-family: Amstelvar;
}

.no-optical-sizing {
  font-optical-sizing: none;
}

Note: The font referenced above — which includes optical sizing and is freely-licensed — is good for testing. You can download it on GitHub.

Specifications

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
font-optical-sizing
79
17
62
No
66
11
79
79
62
No
11
12.0

See also

© 2005–2021 MDN contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/font-optical-sizing