Font Optimization: A Guide to Reducing Font File Size for Web Design
Font optimization is an essential aspect of web design, as it can significantly reduce the file size of the fonts used on a website, leading to faster loading times and a more responsive user experience. In this guide, we will discuss the importance of font optimization and provide a step-by-step tutorial on how to optimize fonts using a convenient online tool.
The Importance of Font Optimization
Most default phone and computer fonts include a vast array of characters that you will never use in your design or development work. For instance, if you open the Open Sans font and scroll through the available characters, you will find many that you do not recognize because they are not used in your language.
However, when a font is loaded onto a website, all of these characters are included, even though most of them will never be used. This can result in larger font file sizes and slower loading times for your website. To address this issue, you can optimize your fonts by removing the unnecessary characters.
Font Optimization Using Transfonter.org
In this tutorial, we will use Transfonter.org to optimize the Open Sans font. This online tool is convenient and user-friendly, but there are other similar tools available if you prefer.
- Visit Transfonter.org.
- Click on “Add fonts” and select the Open Sans font. For this tutorial, we will use the static version, but you can also use variable fonts if you prefer.
- Choose the desired font weight (e.g., Regular).
- By default, the “Subset” option will be set to “All.” Click “Convert” to see the resulting file size (in this case, 63 kilobytes).
- To optimize the font, change the “Subset” option to match the language for which you are designing. For example, if you are designing for a website in the United States, switch the “Subset” option to “Latin.”
- Click “Convert” again and observe the reduced file size (in this case, 20 kilobytes).
- If you are designing for a European audience, you may need additional characters found in the “Latin Extended” subset. Combine “Latin” and “Latin Extended” subsets and click “Convert” again.
- The resulting file size should be slightly larger (in this case, 28 kilobytes), but still significantly smaller than the original file size.
- Download the optimized font file and unzip it.
- You will now have a smaller font file (in this example, 25 kilobytes) that is ready to be uploaded to your website or design tool.
Remember that this process should be done for each font weight you plan to use on your website. By optimizing your fonts, you can save a considerable amount of kilobytes per font load, leading to faster website loading times and a better overall user experience.
In conclusion, font optimization is an important aspect of web design that can greatly improve your website’s performance. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can optimize your fonts based on the languages used in your target audience, ensuring a faster and more efficient browsing experience for your visitors.