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font-synthesis

The font-synthesis CSS property controls which missing typefaces, bold, italic, or small-caps, may be synthesized by the browser.

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Syntax

font-synthesis: none;
font-synthesis: weight;
font-synthesis: style;
font-synthesis: small-caps;
font-synthesis: weight style small-caps;

/* Global values */
font-synthesis: inherit;
font-synthesis: initial;
font-synthesis: revert;
font-synthesis: revert-layer;
font-synthesis: unset;

Values

none: Indicates that no bold, italic, nor small-caps typeface may be synthesized.
weight: Indicates that a bold typeface may be synthesized if needed.
style: Indicates that an italic typeface may be synthesized if needed.
small-caps: Indicates that a small-caps typeface may be synthesized if needed.

Description

Most standard Western fonts include italic and bold variants, and some fonts include a small-caps variant. However, many fonts do not. Fonts used for Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other logographic scripts tend not to include these variants, and synthesizing them may impede the legibility of the text. In these cases, it may be desirable to switch off the browser's default font-synthesis.

Formal definition

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

Formal syntax

font-synthesis = 
  none                               |
  [ weight || style || small-caps ]

Examples

Disabling font synthesis

HTML

<em class="syn">Synthesize me! 站直。</em>
<br />
<em class="no-syn">Don't synthesize me! 站直。</em>

CSS

em {
  font-weight: bold;
}
.syn {
  font-synthesis: style weight small-caps;
}
.no-syn {
  font-synthesis: none;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Fonts Module Level 4 # font-synthesis

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-synthesis`	97	97	34	No	83	9	97	97	34	No	9	18.0
`small-caps`	97	97	93	No	83	10.1	97	97	93	No	10.3	18.0