font-smooth

Non-standard
This feature is non-standard and is not on a standards track. Do not use it on production sites facing the Web: it will not work for every user. There may also be large incompatibilities between implementations and the behavior may change in the future.

Summary

The font-smooth CSS property controls the application of anti-aliasing when fonts are rendered.

Syntax

/* Keyword values */
font-smooth: auto;
font-smooth: never;
font-smooth: always;
/* <length> */
font-smooth: 2em;

Webkit implements something similar with a different name: -webkit-font-smoothing and different values, however, just like font-smooth, this is non-standard and should not be used.

  • none - turn font smoothing off, show the text with jagged sharp edges.
  • antialiased - smooth the font on the level of the pixel, as opposed to the subpixel. Switching from subpixel rendering to antialiasing for light text on dark backgrounds makes it look lighter.
  • subpixel-antialiased - on most non-retina displays this will give the sharpest text.

Firefox implements something similar with a different name: -moz-osx-font-smoothing and different values, however, just like font-smooth, this is non-standard and should not be used.

  • auto - Allow the browser to select an optimization for font smoothing, typically grayscale.
  • inherit - Inherit from the parent element.
  • unset
  • grayscale - Render text with grayscale antialiasing, as opposed to the subpixel. Switching from subpixel rendering to antialiasing for light text on dark backgrounds makes it look lighter.

Specifications

Though present in early (2002) drafts of CSS3 Fonts, font-smooth has been removed from this specification and is currently not on the standard track.

Browser compatibility

Feature Firefox (Gecko) Chrome Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 25.0  (see note) 5.0 (see note) No support No support 4.0 (see note)
Feature iOS Safari Opera Mini Opera Mobile Android Browser
Basic support ?  (see note) No support No support No support

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

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 Last updated by: cvrebert,