Font Weight Visualizer
Compare all font weights from thin to black for any font. See how light, regular, bold, and heavy weights look with your text.
Font Weight Comparison
Light Weights (100-300)
Best for large display text, elegant designs, and when you want a light, airy feel. Avoid for body text or small sizes.
Regular Weights (400-500)
Ideal for body text and general content. Provides good readability at all sizes. The standard choice for most text.
Bold Weights (600-900)
Perfect for headings, emphasis, and call-to-action elements. Use sparingly for maximum impact.
How the Font Weight Tester Works
This tool previews text in different font weights to help you choose the right weight for your design. Select a font and see your text rendered from thin (100) to black (900) weights.
Font weight controls the thickness of character strokes. Standard weights include 400 (normal/regular) and 700 (bold). Variable fonts offer any weight in between. The tester shows all available weights side by side.
Compare how different weights affect readability, hierarchy, and visual impact. Export CSS with your chosen weights. Test how weights render at different sizes and on different backgrounds.
When You'd Actually Use This
Building a typography hierarchy
Your design needs clear visual hierarchy. Test different weight combinations—bold headings (700), subheadings (600), body (400), captions (300).
Choosing weights for variable fonts
Variable fonts offer continuous weight ranges. Test which specific weights work best for your use cases before committing to CSS custom properties.
Ensuring text readability
Light weights can be hard to read on screens. Test weights at your actual sizes to ensure body text remains legible across devices and lighting conditions.
Creating button and link states
Hover states often change font weight. Test normal (400) to bold (700) transitions to find the right emphasis without jarring visual shifts.
Designing for dark mode
Text appears thinner on dark backgrounds due to optical illusions. You may need heavier weights for dark mode to maintain visual consistency.
Optimizing font file loading
Each weight is a separate font file. Test which weights you actually need. Often 400, 600, and 700 cover most use cases without loading unnecessary files.
What to Know Before Using
Not all fonts have all weights.Many fonts offer only 400 and 700. Premium fonts may have 8+ weights. Check available weights before designing around specific values.
Weights render differently on screens.A weight that looks perfect on your Retina display may look too light on a standard monitor. Test on multiple devices.
Browser font smoothing affects weights.Different browsers and OSes apply anti-aliasing differently. Safari, Chrome, and Firefox may show the same weight slightly differently.
Variable fonts change weight rules.Variable fonts let you use any weight value (like 537). But stick to increments of 100 for compatibility with non-variable font fallbacks.
Pro tip: For body text, never go below 400 on screens. Light weights (300, 100) look elegant in print but strain eyes on backlit displays.
Common Questions
What font weight is best for body text?
400 (normal) works for most body text. For better readability, try 400-500. Older audiences or accessibility-focused designs may benefit from 500.
How bold should headings be?
600-700 works well for headings. Large display headings can go bolder (800-900). Ensure enough contrast with body text weight for clear hierarchy.
What's a variable font?
Variable fonts contain multiple weights (and sometimes other axes) in one file. You can use any weight value within the font's range. More efficient than loading multiple files.
Why does bold text look different in different browsers?
Browsers apply different font rendering and anti-aliasing. Also, if a true bold weight isn't available, browsers artificially bold text, which looks inconsistent.
Can I use font weight for emphasis instead of italics?
Yes, semibold (600) is a modern alternative to italics for emphasis. It's more subtle and works better in some typefaces. Test both approaches.
How do I load multiple font weights?
For Google Fonts, add weights to the URL: "Inter:wght@400;600;700". For self-hosted fonts, include @font-face declarations for each weight file.
Does font weight affect page speed?
Yes, each weight is a separate font file (typically 20-100KB). Loading 5 weights adds up. Only load weights you actually use in your design.
Other Free Tools
Font Pairing Tool
Font Pairing Tool for Designers
Letter Spacing Tool
Letter Spacing & Kerning Tool
Line Height Generator
Line Height Calculator
Font Size Converter
Font Size Unit Converter
ASCII to Hex Converter
ASCII to Hex Converter: Text to Hexadecimal Translator
Barcode Generator
Free Barcode Generator
Binary to Text Converter
Binary to Text Converter
Free Printable Calendar Maker
Create & Print Your Custom Calendar
Pie Chart Maker
Free Pie Chart Maker Online