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I'm currently working on a web application and trying to implement a custom font for certain elements using the @font-face rule in CSS. I've followed the standard procedure to define the font and applied it to specific elements, but I'm facing issues with rendering the font properly.

Here's the relevant code I'm using:

@font-face {
    font-family: swiper-icons;
    font-style: normal;
    font-weight: 400;
    src: url('data:application/font-woff;charset=utf-8;base64,d09GRgABAAAAAAZgABAAAAAAD...'); /* Rest of the base64-encoded font data */
}

.my-custom-font {
    font-family: "swiper-icons", sans-serif;
}

I've decoded the base64 string and saved the font file with a .woff extension. However, when I apply the my-custom-font class to elements, the font doesn't seem to render as expected. I've tried using an online font rendering tool (https://fontdrop.info) to preview the font, but it's not working there either.

Things I've checked and tried:

  • I made sure that I decoded the entire base64 string correctly.
  • I've verified that the font file is saved in a valid format.
  • I've used the correct font-family name ("swiper-icons") in my CSS.
  • I've inspected the browser's console, but there are no error messages related to font loading or rendering. Is there something I might be missing or doing incorrectly? Are there any additional steps I need to take to ensure the font renders correctly? Could there be compatibility issues with certain font formats or online rendering tools? Any guidance on how to troubleshoot and resolve this font rendering issue would be greatly appreciated.
János
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  • The fact you can't inspect the font in fontdrop indicates you might have accidentally switched file types: so the original - I guess an icon font - might actually be a woff2 (currently not supported by fontdrop) but saved as a woff. This post might also be helpful ["Converting and rendering web fonts to base64 - keep original look"](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26867893/converting-and-rendering-web-fonts-to-base64-keep-original-look). Please elaborate, how you're applying this font - quite likely you'll have rather cryptic PUA unicode points to display certain icons. – herrstrietzel Aug 14 '23 at 23:40

1 Answers1

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Here are some of my main go-to troubleshooting steps:

  1. Browser Support: Ensure the browsers support WOFF format. If possible, use WOFF2 for better performance.

  2. Base64 Decoding: Double-check your base64 decoding to ensure no errors were introduced.

  3. Font Validity: Test the font file on tools like Font Validator or W3C's Validator.

  4. CSS Check: Make sure no other styles override your custom font. For testing, try applying the font to elements using more specific selectors.

  5. Font Names: Verify the font's internal name matches your CSS declaration.

  6. Local Testing: Temporarily use a locally-hosted font file instead of base64 to see if the issue lies with encoding.

    @font-face {
    font-family: swiper-icons;
    src: url('path-to-your-font.woff') format('woff');
}

  7. Different Browsers: Test on various browsers to see if the problem is browser-specific.

  8. Font Features: Check if the font has special features or settings that need to be activated via CSS.

  9. CORS: If hosting externally (not base64), ensure CORS policies aren't blocking the font.

  10. Fallback Fonts: Use fallback fonts in your font-family property as a backup.

  11. Online Tool Issues: Remember that some online tools might have their own compatibility issues.

suchislife
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