Can the font-weight of FontAwesome icons be altered?

Question

Can the font-weight of FontAwesome icons be altered?

Is there a method to decrease the weight of one of the FontAwesome icons on my website? It appears much heavier than the font style I am currently utilizing. Here is how it currently displays:

:

Not very appealing, right? I attempted adjusting the font-weight attribute in the CSS like this:

.tag .icon-remove  { 
  font-weight: 100;
}

Even though the attribute seems correctly set in the CSS, it does not seem to have any effect - the icon still looks as heavy as before. I also experimented with font-weight: lighter and -webkit-text-stroke-width: 1px but saw no changes.

Does anyone know of a way to reduce the heaviness of the icon? According to the documentation "Anything you can do with CSS font styles, you can do with Font Awesome" but I haven't been able to figure out how to achieve this adjustment.

css twitter-bootstrap font-awesome

Answer 1

Answer №1

Web browsers that use Webkit have the capability to apply a "stroke" effect to fonts. This styling trick gives fonts a thinner appearance (especially on a white background):

-webkit-text-stroke: 2px white;

An example showcasing this code can be found on Codepen at: http://codepen.io/mackdoyle/pen/yrgEH Some individuals opt for using SVG as a universal solution for creating a "stroke" effect across different platforms: http://codepen.io/CrocoDillon/pen/dGIsK

Answer 2

Web browsers that use Webkit have the capability to apply a "stroke" effect to fonts. This styling trick gives fonts a thinner appearance (especially on a white background):

-webkit-text-stroke: 2px white;

An example showcasing this code can be found on Codepen at: http://codepen.io/mackdoyle/pen/yrgEH Some individuals opt for using SVG as a universal solution for creating a "stroke" effect across different platforms: http://codepen.io/CrocoDillon/pen/dGIsK

Answer 3

Answer №2

Latest Update for 2018

In the latest version of Font Awesome 5, there are now three variants available: light, regular, and solid. Each variant offers a different style for the icons. It's worth noting that using different variants can alter the appearance of the icon, making it either bolder or lighter.

If you're already using one variant, such as solid, to make your icons bolder, you may need to revert back to the original solutions mentioned here. The same goes for users of the light variant looking to create lighter icons.

The documentation on Font Awesome's website provides detailed instructions on how to utilize these different variants in your projects.

Initial Response

Font Awesome leverages the Private Use section of Unicode for its icons. For instance, when using the .icon-remove class, the icon is inserted using the ::before pseudo-selector with its content set to \f00d ():

.icon-remove:before {
    content: "\f00d";
}

While Font Awesome only includes one font-weight variant, browsers will render this similarly to any other font with only one variant. However, the difference between a "normal" and "bold" font weight might not achieve the desired effect.

To adjust the appearance of the icon, consider modifying its color to something lighter and reducing its font size. This can help make the icon less prominent compared to other elements like text tags. Here's a suggestion:

.tag .icon-remove {
    color:#888;
    font-size:14px;
}

For demonstration purposes, check out this JSFiddle example. Additionally, you can view further evidence that the icon is indeed rendered as a font by clicking here.

Answer 4

Latest Update for 2018

In the latest version of Font Awesome 5, there are now three variants available: light, regular, and solid. Each variant offers a different style for the icons. It's worth noting that using different variants can alter the appearance of the icon, making it either bolder or lighter.

If you're already using one variant, such as solid, to make your icons bolder, you may need to revert back to the original solutions mentioned here. The same goes for users of the light variant looking to create lighter icons.

The documentation on Font Awesome's website provides detailed instructions on how to utilize these different variants in your projects.

Initial Response

Font Awesome leverages the Private Use section of Unicode for its icons. For instance, when using the .icon-remove class, the icon is inserted using the ::before pseudo-selector with its content set to \f00d ():

.icon-remove:before {
    content: "\f00d";
}

While Font Awesome only includes one font-weight variant, browsers will render this similarly to any other font with only one variant. However, the difference between a "normal" and "bold" font weight might not achieve the desired effect.

To adjust the appearance of the icon, consider modifying its color to something lighter and reducing its font size. This can help make the icon less prominent compared to other elements like text tags. Here's a suggestion:

.tag .icon-remove {
    color:#888;
    font-size:14px;
}

For demonstration purposes, check out this JSFiddle example. Additionally, you can view further evidence that the icon is indeed rendered as a font by clicking here.

Answer 5

Answer №3

For those in need of guidance on this topic, here's an alternative for those willing to explore other icon libraries.

While James is correct that the font weight cannot be changed, if you're aiming for a more contemporary icon style, you might want to consider ionicons

This library offers both ios and android versions of icons.

Answer 6

For those in need of guidance on this topic, here's an alternative for those willing to explore other icon libraries.

While James is correct that the font weight cannot be changed, if you're aiming for a more contemporary icon style, you might want to consider ionicons

This library offers both ios and android versions of icons.

Answer 7

Answer №4

It seems that the creator has adopted a freemium model for the font collection and offers Black Tie as a way to add various weights to the Font-Awesome library.

Answer 8

It seems that the creator has adopted a freemium model for the font collection and offers Black Tie as a way to add various weights to the Font-Awesome library.

Answer 9

Answer №5

A different method I have employed to produce lighter fontawesome icons involves setting the color of the icon to match the background (or make it transparent) and utilizing text-shadow to form an outline:

.fa-outline-light-gray {
    color: #fff;
    text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #999,
            1px -1px 0 #999,
           -1px 1px 0 #999,
            1px 1px 0 #999;
}

This approach may not be compatible with IE versions below 10, but it is not limited to just webkit browsers.

Answer 10

A different method I have employed to produce lighter fontawesome icons involves setting the color of the icon to match the background (or make it transparent) and utilizing text-shadow to form an outline:

.fa-outline-light-gray {
    color: #fff;
    text-shadow: -1px -1px 0 #999,
            1px -1px 0 #999,
           -1px 1px 0 #999,
            1px 1px 0 #999;
}

This approach may not be compatible with IE versions below 10, but it is not limited to just webkit browsers.

Answer 11

Answer №6

.star-shine::after {
    content: "\f005";
    font-family: "AwesomeFont";
    font-size: 3.2em;
    color: #fff;
    font-weight: 900;
    background-color: crimson;
}

Answer 12

.star-shine::after {
    content: "\f005";
    font-family: "AwesomeFont";
    font-size: 3.2em;
    color: #fff;
    font-weight: 900;
    background-color: crimson;
}

Can the font-weight of FontAwesome icons be altered?

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

Answer №5

Answer №6

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