Using Web Fonts

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Overview

RGE Studio includes a set of web-safe fonts by default. You can also use popular web fonts or upload your own custom web fonts.

Web fonts add personality to your designs. However, not all email clients support them. This article explains how web fonts display across different email clients.

What are web-safe fonts?

Most online text editors offer the same small set of fonts. These are the fonts installed on most devices by default. We call them "web-safe" fonts. You may also see them called "default" or "system" fonts.

Your device comes with fonts from its operating system. You may have added more fonts through other apps or added fonts manually. Because of this, the list of fonts on your device can vary. However, a small set of fonts appears on almost every device. We call these fonts "web-safe" because:

• They are "safe": available on almost every device.
• They are "web" fonts: used when you edit documents online.

You'll find these web-safe fonts at the top of any font list in the builder:

• Arial
• Courier
• Georgia
• Lucida Sans
• Tahoma
• Times New Roman
• Trebuchet MS
• Verdana

Web-safe fonts limit your typography choices. To use more fonts, you can add web fonts.

Web font support

Web fonts come from online font services, like Google Fonts. Your device downloads a web font only when it's needed, so you don't need to install it yourself.

Web fonts expand your typography choices beyond web-safe fonts. However, not all email clients support them. Clients like Outlook and Gmail show your default font instead. A recipient only sees the web font if it's already installed on their device.

Here's how web fonts display in some popular email clients:

*Gmail does not support most web fonts. Roboto and Open Sans are exceptions.

Because support varies, RGE Studio uses font stacks built with cascading style sheets (CSS). A font stack lists fallback fonts. If an email client can't display your first choice, it moves to the next font in the list.

Font stacks in RGE Studio

RGE Studio groups fonts into stacks. Each stack includes fallback fonts chosen for similar shape and size. This keeps your design consistent, even when an email client doesn't support your first font choice.

Here's a simplified list of the available font stacks:

Web font › Web-safe fallback list of options

• Bitter › Georgia › Times › Times New Roman › serif
• Droid Serif › Georgia › Times › Times New Roman › serif
• Lato › Tahoma › Verdana › Segoe › sans-serif
• Open Sans › Helvetica Neue › Helvetica › Arial › sans-serif
• Roboto › Tahoma › Verdana › Segoe › sans-serif
• Source Sans Pro › Tahoma › Verdana › Segoe › sans-serif
• Montserrat › Trebuchet MS › Lucida Grande › Lucida Sans Unicode › Lucida Sans › sans-serif
• Ubuntu › Tahoma › Verdana › Segoe › sans-serif

Japanese fonts

RGE Studio includes two Japanese font stacks. Hiragino (ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3) comes with Mac OS. Meiryo (メイリオ) comes with Windows.

Both stacks cover the most common configurations:

• ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3 › Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro › Osaka › メイリオ › Meiryo › ＭＳ Ｐゴシック › MS PGothic › sans-serif
• メイリオ › Meiryo › ＭＳ Ｐゴシック › MS PGothic › ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3 › Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro › Osaka › sans-serif