Font family

How do I make multiple fonts exported from Glyphr Studio be recognizable as a family in other programs?

This was a big challenge over the years, based on a bug in how font files were exported. It was recently fixed (May 2026), so if you follow these simple guidelines, fonts should be recognized as a family:

On the Settings > Font page ensure the following for the set of fonts you are wanting to family together:

• Font family is the same across all the font files.
• Font style is accurate and unique across all the font files.
• Font weight is accurate, and corresponds to the Font Style field. To be recognized as the Bold member of a family, set the weight to 700.
• Italic angle is accurate, and corresponds to the Font Style field. A non-zero italic angle is what marks a font as Italic/Oblique.
• Font stretch is accurate if you are creating condensed or expanded widths (e.g. Condensed, Expanded). Fonts of different widths can now be grouped as one family.

You can use any descriptive Font style name - including weights like Light, Semibold, or Black, and widths like Condensed. Glyphr Studio automatically writes the underlying font metadata so these group correctly in modern apps while staying compatible with older ones; you don't need to worry about the technical naming details.

Figuring out what exactly is looked at to determine a font family took trial and error, so if you encounter a set of fonts that don't seem to be recognized as a family, please email us at mail@glyphrstudio.com and we can adjust the code to enable it.

What can go wrong

There are many fonts that exist in isolation, without Bold or Italic variations. Word processor apps usually compensate for this by having a built-in capability to do "fake bold" (basically add weight uniformly around shapes) and "fake italic" (just skewing shapes, otherwise known as 'oblique').

If a set of fonts are properly recognized as a family by your operating system and word processor, trying to bold or italic some text will result in using the other fonts in the family, as opposed to these "fake" variants that are automatically generated.

Other signs for a set of font files not being recognized as a family is if the individual files are shown as different font choices. In your word processor app's font menu, they may be listed separately, like:

• Font Name Regular
• Font Name Bold
• Font Name Italic

As opposed to just seeing "Font Name" with the Bold and Italic variants used when those styles are applied.

If you are trying to design a font family and are encountering these signs, go back and ensure all the fonts' metadata is correct.

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(Way too) Detailed guidance

Glyphr Studio handles most of this internally. But if you are curious about the details, the following sections show exactly what metadata needs to correspond in order for a collection of fonts to be interpreted as a family.

Glyphr Studio does not directly surface all of these font fields, so if you want to go this deep, you'll have to use some other software to make these granular edits.

What makes multiple font files appear as one family?

For OpenType fonts, including both .ttf and .otf, family grouping depends mostly on coordinated metadata in the name, OS/2, head, and sometimes STAT and fvar tables.

The most important fields are:

• name table:
  • Name ID 1: Font Family
  • Name ID 2: Font Subfamily
  • Name ID 4: Full Font Name
  • Name ID 6: PostScript Name
  • Name ID 16: Typographic Family
  • Name ID 17: Typographic Subfamily
  • Name IDs 21/22: WWS Family/Subfamily, when needed
• OS/2 table:
  • usWeightClass
  • usWidthClass
  • fsSelection
• head table:
  • macStyle
• STAT table:
  • Strongly recommended for modern font families
  • Required for variable fonts
• fvar table:
  • Required for variable fonts

What is the single most important recommendation?

Use Name ID 16 as the true family name across all related fonts.

Example:

Name ID 16: Acme Sans

Use this exact same value for:

Acme Sans Regular
Acme Sans Italic
Acme Sans Bold
Acme Sans Light
Acme Sans Semibold
Acme Sans Condensed
Acme Sans Display

Then use Name ID 17 for each unique style name.

Name ID 17: Regular
Name ID 17: Bold
Name ID 17: Light
Name ID 17: Condensed Bold
Name ID 17: Display Semibold Italic

How should I set legacy family names?

Use Name ID 1 and Name ID 2 for legacy four-style grouping.

Legacy Windows and Office-style apps expect a family to contain only:

• Regular
• Bold
• Italic
• Bold Italic

Recommended pattern:

Style	Name ID 1	Name ID 2
Regular	Acme Sans	Regular
Bold	Acme Sans	Bold
Italic	Acme Sans	Italic
Bold Italic	Acme Sans	Bold Italic
Light	Acme Sans Light	Regular
Light Italic	Acme Sans Light	Italic
Semibold	Acme Sans Semibold	Regular
Condensed	Acme Sans Condensed	Regular
Condensed Bold	Acme Sans Condensed	Bold

Do not put values like Light, Semibold, or Condensed in Name ID 2 if maximum Windows/Office compatibility matters.

How should I set modern typographic names?

Use Name ID 16 and Name ID 17 for the real family structure.

Style	Name ID 16	Name ID 17
Regular	Acme Sans	Regular
Bold	Acme Sans	Bold
Italic	Acme Sans	Italic
Bold Italic	Acme Sans	Bold Italic
Light	Acme Sans	Light
Light Italic	Acme Sans	Light Italic
Semibold	Acme Sans	Semibold
Condensed	Acme Sans	Condensed
Condensed Bold	Acme Sans	Condensed Bold

Rule of thumb:

• Name ID 16 must be the same for every font in the family.
• Name ID 17 must be unique for every style in that family.

How should I set the full font name?

Use Name ID 4 as the unique readable full name for each file.

Examples:

Acme Sans
Acme Sans Bold
Acme Sans Italic
Acme Sans Light
Acme Sans Semibold
Acme Sans Condensed Bold

Every font file should have a unique Name ID 4.

How should I set the PostScript name?

Use Name ID 6 as a unique machine-safe name.

Recommended format:

AcmeSans-Regular
AcmeSans-Bold
AcmeSans-Italic
AcmeSans-Light
AcmeSans-CondensedBold

Rules:

• Must be unique per font file
• Use ASCII characters
• Do not use spaces
• Keep it short and stable

How should I set weight and width?

Set OS/2.usWeightClass to match the visual weight.

Style	usWeightClass
Thin	100
ExtraLight	200
Light	300
Regular	400
Medium	500
Semibold	600
Bold	700
ExtraBold	800
Black	900

Set OS/2.usWidthClass to match the visual width.

Width	usWidthClass
Ultra-condensed	1
Extra-condensed	2
Condensed	3
Semi-condensed	4
Normal	5
Semi-expanded	6
Expanded	7
Extra-expanded	8
Ultra-expanded	9

How should I set bold, italic, regular, and oblique flags?

Coordinate OS/2.fsSelection and head.macStyle.

Recommended rules:

Style	usWeightClass	fsSelection	head.macStyle
Regular	400	Regular	none
Bold	700	Bold	Bold
Italic	400	Italic	Italic
Bold Italic	700	Bold + Italic	Bold + Italic
Light	300	none, unless Regular in its legacy group	none
Semibold	600	usually none	usually none
Oblique	varies	Oblique	usually Italic only if legacy compatibility requires it

Avoid contradictions such as:

• Style name says Italic, but italic bit is not set
• Style name says Bold, but weight is 400
• fsSelection says Bold, but head.macStyle does not
• Multiple fonts in the same legacy group marked as Regular

When should I use Name IDs 21 and 22?

Use Name IDs 21 and 22 only when you need a WWS grouping fallback.

WWS means:

• Weight
• Width
• Slope

Use Name IDs 21/22 when the typographic style includes non-WWS attributes such as:

• Display
• Text
• Caption
• Micro
• Poster
• Optical size
• UI

Example:

Style	Name ID 16	Name ID 17	Name ID 21	Name ID 22
Display Bold	Acme Sans	Display Bold	Acme Sans Display	Bold
Caption Italic	Acme Sans	Caption Italic	Acme Sans Caption	Italic

If the family only varies by weight, width, and italic/oblique, you usually do not need Name IDs 21/22.

Do I need a STAT table?

Yes, for modern font families, add a correct STAT table whenever possible.

Use STAT especially if the family includes:

• More than Regular/Bold/Italic/Bold Italic
• Multiple weights
• Multiple widths
• Italics or obliques
• Optical sizes
• Variable fonts

Recommended STAT axes:

Axis	Tag
Weight	wght
Width	wdth
Italic	ital
Slant	slnt
Optical Size	opsz

The STAT values should describe each font’s position within the whole family.

Example for a static Regular font:

wght = 400
wdth = 100
ital = 0

Example for Condensed Bold Italic:

wght = 700
wdth = 75
ital = 1

What about variable fonts?

For variable fonts, coordinate all normal naming fields plus:

• fvar axes
• fvar named instances
• STAT axis values
• Name ID 25, if needed for variation PostScript names

Recommended variable axes:

wght
wdth
ital
slnt
opsz

Named instances should have clear names and correct coordinates.

Example:

Instance	wght	wdth	ital
Regular	400	100	0
Medium	500	100	0
Bold	700	100	0
Condensed	400	75	0
Condensed Bold	700	75	0
Italic	400	100	1

Recommended metadata pattern

For a family named Acme Sans:

File	Name ID 1	Name ID 2	Name ID 16	Name ID 17	Weight	Width
AcmeSans-Regular.ttf	Acme Sans	Regular	Acme Sans	Regular	400	5
AcmeSans-Bold.ttf	Acme Sans	Bold	Acme Sans	Bold	700	5
AcmeSans-Italic.ttf	Acme Sans	Italic	Acme Sans	Italic	400	5
AcmeSans-BoldItalic.ttf	Acme Sans	Bold Italic	Acme Sans	Bold Italic	700	5
AcmeSans-Light.ttf	Acme Sans Light	Regular	Acme Sans	Light	300	5
AcmeSans-LightItalic.ttf	Acme Sans Light	Italic	Acme Sans	Light Italic	300	5
AcmeSans-Semibold.ttf	Acme Sans Semibold	Regular	Acme Sans	Semibold	600	5
AcmeSans-Condensed.ttf	Acme Sans Condensed	Regular	Acme Sans	Condensed	400	3

Checklist for familying fonts together

Use this checklist when editing font metadata:

• [ ] Set the same Name ID 16 for every font in the intended family
• [ ] Set a unique Name ID 17 for every style
• [ ] Keep Name ID 1/2 compatible with legacy four-style grouping
• [ ] Use only Regular, Bold, Italic, or Bold Italic in Name ID 2
• [ ] Make Name ID 4 unique for every font file
• [ ] Make Name ID 6 unique, ASCII-only, and space-free
• [ ] Set usWeightClass to match the actual weight
• [ ] Set usWidthClass to match the actual width
• [ ] Set fsSelection bold, italic, oblique, and regular bits correctly
• [ ] Keep head.macStyle consistent with fsSelection
• [ ] Add a STAT table for modern app compatibility
• [ ] Add fvar named instances for variable fonts
• [ ] Use Name IDs 21/22 only when WWS fallback is needed
• [ ] Validate the fonts after editing
• [ ] Confirm the font license allows modification

Common mistakes

Avoid these mistakes:

• Using different Name ID 16 values across files that should be one family
• Reusing the same Name ID 17 for multiple styles
• Reusing the same Name ID 6 in multiple files
• Putting Light, Semibold, or Condensed in Name ID 2
• Marking multiple files as Regular in the same legacy group
• Setting a style name that disagrees with the weight or italic flags
• Omitting the STAT table from large or modern families
• Treating optical size as weight or width
• Editing commercial fonts without checking the license

Practical rule

If the goal is to make Windows, Office, Canva, Affinity, and similar apps recognize related font files as one family:

1. Use Name ID 16 as the shared real family name.
2. Use Name ID 17 as the unique style name.
3. Keep Name ID 1/2 legacy-safe.
4. Make Name ID 4 and Name ID 6 unique.
5. Set weight, width, bold, italic, and oblique metadata accurately.
6. Add a coherent STAT table.
7. Validate the result in multiple apps.