Book fonts. 12 free serifs for the page and the cover, fine for print and ebooks.
Lora, Crimson Text and Libre Baskerville lead 12 book fonts: 8 serifs for the pages with stroke contrast between 2.2 and 4, an italic and a second weight, and 4 for the cover with an optical size axis.
Lora
Serif for the pages · 4 italics, 4 weights
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stroke contrast 2.6 · 4 weights · 4 italics
Crimson Text
Serif for the pages · 3 italics, 3 weights
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stroke contrast 2.2 · 3 weights · 3 italics
Libre Baskerville
Serif for the pages · 4 italics, 4 weights
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stroke contrast 2.3 · 4 weights · 4 italics
Cormorant Garamond
Serif for the pages · 5 italics, 5 weights
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stroke contrast 3.6 · 5 weights · 5 italics
EB Garamond
Serif for the pages · 5 italics, 5 weights
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stroke contrast 2.7 · 5 weights · 5 italics
Baskervville
Serif for the pages · 4 italics, 4 weights
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stroke contrast 3.2 · 4 weights · 4 italics
Fraunces
Serif for the pages · 9 italics, 9 weights
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stroke contrast 2.8 · 9 weights · 9 italics
Tinos
Serif for the pages · 2 italics, 2 weights
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stroke contrast 2.3 · 2 weights · 2 italics
Newsreader
Serif with optical sizes · stroke contrast 2.1, 7 italics
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optical sizes 6 to 72 pt · 7 weights · 7 italics
Source Serif 4
Serif with optical sizes · stroke contrast 2.1, 8 italics
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optical sizes 8 to 60 pt · 8 weights · 8 italics
Roboto Serif
Serif with optical sizes · stroke contrast 1.6, 9 italics
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optical sizes 8 to 144 pt · 9 weights · 9 italics
Playfair
Serif with optical sizes · stroke contrast 1.5, 7 italics
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optical sizes 5 to 1200 pt · 7 weights · 7 italics
Printed books and ebooks are both covered, an ebook with one condition.
Compare fonts for books
12 / 12
stroke contrast 2.6 · pick 1 of 12
Lora
Chapter One. The house stood at the end of the lane.
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Why Lora fits books: stroke contrast 2.6, lowercase 71% of the capital height, 4 italics, and 4 weights.
Print for books: the pages and the PDF.
Selling for books: printed books sold.
App for books: an ebook carries the font file.
- ✓Selling
- OFL 1.1
Serifs for the pages
Lora, Crimson Text and Libre Baskerville are the most used of the 8 text serifs; Lora has stroke contrast 2.6.
Serifs with optical sizes for the cover
Newsreader, Source Serif 4 and Roboto Serif change their drawing with size, so one family sets both the title and the back cover text.
Can I use them in a printed book and an ebook?
| Free font | Licence | Selling | App | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lora | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Crimson Text | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Libre Baskerville | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Cormorant Garamond | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| EB Garamond | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Baskervville | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Fraunces | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Tinos | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Newsreader | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Source Serif 4 | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Roboto Serif | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
| Playfair | OFL 1.1 | ✓ | ✓ | !* |
- Print (the pages and the PDF): yes for all 12, OFL 1.1 Condition 5.
- Selling (printed books sold): yes for all 12, OFL 1.1 Condition 5; the font file itself may not be sold on its own (Condition 1).
- * App (an ebook carries the font file): yes for all 12 if you ship the copyright notice and licence with the font files, OFL 1.1 Condition 2.
- OFL 1.1 text
Which of the book fonts to pick
Lora suits the printed pages and PDF, with stroke contrast 2.6 and 4 italics for long reading. For an ebook that carries the font file, Libre Baskerville offers stroke contrast 2.3 and 4 weights for body text. On the cover, choose Newsreader for a title within its optical size axis 6 to 72 pt, or Roboto Serif for a larger title within its optical size axis 8 to 144 pt.
Setting a book
Cormorant Garamond has the most stroke contrast of the page serifs, 3.6; Crimson Text has the least, 2.2. Compare their body text at the final size on your chosen paper or ebook screen.
Playfair’s optical size axis runs 5 to 1200 pt, the widest of these, and Source Serif 4’s 8 to 60 pt, the narrowest.
To pair two of the book fonts, take Lora from the page serifs for the text and Newsreader from the cover serifs for the title and chapter heads.
What the rule selected: the 12 book fonts and their numbers
| Free font | Contrast | Optical sizes (pt) | Weights | Italics | Google Fonts rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lora | 2.6 | not read | 4 | 4 | 29 |
| Crimson Text | 2.2 | not read | 3 | 3 | 43 |
| Libre Baskerville | 2.3 | not read | 4 | 4 | 49 |
| Cormorant Garamond | 3.6 | not read | 5 | 5 | 54 |
| EB Garamond | 2.7 | not read | 5 | 5 | 64 |
| Baskervville | 3.2 | not read | 4 | 4 | 65 |
| Fraunces | 2.8 | 9–144 | 9 | 9 | 68 |
| Tinos | 2.3 | not read | 2 | 2 | 86 |
| Newsreader | 2.1 | 6–72 | 7 | 7 | 36 |
| Source Serif 4 | 2.1 | 8–60 | 8 | 8 | 91 |
| Roboto Serif | 1.6 | 8–144 | 9 | 9 | 151 |
| Playfair | 1.5 | 5–1200 | 7 | 7 | 190 |
Book fonts: questions
Which free font is best for books?
Lora, the most used of these 12 on Google Fonts (rank 29), with stroke contrast 2.6 and 4 italics; Crimson Text and Libre Baskerville come next at ranks 43 and 49.
Are these book fonts free for print, products you sell, and an app?
All 12, from Lora to Playfair, are under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows print (the pages and the PDF), products you sell (printed books sold), and an app (an ebook carries the font file) on a condition. The one condition for books (an ebook carries the font file): ship the copyright notice and licence with the font files.
Can I embed these book fonts in an ebook?
Yes, all 12, on one condition: ship the copyright notice and licence with the font files (OFL 1.1, Condition 2). The printed book and the PDF need nothing more.
Which of these book fonts has the most weights?
Fraunces, with 9 weights and 9 italics; Roboto Serif has 9 weights and Source Serif 4 has 8 weights.
How were these book fonts chosen?
Long reading wants the printed page’s contrast, an italic and a second weight; a cover wants an optical size axis. 49 of the 1,674 free fonts we checked pass that rule for books. The 12 here are the most used on Google Fonts, from Lora at rank 29 to Playfair at rank 190, one font a family.
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