Sans serif · Thomas Nicholson
Plainsound
Find the font. Find its kind.
CSSfont-family: 'Plainsound', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;
Plainsound is a free sans serif by Thomas Nicholson, from its maker’s repository on GitHub. Among the 697 sans serifs on FontKind, Plainsound has an average x-height, is of average width and, at its regular weight, is darker than 61%. Its thickest strokes are 1.1 times its thinnest: nearly even strokes.
01 / Light table
Laid on top of Kecal
Plainsound on one light table with its two closest fonts, Kecal (83 out of 100) and Ronzino (80). Kecal has nearly identical proportions; Ronzino has more stroke contrast.
Plainsound and Kecal laid on top of each other.
Ink shared with PlainsoundKecal…
Most different letters first; the figure is the share of ink the fonts have in common. Where the fonts agree the letters cancel to black: every white sliver is a real difference.
02 / Letters
The Plainsound alphabet
Capitals, lowercase, figures and signs · weight 400
Tap the letters you like, here and in other fonts, to find the fonts whose letters look most like them.
- &
- ?
- !
- @
- %
- (
- )
03 / Weights
Plainsound in 6 weights
6 weights, 200–700, with italics
- 200 Extra light, with its italic
- 300 Light, with its italic
- 400 Regular, with its italic
- 500 Medium, with its italic
- 600 Semibold, with its italic
- 700 Bold, with its italic
04 / Facts
Who made Plainsound, and can you use it?
- Designer
- Thomas Nicholson
- Kind
- Sans serif
- Styles
- 6 weights, 200–700, with italics
- From
- GitHub
- Character sets
- latin
- Licence
- SIL Open Font License 1.1
Can I use it?
- Commercial use
- Yes.
- Logos
- Yes.
- Websites and apps
- Yes. Self-hosted.
- PDFs and documents
- Yes.
- Changes
- Yes, under another name. Not as “Plainsound”: the licence reserves the name.
- Sharing the files
- Yes, but not for sale. With the licence.
Plainsound is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. This is a plain summary, not legal advice: the licence itself decides.
Already in your apps?
- Google Docs
- Not verified. Docs adds Google Fonts, and Plainsound comes from its maker’s repository on GitHub. Google’s guide
- Word, PowerPoint
- Not verified. Install it from its maker’s repository on GitHub first. Microsoft’s list
- Figma
- Not verified. Search its font menu, or install it. Figma’s help
- Canva
- Not verified. Search its font menu for Plainsound, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
- Cricut
- Once installed. Design Space lists Plainsound under System. Fonts for Cricut →
From each app’s own font list or help pages.
05 / Measurements
Plainsound, measured
Taken from the font file's own outlines, regular style
- x-height
- 52.0% of the emlowercase x
- Cap height
- 72.0% of the emcapitals
- x / cap
- 0.72lowercase against capitals
- Width
- 50.6% of the emaverage lowercase
- Ink
- 43%letter box filled
- Contrast
- 1.13 : 1nearly even strokes
Where it stands among sans serifs
Ranked against all 697 sans serifs on FontKind
x-heightNear the middle of sans serifs
WidthNear the middle of sans serifs
InkDarker than 61% of sans serifs
ContrastMore even than 65% of sans serifs
06 / Similar fonts
Fonts similar to Plainsound
Matched letter by letter · its own family apart
Plainsound's own familyPlainsound Semi CondensedPlainsound Condensed
- Kecal83Nearly identical proportions
- Ronzino80more stroke contrast
- Special Gothic806% narrower · x-height 3% shorter
- Hedvig Letters Sans80more stroke contrast
- Miranda Sans783% wider
- Rag Narrow777% narrower · 8% heavier
All 100 fonts similar to Plainsound →Compare side by side →Get Plainsound on GitHub
07 / Swap
Swap Plainsound without a jump
Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%
- Ronzino80text 0.5% narrower · x-height 2.3% taller
- Hedvig Letters Sans80text 1.0% wider · same x-height
- Miranda Sans78text 2.5% wider · same x-height
- Pliant76same text width · same x-height
- Radio Canada Big75text 0.9% narrower · x-height 1.9% taller
- Instrument Sans75text 1.3% wider · x-height 1.9% shorter
Fallback while it loads
Until Plainsound loads, this sets Arial in its place at 101.9% of its size, so running text keeps Plainsound’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.
@font-face {
font-family: 'Plainsound Fallback';
src: local('Arial');
size-adjust: 101.90%;
ascent-override: 101.57%;
descent-override: 28.75%;
line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}
font-family: 'Plainsound', 'Plainsound Fallback', sans-serif;08 / Questions
Questions about Plainsound
Answered from its licence, GitHub and each app’s own font list
Is Plainsound free for commercial use?
Yes. Plainsound is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale, logos, websites, apps and PDFs included; a changed version may not be called “Plainsound”.
How do I download and install Plainsound?
Plainsound comes free from its maker’s repository on GitHub . On its repository there, choose Code, then Download ZIP, and unzip the file: the fonts are in its Dekstop folder. On Windows or a Mac, double-click each TTF or OTF file and choose Install, then restart any app that was open. The web fonts this page uses load from its repository, through jsDelivr, as does its licence file .
Is Plainsound in Google Docs?
Probably not: the More fonts list in Docs draws on Google Fonts, and Plainsound comes from its maker’s repository on GitHub. Docs can’t add a font of your own, so set it in an app on your computer, such as Word, instead.
How many weights does Plainsound have?
Plainsound comes in six weights, from ExtraLight (200) to Bold (700), each with an italic.
Who designed Plainsound?
Plainsound was designed by Thomas Nicholson. Thomas Nicholson also made Hausschrift.
What fonts are similar to Plainsound?
The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Kecal (83), Ronzino (80) and Special Gothic (80), out of 100. Next to Plainsound, Kecal has nearly identical proportions. Its own family, listed apart, adds Plainsound Semi Condensed and Plainsound Condensed. See all 100 fonts like Plainsound.