Sans serif · Thomas Nicholson
Plainsound Condensed
Find the font. Find its kind.
CSSfont-family: 'Plainsound Condensed', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;
Plainsound Condensed is a free sans serif by Thomas Nicholson, from its maker’s repository on GitHub. Among the 697 sans serifs on FontKind, Plainsound Condensed has an average x-height, is narrower than 84% and, at its regular weight, is darker than 73%. Its thickest strokes are 1.1 times its thinnest: nearly even strokes.
01 / Light table
Laid on top of Cossette Titre
Plainsound Condensed on one light table with its two closest fonts, Cossette Titre (85 out of 100) and Carrois Gothic SC (83). Cossette Titre is 15% narrower, with an x-height 15% taller and less stroke contrast; Carrois Gothic SC is 23% wider and 28% lighter, with an x-height 8% taller.
Plainsound Condensed and Cossette Titre laid on top of each other.
Ink shared with Plainsound CondensedCossette Titre…
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 Condensed 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 Condensed 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 Condensed, 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 Condensed 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 Condensed 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 Condensed, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
- Cricut
- Once installed. Design Space lists Plainsound Condensed under System. Fonts for Cricut →
From each app’s own font list or help pages.
05 / Measurements
Plainsound Condensed, 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
- 43.7% of the emaverage lowercase
- Ink
- 46%letter box filled
- Contrast
- 1.10 : 1nearly even strokes
Where it stands among sans serifs
Ranked against all 697 sans serifs on FontKind
x-heightNear the middle of sans serifs
WidthNarrower than 84% of sans serifs
InkDarker than 73% of sans serifs
ContrastMore even than 73% of sans serifs
06 / Similar fonts
Fonts similar to Plainsound Condensed
Matched letter by letter · its own family apart
Plainsound Condensed's own familyPlainsound Semi CondensedPlainsound
- Cossette Titre85x-height 15% taller · 15% narrower · less stroke contrast
- Carrois Gothic SC8323% wider · 28% lighter · x-height 8% taller
- Archivo Narrow828% narrower
- Roboto Condensed81Nearly identical proportions
- Rag Narrow797% wider
- Bertioga Sans Condensed788% narrower · more stroke contrast
All 100 fonts similar to Plainsound Condensed →Compare side by side →Get Plainsound Condensed on GitHub
07 / Swap
Swap Plainsound Condensed without a jump
Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%
- Roboto Condensed81text 1.5% wider · x-height 1.6% taller
- Reddit Sans Condensed66text 2.6% wider · x-height 1.4% taller
- Akshar66text 1.2% narrower · x-height 2.9% shorter
- News Cycle64same text width · x-height 0.9% shorter
- Fira Sans Extra Condensed63text 2.1% narrower · x-height 1.4% taller
- Arsenal SC57text 2.2% wider · x-height 3.9% shorter
Fallback while it loads
Until Plainsound Condensed loads, this sets Arial in its place at 88% of its size, so running text keeps Plainsound Condensed’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.
@font-face {
font-family: 'Plainsound Condensed Fallback';
src: local('Arial');
size-adjust: 88.00%;
ascent-override: 117.61%;
descent-override: 33.30%;
line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}
font-family: 'Plainsound Condensed', 'Plainsound Condensed Fallback', sans-serif;08 / Questions
Questions about Plainsound Condensed
Answered from its licence, GitHub and each app’s own font list
Is Plainsound Condensed free for commercial use?
Yes. Plainsound Condensed 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 Condensed?
Plainsound Condensed 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 Condensed in Google Docs?
Probably not: the More fonts list in Docs draws on Google Fonts, and Plainsound Condensed 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 Condensed have?
Plainsound Condensed comes in six weights, from ExtraLight (200) to Bold (700), each with an italic.
Who designed Plainsound Condensed?
Plainsound Condensed was designed by Thomas Nicholson. Thomas Nicholson also made Hausschrift.
What fonts are similar to Plainsound Condensed?
The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Cossette Titre (85), Carrois Gothic SC (83) and Archivo Narrow (82), out of 100. Next to Plainsound Condensed, Cossette Titre is 15% narrower, with an x-height 15% taller and less stroke contrast. Its own family, listed apart, adds Plainsound Semi Condensed and Plainsound. See all 100 fonts like Plainsound Condensed.