Sans serif · Calvin Waterman

Violet Sans

Q: Is Violet Sans free for commercial use?

Yes. Violet Sans is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, which allows commercial use at any scale, logos, websites, apps and PDFs included.

Your words – they follow you round the site

Case

Size72 px

Weight400 RegularThe only weight it comes in

Letter spacing0 em

Line height1.10

Find the font. Find its kind.

CSSfont-family: 'Violet Sans', sans-serif; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; line-height: 1.1;

Violet Sans is a free sans serif by Calvin Waterman, from its maker’s repository on GitHub. Among the 697 sans serifs on FontKind, Violet Sans has an x-height shorter than 82%, is wider than 68% and, at its regular weight, is darker than 73%. Its thickest strokes are 1.0 times its thinnest: nearly even strokes.

Compare with Mozilla Text →Compare with another font

01 / Light table

Laid on top of Mozilla Text

Violet Sans on one light table with its two closest fonts, Mozilla Text (77 out of 100) and Onest (74). Mozilla Text is 19% lighter and 6% wider, with an x-height 11% taller; Onest is 10% lighter, with an x-height 10% taller.

Layout

Letters

Show

Size auto

Ink shared with Violet SansMozilla Text…

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.

Open in the compare tool →

02 / Letters

The Violet Sans 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 / Sizes

Violet Sans at every size

1 weight (400) · six sizes, in your words

12 px
16 px
24 px
36 px
48 px
72 px

04 / Facts

Who made Violet Sans, and can you use it?

Designer: Calvin Waterman
Kind: Sans serif
Styles: 1 weight (400)
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.
Sharing the files: Yes, but not for sale. With the licence.

Violet Sans is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1. This is a plain summary, not legal advice: the licence itself decides.

What each licence allows →

Read the licence

Its licence file, in its repository

Already in your apps?

Google Docs: Not verified. Docs adds Google Fonts, and Violet Sans 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 Violet Sans, or upload it with Canva Pro. Canva’s help
Cricut: Once installed. Design Space lists Violet Sans under System. Fonts for Cricut →

From each app’s own font list or help pages.

How each app gets its fonts →

Get Violet Sans on GitHub

05 / Measurements

Violet Sans, measured

Taken from the font file's own outlines, regular style

Hxgp in Violet Sans. Lines at the measured heights, as a share of the em · The parts of a letter, named

x-height: 48.0% of the emlowercase x
Cap height: 71.0% of the emcapitals
x / cap: 0.68lowercase against capitals
Width: 52.8% of the emaverage lowercase
Ink: 46%letter box filled
Contrast: 1.05 : 1nearly even strokes

How we measure →

Where it stands among sans serifs

Ranked against all 697 sans serifs on FontKind

x-heightSmaller than 82% of sans serifs
WidthWider than 68% of sans serifs
InkDarker than 73% of sans serifs
ContrastMore even than 84% of sans serifs

06 / Similar fonts

Fonts similar to Violet Sans

Matched letter by letter · its own family apart

All 100 fonts similar to Violet Sans →Compare side by side →Get Violet Sans on GitHub

07 / Swap

Swap Violet Sans without a jump

Running text within 3% of the width, x-height within 5%

Fallback while it loads

Until Violet Sans loads, this sets Arial in its place at 105.6% of its size, so running text keeps Violet Sans’s width and lines keep their height: nothing moves when it arrives.

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Violet Sans Fallback';
  src: local('Arial');
  size-adjust: 105.57%;
  ascent-override: 76.72%;
  descent-override: 18.00%;
  line-gap-override: 0.00%;
}

font-family: 'Violet Sans', 'Violet Sans Fallback', sans-serif;

08 / Questions

Questions about Violet Sans

Answered from its licence, GitHub and each app’s own font list

Is Violet Sans free for commercial use?

Yes. Violet Sans is under the SIL Open Font License 1.1 , which allows commercial use at any scale, logos, websites, apps and PDFs included.

How do I download and install Violet Sans?

Violet Sans 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 fonts/TTF 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 Violet Sans in Google Docs?

Probably not: the More fonts list in Docs draws on Google Fonts, and Violet Sans 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 Violet Sans have?

Violet Sans comes in one weight, Regular (400). Ask for bold and most apps thicken the letters themselves: a faux bold, not a drawn one.

Who designed Violet Sans?

Violet Sans was designed by Calvin Waterman.

What fonts are similar to Violet Sans?

The closest in our letter-by-letter match are Mozilla Text (77), Onest (74) and BDO Grotesk (74), out of 100. Next to Violet Sans, Mozilla Text is 19% lighter and 6% wider, with an x-height 11% taller. See all 100 fonts like Violet Sans.