Latin Font Subsetting Guide
Learn how to optimize Latin fonts for English, French, German, Spanish, and other European languages. Create smaller, faster web fonts.
Understanding Latin Character Sets
Latin is the most widely used script on the web. It covers English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, and dozens more languages. Most fonts include extensive Latin support by default.
The basic Latin alphabet has 26 letters. But European languages need many more characters. French needs é, è, ê, ë and ç. German needs ä, ö, ü, and ß. Spanish needs ñ and inverted punctuation.
Unicode organizes Latin into several blocks. Basic Latin covers ASCII characters (A-Z, a-z). Latin-1 Supplement adds Western European accents. Latin Extended-A and B add characters for Central and Eastern European languages.
Many fonts include thousands of Latin characters. Your website probably uses only a few hundred. Subsetting removes the characters you do not need.
Characters by Language
Different European languages need different character sets. Here is what each language requires:
| Language | Special Characters | Unicode Range |
|---|---|---|
| English | Basic A-Z only | U+0020-007F |
| French | é è ê ë à â ô û ù ç œ | + U+0080-00FF |
| German | ä ö ü ß Ä Ö Ü | + U+0080-00FF |
| Spanish | ñ á é í ó ú ü ¿ ¡ | + U+0080-00FF |
| Portuguese | ã õ á é í ó ú â ê ô ç | + U+0080-00FF |
| Polish | ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż | + U+0100-017F |
| Vietnamese | ă â đ ê ô ơ ư + tones | + U+1EA0-1EF9 |
Western European languages mostly need Latin-1. Central European languages need Latin Extended-A. Vietnamese needs additional combining marks.
Expected Size Reductions
Latin font subsetting can significantly reduce file sizes:
The savings depend on your original font. Fonts with Greek, Cyrillic, or symbol support show larger reductions. Simple Latin fonts show smaller but still meaningful savings.
How to Subset Latin Fonts
Follow these steps to create optimized Latin fonts for your website:
Open the Font Subsetter
Go to our Font Subsetter Tool. The tool runs entirely in your browser. No software installation is needed.
Upload Your Font File
Drag and drop your font onto the upload area. You can also click to browse your files. The tool accepts TTF, OTF, WOFF, and WOFF2 formats.
Popular Latin fonts include Inter, Roboto, Open Sans, Lato, and Montserrat. All work great with our subsetter.
Analyze the Font
Click the Analyze button. The tool shows you which character ranges your font supports. You will see coverage percentages for Latin, Extended Latin, and other scripts.
This analysis helps you understand what you can remove safely.
Choose Your Character Set
Select a preset from Quick Presets. For English only, choose "Basic Latin." For Western European languages, add "Latin Extended."
You can combine multiple presets. Click each one you need. The tool shows the total character count as you select.
Add Essential Extras
Most websites need numbers and punctuation. Select "Numbers" and "Punctuation" from the Character Categories section.
If your site shows prices, add "Currency Symbols" for €, £, ¥, and other currency marks.
Create Your Subset
Click the orange Subset Font button. Processing takes just a few seconds. Your browser downloads the optimized font automatically.
Compare the file sizes. You should see a significant reduction in the new file.
Unicode Ranges for Latin
Here are the main Unicode ranges for Latin characters:
/* Basic Latin (ASCII) */ U+0020-007F /* Latin-1 Supplement (Western European) */ U+0080-00FF /* Latin Extended-A (Central European) */ U+0100-017F /* Latin Extended-B (African, Vietnamese) */ U+0180-024F /* Latin Extended Additional (Vietnamese tones) */ U+1E00-1EFF
Most European languages work with the first three ranges. Vietnamese needs all ranges including Extended Additional for proper tone marks.
Tips for Latin Web Fonts
Convert to WOFF2
Always use WOFF2 format for web fonts. After subsetting, use our Font Converter to convert to WOFF2. This adds another 20-30% compression.
Know Your Audience
Check your analytics. If 95% of visitors are English-speaking, you might only need Basic Latin. International audiences need Extended Latin for proper names and locations.
Test Thoroughly
After subsetting, check your entire website. Look for missing character boxes. Pay attention to user-generated content where unexpected characters might appear.
Include Fallback Characters
Smart quotes, em dashes, and ellipsis are common in English content. Make sure your subset includes these typographic characters.
Ready to Convert Your Fonts?
8 formats and 56 conversion paths available
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Written by
Sarah Mitchell
With help & verified by language expert