When you send out important business documents like invoices, reports, contracts, or application forms, they should be unmistakably yours. Generic fonts that don’t match your brand identity can be easily forgotten, so keep your branding consistent to make a lasting impression. Your brand has a voice, and your documents should speak it clearly – including the typography!
The Solution: Gravity PDF Custom Fonts
Here’s the good news: you do not have to settle for basic typography. While Gravity PDF comes with core fonts built-in, it also offers a straightforward way to use custom fonts. This allows you to infuse your brand’s specific typography directly into your PDFs.
Let me show you how to use custom fonts to transform your Gravity PDF documents from boring to brilliant.
Prefer to watch a video tutorial? You can follow along with the steps in this video:
Step 1: Prepare Your Custom Font Files
First, you’ll need to get your font files ready. Gravity PDF works exclusively with TrueType Fonts (.ttf), so make sure your fonts are in this format. If you have a different format, like .otf, there are many free font converter tools online that can help you convert it to a .ttf file.
Gravity PDF needs at least one .ttf file to install a new font. While you would normally start with the Regular style, it’s not your only choice. If your font includes other variants like italics and bold you can grab those as well.
For example, to install the font Inter you might prepare these files:
Inter-Regular.ttf (required)Inter-Italic.ttf (optional)Inter-Bold.ttf (optional)Inter-BoldItalic.ttf (optional)
You can be flexible in assigning your font files. Feel free to use any .ttf file for any of the four style positions – Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic. If you want your “Regular” text to appear Semi Bold or Thin, simply upload that specific .ttf file to the “Regular” slot. Mix and match font weights and styles to get the exact look you want in your PDF!
Importantly, if you download files from Google Fonts you might find different font styles bundled into a single variable font file. While these files are installable, they aren’t fully supported in Gravity PDF. For best results, always use the individual .ttf files from the “static” folder.
Check the License!
Not all fonts are licensed for use with dynamically-generated PDFs. Open-source fonts – like those available from Google Fonts – are generally allowed. But many commercial font licenses do NOT allow this type of usage.
Step 2: Install Your Custom Font in Gravity PDF
Now, let’s get your chosen font installed and ready for use with Gravity PDF.
Go to Font Manager: In your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Forms → Settings → PDF. Then, open the Font Manager by clicking on the Manage button next to the “Default Font” setting.
Upload Font Files: On the right-hand side of the modal that opens, you can either click on the plus sign to open up your File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (macOS), then select your fonts. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the files to their corresponding boxes. Upload the
.ttffont file for each style (Regular, Italics, Bold, Bold Italics). If you do not have a specific style you can leave that field empty. Gravity PDF can sometimes mimic it, but a real font file is always better.Give Your Font a Name: Give your font a clear Font Name. Following our example, the name will be Inter (you can download the font here).
Complete Installation: Click the Add Font button to complete the installation.
Step 3: Apply Your Custom Font to a PDF Template
With your font installed, you can now tell your Gravity PDF document to use it.
Edit Your PDF: Go to Forms → Settings → PDF and select the specific PDF you want to customize.
Select Your Font: Scroll down to the Appearance tab within that PDF’s settings. In the Font dropdown menu, you will now see your newly installed custom font listed under the User-Defined Fonts section. Select it.
Save Your Changes: Do not forget to click Update PDF to save these settings for your PDF.
Step 4: Test Your PDF with the New Font
It is vital to see your new font in action to ensure it looks just right!
View a PDF: Go to your form’s Entries list (for the form associated with your PDF), open any entry, or submit a test entry, and click View PDF.
Verify the Font: The generated PDF should now proudly display your custom font. Look at different text elements to confirm it appears exactly as you intended.
Troubleshooting Tips:
Step 5: Delete or Update Your Custom Fonts
Sometimes, you might need to remove a font you’ve added or update an existing one. It’s a straightforward process.
Open the Font Manager
Delete a Font:
On the left side of the Font Manager, you’ll see a list of your Installed Custom Fonts. You can use the search box to look for the font name, or simply scroll down to find the font.
To delete a font, simply click its name in the list, then click the Delete button (trash icon) on the right-hand side.
Note: If a font you’re trying to delete is currently assigned to any of your PDF templates, those PDFs will automatically revert to the fallback font (DejaVu Sans Condensed) when new documents are generated. Gravity PDF will also prompt you to confirm the deletion, so you won’t do it by accident.
Update a Font:
If you need to update an existing font (maybe you have a new version of the font file), click its name in the font list on the left of the Font Manager.
The details for that font will load on the right. You can then upload new font files for the Regular, Italics, Bold, or Bold Italics variants, or simply update its name.
Click Update Font to save your changes.
Wrapping Up
There you have it! That’s how to elevate your Gravity PDF documents with custom fonts. Your documents are now more polished and professional.
If you are eager to explore more ways you can use Gravity PDF to automate your business processes, I encourage you to review our other How To articles. Or if you’d like to see how other users are putting Gravity PDF to work, check out our video Case Study series.
Happy PDFing!
