Where are all the extra Noto Sans web font weights

[gschervish]

Looks like https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Noto+Sans only has regular and bold weights but the official website for noto: https://www.google.com/get/noto/ has a ton more weights. Is there a reason google fonts only serves 2 weights there? I want light, regular, semibold along with their italic partners to be available in web font

Thoughts?

[EasySoftwarePoland]

I'm also interested in this topic

[ytxmobile98]

With that 72 variants, it would be too costly -- in terms of data to be downloaded -- to put 72 variants into one single css file, expecting that almost no one is likely to use 72 variants at the same time.
Anyone who needs to use the variants can write there own css @font-face rules, which are well-structured and not hard to learn and write.
(I am not part of the team, and this is only my own guess)

[eokic]

@ytx21cn no one is asking for 72 variants. Having just a few, common weights would be more than enough for most of us. There is very little design value in having just regular and bold. Heck, there's Noto JP and some other languages right there on Google Fonts but with 6 weights. Why the default Noto doesn't have them is beyond me.

[joaoguerra-os]

Does anyone have an update on this thread? I'm also interested in Noto Sans but use only Regular and Bold variants is short.

[sawwong]

I'm also interested in this topic. Does anyone have an update on this thread?

[m4rc1e]

The version of Noto that we serve is very different to the latest versions, https://www.google.com/get/noto/. Since we don't have a versioned API, existing users will complain of regressions if we push the newer version.

[jerclarke]

Hmmm, so it sounds like me picking Noto Sans KR in google fonts, just to get the Black weight, actually makes sense?

Strange times!

[ytxmobile98]

@ytx21cn no one is asking for 72 variants. Having just a few, common weights would be more than enough for most of us. There is very little design value in having just regular and bold. Heck, there's Noto JP and some other languages right there on Google Fonts but with 6 weights. Why the default Noto doesn't have them is beyond me.

For such highly structured data with a fixed pattern of font filenames, one can use Python to generate the CSS @font-face rules they want.

First I shall have an own scheme to refer to the font variants.
For instance, if I want to get the "condensed" series, I can define these font style codes for my self:

400: regular weight
500i: medium weight, italic
c700i: bold weight, condensed, italic
e300i: light weight, extra condensed, italic
s900: heavy weight, semi condensed

Then I can use regular expression and set the capture groups in Python, so that for example it can capture (c), (700), (i) to capture out the key information.
Once I get this, I can use these information to match the font file, e.g. "NotoSans-CondensedBoldItalic.ttf".
Then it is easy to adapt it into a @font-face css rule.

[brettdonald]

The version of Noto that we serve is very different to the latest versions, https://www.google.com/get/noto/. Since we don't have a versioned API, existing users will complain of regressions if we push the newer version.

If you're going to make "breaking changes" to a font, then it's not the same font, so the "versioning" should occur in the font name. The revised font should be "Noto 2", for example. The current situation is frankly embarrassing. I want to use "Noto Sans Extra Light" in one of my own web sites, but I have to serve it myself, as it's not available on Google's CDN. Completely ridiculous!

[missmatsuko]

Based on the resolutions of #1316 and #1307, Google's hosted fonts should be updated to the latest and it's left up to the developer to host the fonts if they want to keep it to a specific version. Why are we now concerned about "breaking" font changes?

[m4rc1e]

Reading #1316 makes it clear we rejected having a versioned api. Yes, there may be hidden endpoints which have versioning but these should not be used since they may change in the future.

[thlinard]

Hi @m4rc1e
Maybe the real problem is that the episode with Montserrat was a trauma for your team? You remained traumatized and you don't want to relive such a story. I can understand, but this is very unfortunate, because, even if you'll have some negative feedback while passing to the last version, Noto Sans has a great potential currently untapped by staying in this old 4-style version.

[thlinard]

To quote @davelab6 recent comment:

That cost is always worth paying to make a font family better, because the future is longer than the past, and because the fonts are libre so if people want control of their font upgrade schedule, they are free to take control.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/googlefonts-discuss/gt36tqi9PZc

[fitojb]

Maybe the real problem is that the episode with Montserrat was a trauma for your team?

Well, they should’n have messed up the weights like they did. I find it unacceptable that 400 is too thin to the point of being unreadable in Windows and Linux. This is especially unfortunate since the Mexican government chose Montserrat as one of their brand fonts and now all government sites use a display weight for body text, hindering readability :(

[thlinard]

Montserrat 400 is fine, and if you don't like it, you use Montserrat 500:
https://github.com/JulietaUla/Montserrat/releases/tag/v7.200

Before, there wasn't even a choice: it was either a 500 that claimed to be a 400, or a 700. Now we have 9 weights to choose from.

[fitojb]

@thlinard I KNOW I can select a better choice. What I am saying is that the new default Regular is wrong for body text.

[thlinard]

We disagree. 😀

[fitojb]

All I know is, I shouldn’t be forced to squint or zoom at most of the web.

[thlinard]

Adobe provides the 72 styles here:
https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/noto-sans

[Krishnanandkg]

1. i downloaded Noto Sans pack from :
   https://www.google.com/get/noto/

2. Opened :
   https://www.fontsquirrel.com/tools/webfont-generator.

3. Uploaded only the fonts that i need.,

4. Got the generated webfonts, which can be used in your web app.

[sujit1618]

Adobe provides the 72 styles here:
https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/noto-sans

Life saver!

[mvdobrinin]

Also interested in this.

Looking at the Noto Sans webfont I see only the following weights are available -

• 400
• 400 italic
• 700
• 700 italic

However the font itself supports many more weights -

• 100-900
• 100-900 italic

Please make all weights available on the webfont.

[0kMike]

Are there any news about this issue? Would be very interested in the other weights being available directly on https://fonts.google.com