Source Sans Pro

Name: Source Sans Pro
Author: Adobe

Source Sans Pro delivers clean, contemporary letterforms optimized for digital interfaces and modern design systems.

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Sans Serifby Adobe90% Accessible

Characters846

Glyphs1,015

Typography Tools

Best Ways to Use Source Sans Pro

Best Font Pairings for Source Sans Pro

TypeSmith curates 3 expert font pairings for Source Sans Pro, including combinations with Loaded, Benne and Afta Serif.

Each pairing includes accessibility ratings, expert reasoning, and usage recommendations for web and print design.

Explore 3 Pairings for Source Sans Pro

Test Source Sans Pro Font Pairings Live

TypeSmith's interactive testing tool lets you preview Source Sans Pro with any font combination in real-time, optimized for sans serif characteristics.

Adjust font sizes, weights, and see live typography specimens including editorial layouts, code editors, and UI components.

Test Source Sans Pro Pairings Live

In Context

Source Sans Pro Specimen Gallery

EditorialUI ComponentsPosterWordmark

Source Sans Pro Editorial Specimen

Source Sans Pro in Editorial Context

Source Sans Pro is a sans serif typeface by Adobe suited for editorial layouts and long-form reading.

Adobe

Typeface Designer • Sans Serif

Source Sans Pro demonstrates editorial readability through balanced proportions and consistent stroke weight. As a sans serif typeface, it delivers clear letterforms that sustain reader engagement across extended passages of text.

The weight range of Source Sans Pro supports typographic hierarchy within editorial layouts. Headline weights establish visual anchors while lighter weights maintain comfortable reading rhythm in body text columns.

Designed by Adobe, Source Sans Pro balances personality with function — providing enough character to establish visual identity without compromising the legibility that editorial contexts demand.

Email Address

Password

Source Sans Pro Typography

A sans serif typeface for UI components.

Active2 weights available

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Source Sans Pro Specimen

Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro is a sans serif typeface by Adobe built for display contexts.

2 WeightsSans Serif Typeface

Available on TypeSmith

Wordmark Explorations

Source Sans Pro

SOURCE SANS PRO

SOURCE SANS PROTYPE

Tagline Pairings

Source Sans Pro— sans serif typeface

Source Sans ProBy Adobe

Source Sans ProTYPE

Editorial

Magazine-style headline and body text layout

Character Set

Source Sans Pro Glyphs & Characters

Size48

Showing 62 of 187 charactersDouble-click to copy • Click for details

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789

Heading Examples

Body Text Table

Body Copy

Source Sans Pro Used As Body Text

TypeSmith provides optimized body text specifications for Source Sans Pro, including recommended sizes, line heights, and letter spacing for long-form content. These settings ensure maximum readability across devices and screen sizes.

Source Sans Pro demonstrates exceptional body text performance with balanced proportions and consistent stroke widths that enhance readability across paragraph lengths.

When setting Source Sans Pro for body copy, TypeSmith recommends these optimized specifications. The carefully tuned metrics ensure comfortable reading at extended lengths while maintaining the typeface's distinctive character.

Source Sans Pro small text sizes retain legibility through well-defined letterforms. Caption and footnote applications benefit from the font's clear x-height and open counters.

Element	Weight	Size	Line Height	Tracking	Preview
Body Text	Regular	16px	24px	0.5px	Source Sans Pro delivers excellent readability for body copy
Italicized	Regular Italic	16px	24px	0.5px	Source Sans Pro italic provides elegant emphasis
Bold	Bold	16px	24px	0.5px	Source Sans Pro bold creates strong visual hierarchy
Small Caps	Regular	16px	24px	0.5px	Source Sans Pro typography specimen
Secondary Text	Medium	14px	20px	0.5px	Source Sans Pro typography specimen

.your-class { font-family: 'Source Sans Pro'; }

Quick Start

Integrating Source Sans Pro

HTML Link Tag

Add to your <head> section

<link href="https://fonts.bunny.net/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,700&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">

CSS @import

Add at top of your stylesheet

@import url('https://fonts.bunny.net/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,700&display=swap');

CSS @font-face

Self-host the font files

@font-face {
  font-family: 'Source Sans Pro';
  src: url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Source+Sans+Pro:wght@400;700&display=swap');
  font-display: swap;
}

Implementation

Styling with Source Sans Pro

Standard CSS

css

Apply directly to any CSS class or selector.

 1.my-text {
 2  font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif;
 3  font-weight: 400;
 4}

SCSS Variable

scss

Define once, use throughout your stylesheet.

 1$font-primary: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif;
 2
 3.my-text {
 4  font-family: $font-primary;
 5}

Tailwind CSS

config

Configure once, apply with utility classes.

 1// tailwind.config.js
 2module.exports = {
 3  theme: {
 4    extend: {
 5      fontFamily: {
 6        'source-sans-pro': ['Source Sans Pro', 'sans-serif'],
 7      },
 8    },
 9  },
10}
11
12// Usage in HTML
13<p class="font-source-sans-pro">Your text here</p>

About

Understanding Source Sans Pro

Adobe

Sans Serif

Open Source

Source Sans Pro is a free font from Adobe.

Source Sans Pro was designed by Adobe. The typeface demonstrates a commitment to typographic detail, visible in its letterform construction and optical balance.

As a Sans Serif typeface in the Vox-ATypI Lineal classification, Source Sans Pro features no serif extensions on stroke terminals and stroke contrast ranging from monolinear to subtly modulated. These optical characteristics make it well-suited for screen-first digital products and web applications.

Source Sans Pro is available in a single weight, offering focused typographic consistency for both digital and print applications, with 3 font pairings curated. Extended language support spanning Cyrillic, Greek, and Latin Extended ensures reliable rendering across global audiences.

Source Sans Pro

Typography Judgment

Expert Analysis of Source Sans Pro

TypeSmith evaluates every font across classification, accessibility, and design heritage. This analysis helps designers understand Source Sans Pro's strengths and ideal use cases before committing to a typography decision.

Classification

Sans Serif analysis. TypeSmith classifies Source Sans Pro within the Lineal (Grotesque, Neo-grotesque, Geometric, Humanist) tradition, characterized by No serif extensions on stroke terminals and Stroke contrast ranging from monolinear to subtly modulated. The first commercially successful sans-serifs appeared in the 1810s-1830s as display types. Key technical strength: widest variable-font support with weight and width axes.

Accessibility

Readability assessment (grade: 90). Source Sans Pro delivers consistent readability in both display and body-text roles. Humanist sans-serifs offer the best body-text readability in the category.

Design Heritage

Designed by Adobe. The designer's attention to letterform construction and spacing rhythm produces a Sans Serif with a single focused weight suited to both digital and print workflows.

Overview

About Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro falls within the Lineal typeface, drawn from the tradition where the first commercially successful sans-serifs appeared in the 1810s-1830s as display types. Its distinctive no serif extensions on stroke terminals and stroke contrast ranging from monolinear to subtly modulated make it well-suited for screen-first digital products and web applications. TypeSmith catalogs Source Sans Pro in a single weight variant and 3 curated font pairings.

Font Pairings Available

3 curated pairings for Source Sans Pro

View Pairings

Explore More

Typefaces Like Source Sans Pro

View all fonts

TypeSmith identifies 5 fonts with similar visual characteristics to Source Sans Pro based on classification, x-height ratio, and stroke weight. These alternatives maintain the same typographic personality while offering different weight options and language support.

Inclusive Design

Accessibility & Usability

Accessibility Score

Excellent Accessibility

Accessibility Overview for Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro scores in the excellent accessibility tier, making it well-suited for body text, UI labels, and long-form reading across devices. Grotesques with ambiguous letterforms (I/l/1) reduce accessibility. Choose designs with distinct character differentiation and open apertures for inclusive typography.

Source Sans Pro Legibility Characteristics

Source Sans Pro draws legibility from its no serif extensions on stroke terminals and stroke contrast ranging from monolinear to subtly modulated. These characteristics help readers distinguish similar glyphs such as I, l, and 1 at a range of sizes.

Source Sans Pro Reading Performance

Humanist sans-serifs offer the best body-text readability in the category. Geometric and neo-grotesque designs excel in short-form UI text but require careful sizing for sustained reading. Use at 16 px minimum for body text, and maintain 1.5 line-height to support comfortable reading rhythm.

Visual Comfort with Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro provides a focused weight range that maintains consistent typographic color across paragraphs. Balanced stroke modulation keeps visual noise low during sustained reading sessions.

Source Sans Pro Accessibility Recommendations

Maintain a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for body text and 3:1 for large text when setting Source Sans Pro. Use font sizes of at least 16 px for paragraph copy and line spacing of 1.5 or greater. Test Source Sans Pro at 200% browser zoom to confirm line breaks and layout integrity remain intact.

Best Practices for Using Source Sans Pro

Pair with Garalde or Transitional serifs for classic contrast. A humanist sans body with a geometric sans display creates intra-category tension without conflict. A focused set of pairings helps designers find compatible companions for Source Sans Pro. Establish hierarchy through size, spacing, and color rather than multiplying font families. Serve Source Sans Pro in WOFF2 format with its extended character set to ensure consistent rendering across global audiences.

Get the Font

Download Weights & Variants

Available Weights

400

Regular

Local

400

Regular Italic

Local

700

Bold

Local

700

Bold Italic

Local

Weight Reference

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Internationalization

Supported Scripts & Languages

Extended Latin Coverage

Supports 100+ languages with Latin script

Western European

English
French
German
Spanish
Italian
Portuguese
Dutch

Nordic

Swedish
Norwegian
Danish
Finnish
Icelandic

Central European

Polish
Czech
Hungarian
Romanian
Slovak

Baltic

Lithuanian
Latvian
Estonian

This font encodes 1123 glyphs covering Latin, Greek and Cyrillic. Latin coverage extends past the basic ASCII set into Latin Extended, so Central and Eastern European languages set correctly. Text outside these ranges falls back to another face in the stack.

Legal

Source Sans Pro Licensing

SIL Open Font License (OFL) 1.1

Free for personal and commercial use

View License

What you can do

Personal projects
Commercial projects
Web embedding
App embedding
Modification
Redistribution

Restrictions

Selling as standalone

Modified versions must use a different name and be distributed under the same OFL license.

Source Sans Pro is available under the SIL Open Font License (OFL), Version 1.1. This license is a free, libre, and open source license specifically designed for fonts and related software. The OFL allows the fonts to be used, studied, modified, and redistributed freely as long as they are not sold by themselves. This makes Source Sans Pro ideal for web projects, applications, documents, and print materials of any kind.

1// tailwind.config.js 2module.exports = { 3 theme: { 4 extend: { 5 fontFamily: { 6 'source-sans-pro': ['Source Sans Pro', 'sans-serif'], 7 }, 8 }, 9 }, 10} 11 12// Usage in HTML 13<p class="font-source-sans-pro">Your text here</p>

Source Sans Pro

Best Ways to Use Source Sans Pro

Best Font Pairings for Source Sans Pro

Test Source Sans Pro Font Pairings Live

In Context

Source Sans Pro Typography

Source Sans Pro

Character Set

Type Scale

Source Sans Pro Used As Body Text

Quick Start

HTML Link Tag

CSS @import

CSS @font-face

Implementation

Standard CSS

SCSS Variable

Tailwind CSS

About

Typography Judgment

Classification

Accessibility

Design Heritage

Overview

Categories

Explore More

Inclusive Design

Accessibility Overview for Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro Legibility Characteristics

Source Sans Pro Reading Performance

Visual Comfort with Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro Accessibility Recommendations

Best Practices for Using Source Sans Pro

Get the Font

Available Weights

Weight Reference

Internationalization

Western European

Nordic

Central European

Baltic

Legal

What you can do

Restrictions

Source Sans Pro

Best Ways to Use Source Sans Pro

Best Font Pairings for Source Sans Pro

Test Source Sans Pro Font Pairings Live

In Context

Source Sans Pro Typography

Source Sans Pro

Character Set

Type Scale

Source Sans Pro Used As Body Text

Quick Start

HTML Link Tag

CSS @import

CSS @font-face

Implementation

Standard CSS

SCSS Variable

Tailwind CSS

About

Typography Judgment

Classification

Accessibility

Design Heritage

Overview

Categories

Explore More

Inclusive Design

Accessibility Overview for Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro Legibility Characteristics

Source Sans Pro Reading Performance

Visual Comfort with Source Sans Pro

Source Sans Pro Accessibility Recommendations

Best Practices for Using Source Sans Pro

Get the Font

Available Weights

Weight Reference