Can I embed a custom font in an iPhone application?

Edit: As of iOS 3.2, this functionality is built in. If you need to support pre-3.2, you can still use this solution.

I created a simple module that extends UILabel and handles loading .ttf files. I released it opensource under the Apache license and put it on github Here.

The important files are FontLabel.h and FontLabel.m.

It uses some of the code from Genericrich's answer.

Browse the source Here.

OR

• Copy your font file into resources

• Add a key to your Info.plist file called UIAppFonts. ("Fonts provided by application)

• Make this key an array

• For each font you have, enter the full name of your font file (including the extension) as items to the UIAppFonts array

• Save Info.plist

• Now in your application you can simply call [UIFont fontWithName:@"CustomFontName" size:15] to get the custom font to use with your UILabels and UITextViews, etc…

For More Information

edit: This answer is defunct as of iOS3.2; use UIAppFonts

The only way I've been able to successfully load custom UIFonts is via the private GraphicsServices framework.

The following will load all the .ttf fonts in the application's main bundle:

BOOL GSFontAddFromFile(const char * path);
NSUInteger loadFonts()
{
    NSUInteger newFontCount = 0;
    for (NSString *fontFile in [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathsForResourcesOfType:@"ttf" inDirectory:nil])
        newFontCount += GSFontAddFromFile([fontFile UTF8String]);
    return newFontCount;
}

Once fonts are loaded, they can be used just like the Apple-provided fonts:

NSLog(@"Available Font Families: %@", [UIFont familyNames]);
[label setFont:[UIFont fontWithName:@"Consolas" size:20.0f]];

GraphicsServices can even be loaded at runtime in case the API disappears in the future:

#import <dlfcn.h>
NSUInteger loadFonts()
{
    NSUInteger newFontCount = 0;
    NSBundle *frameworkBundle = [NSBundle bundleWithIdentifier:@"com.apple.GraphicsServices"];
    const char *frameworkPath = [[frameworkBundle executablePath] UTF8String];
    if (frameworkPath) {
        void *graphicsServices = dlopen(frameworkPath, RTLD_NOLOAD | RTLD_LAZY);
        if (graphicsServices) {
            BOOL (*GSFontAddFromFile)(const char *) = dlsym(graphicsServices, "GSFontAddFromFile");
            if (GSFontAddFromFile)
                for (NSString *fontFile in [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathsForResourcesOfType:@"ttf" inDirectory:nil])
                    newFontCount += GSFontAddFromFile([fontFile UTF8String]);
        }
    }
    return newFontCount;
}

I have done this like this:

Load the font:

- (void)loadFont{
  // Get the path to our custom font and create a data provider.
  NSString *fontPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"mycustomfont" ofType:@"ttf"]; 
  CGDataProviderRef fontDataProvider = CGDataProviderCreateWithFilename([fontPath UTF8String]);

  // Create the font with the data provider, then release the data provider.
  customFont = CGFontCreateWithDataProvider(fontDataProvider);
  CGDataProviderRelease(fontDataProvider); 
}

Now, in your drawRect:, do something like this:

-(void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect{
    [super drawRect:rect];
    // Get the context.
    CGContextRef context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
    CGContextClearRect(context, rect);
    // Set the customFont to be the font used to draw.
    CGContextSetFont(context, customFont);

    // Set how the context draws the font, what color, how big.
    CGContextSetTextDrawingMode(context, kCGTextFillStroke);
    CGContextSetFillColorWithColor(context, self.fontColor.CGColor);
    UIColor * strokeColor = [UIColor blackColor];
    CGContextSetStrokeColorWithColor(context, strokeColor.CGColor);
    CGContextSetFontSize(context, 48.0f);

    // Create an array of Glyph's the size of text that will be drawn.
    CGGlyph textToPrint[[self.theText length]];

    // Loop through the entire length of the text.
    for (int i = 0; i < [self.theText length]; ++i) {
        // Store each letter in a Glyph and subtract the MagicNumber to get appropriate value.
        textToPrint[i] = [[self.theText uppercaseString] characterAtIndex:i] + 3 - 32;
    }
    CGAffineTransform textTransform = CGAffineTransformMake(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, -1.0, 0.0, 0.0);
    CGContextSetTextMatrix(context, textTransform);
    CGContextShowGlyphsAtPoint(context, 20, 50, textToPrint, [self.theText length]);
}

Basically you have to do some brute force looping through the text and futzing about with the magic number to find your offset (here, see me using 29) in the font, but it works.

Also, you have to make sure the font is legally embeddable. Most aren't and there are lawyers who specialize in this sort of thing, so be warned.

Yes, you can include custom fonts. Refer to the documentation on UIFont, specifically, the fontWithName:size: method.

1) Make sure you include the font in your resources folder.

2) The "name" of the font is not necessarily the filename.

3) Make sure you have the legal right to use that font. By including it in your app, you're also distributing it, and you need to have the right to do that.

If you are using xcode 4.3, you have to add the font to the Build Phase under Copy Bundle Resources, according to https://stackoverflow.com/users/1292829/arne in the thread, Custom Fonts Xcode 4.3. This worked for me, here are the steps I took for custom fonts to work in my app:

1. Add the font to your project. I dragged and dropped the OTF (or TTF) files to a new group I created and accepted xcode's choice of copying the files over to the project folder.
2. Create the UIAppFonts array with your fonts listed as items within the array. Just the names, not the extension (e.g. "GothamBold", "GothamBold-Italic").
3. Click on the project name way at the top of the Project Navigator on the left side of the screen.
4. Click on the Build Phases tab that appears in the main area of xcode.
5. Expand the "Copy Bundle Resources" section and click on "+" to add the font.
6. Select the font file from the file navigator that pops open when you click on the "+".
7. Do this for every font you have to add to the project.

It is very easy to add a new font on your existing iOS App.

You just need to add the font e.g. font.ttf into your Resource Folder.

Open your application info.plist. Add a new row as "Fonts provided by application" and type the font name as font.ttf.

And when setting the font do as setFont:"corresponding Font Name"

You can check whether your font is added or not by NSArray *check = [UIFont familyNames];.

It returns all the font your application support.

It's not out yet, but the next version of cocos2d (2d game framework) will support variable length bitmap fonts as character maps.

http://code.google.com/p/cocos2d-iphone/issues/detail?id=317

The author doesn't have a nailed down release date for this version, but I did see a posting that indicated it would be in the next month or two.

One important notice: You should use the "PostScript name" associated with the font, not its Full name or Family name. This name can often be different from the normal name of the font.

Maybe the author forgot to give the font a Mac FOND name?

1. Open the font in FontForge then go to Element>Font Info
2. There is a "Mac" Option where you can set the FOND name.
3. Under File>Export Font you can create a new ttf

You could also give the "Apple" option in the export dialog a try.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a IPhone developer!

Look up ATSApplicationFontsPath

A simple plist entry that allows you to include the font file(s) in your app resources folder and they "just work" in your app.

As all the previous answers indicated, it's very well possible, and pretty easy in newer iOS versions.

I know this is not a technical answer, but since a lot of people do make it wrong (thus effectively violating licenses which may cost you a lot of money if you're being sued), let me strengthen one caveat here: Embedding a custom font in an iOS (or any other kind) app is basically redistributing the font. Most licenses for commercial fonts do forbid redistribution, so please make sure you're acting according to the license.