Silkscreen Font
Silkscreen is a pixel font by Jason Kottke, first released in 1999 for crisp text at small sizes on the web. Type above to preview the Silkscreen font with your own text, add an effect and save it as a PNG, or download both weights for free.
Its chunky, retro-computing look also works big, which is why it turns up in games, logos and posters.
Silkscreen
Designed by Jason Kottke. SIL Open Font License 1.1: free for personal and commercial use. Best for: Small UI labels, retro web graphics, badges.
Silkscreen characters
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789 !?&@#$%*+-=/:;.,'"()
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About the Silkscreen font
Silkscreen was designed for rendering type at small sizes in web graphics, back when most sites were built from tiny images. Since its release in 1999, it has been used by companies like Flickr, Herman Miller, Volvo and Adobe, by pop stars like Britney Spears and Carly Rae Jepsen, and in films like The Bourne Legacy. The Google Fonts version has two weights, Regular and Bold, and the Silkscreen font is free under the SIL Open Font License.
Silkscreen in games and pixel art
Silkscreen's square pixel letters fit naturally into pixel art games, HUDs and retro menus. Like all pixel fonts it looks sharpest at multiples of its grid, so try 8, 16 or 24 pixels and turn off anti-aliasing in your engine. For a bigger title, the Bold weight holds up well, and the outline effect in the preview above gives it a classic arcade look.
How to download and install Silkscreen
Press Download and unzip the file to get Silkscreen Regular and Bold. On Windows, select both, right-click and choose Install. On a Mac, open them and click Install Font. For Canva, upload the .ttf files (a Canva Pro feature). For a website, load Silkscreen from Google Fonts and set font-family: 'Silkscreen', sans-serif.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Silkscreen font free for commercial use?
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Yes. The Google Fonts release of Silkscreen is under the SIL Open Font License, which allows commercial use.
Who made the Silkscreen font?
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Jason Kottke, who released it in 1999 for small text in web graphics.
What size should I use Silkscreen at?
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Use multiples of its pixel grid, like 8, 16 or 24 pixels, so the edges stay crisp.