Sift

Lato

by Łukasz Dziedzic ★★★★☆ Sans-serif
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Quick Answer

Lato is a static sans-serif font Semi-rounded details give Lato warmth while maintaining stability and seriousness.

Performance Impact

91%
Size Reduction
400 KB → 35 KB
-480ms
LCP Improvement
Core Web Vitals boost
28ms
4G Transfer Time
After optimization
100ms
Max Render Block
With font-display: swap

Download Time by Network

Slow 3G (400 Kbps) 700ms
vs ~8000ms unoptimized
Fast 3G (1.5 Mbps) 187ms
vs ~2133ms unoptimized
4G LTE (10 Mbps) 28ms
vs ~320ms unoptimized

Optimization reduces Lato from 400 KB to 35 KB — making your site faster on every device.

Try Lato

Live Preview

Loading Lato...
Quick samples:

How to Optimize Lato

1

Select only needed weights

Lato has 10 styles. Most projects need only Regular, Bold, and maybe Light.

Savings: 70-80%

2

Subset to Latin

Remove Extended Latin and other scripts if not needed.

Savings: 50-60%

3

Convert to WOFF2

Compress each weight file for web delivery.

Savings: 30-40%

4

Use font-display: swap

Ensure text visibility during loading.

Savings: Performance

File Size Comparison

All Lato weights (TTF)
~400 KB
10 files total
All weights (WOFF2)
~280 KB
Compressed
3 weights, Latin WOFF2
~45 KB
Light, Regular, Bold
Optimized with Sift
~35 KB
Subset + WOFF2

Sift optimizes your fonts for maximum performance with 90%+ size reduction

CSS Implementation

CSS
@font-face {
  font-family: 'Lato';
  src: url('/lato.woff2') format('woff2');
  font-display: swap;
}

body {
  font-family: 'Lato', sans-serif;
}

Pro Tips for Lato

💡

Versatile for all text

Lato works equally well for body text and headings, making it a great single-font solution.

💡

Use Light for large text

Lato Light (300) is elegant for large headlines and hero text.

💡

Skip Hairline and Black

The extreme weights are rarely used. Stick to Light, Regular, and Bold.

💡

Great fallback matching

Lato metrics match well with system-ui fonts, minimizing layout shift.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Lato? ▼
Lato (Polish for "summer") was designed by Warsaw-based designer Łukasz Dziedzic. The semi-rounded details of the letters give Lato a feeling of warmth, while the strong structure provides stability and seriousness. It works excellently for both body text and headlines.
Is Lato a variable font? ▼
No, Lato is a static font. It comes in fixed weights and styles rather than variable axes.
How do I optimize Lato for web? ▼
To optimize Lato: 1) Convert to WOFF2 format for smaller files, 2) Subset to only the characters you need, 3) Use font-display: swap to prevent invisible text, 4) Preload critical font files. Sift can automate this entire process.
What license does Lato use? ▼
Lato uses the SIL Open Font License 1.1 license.

Optimize Lato Now

Convert to WOFF2, subset to Latin, and add font-display: swap in seconds.

Optimize Lato