Big Shoulders
Big Shoulders is a display font in 9 weights, also available as a variable font. Its lowercase letters are 29% narrower than the typical display font. Last updated 2 September 2025.
Editing a PDF that uses Big Shoulders
Most PDFs embed only the letters they already use. Type a new letter and many editors either refuse or swap in a different font. MythosPDF recognises Big Shoulders from the widths stored in your PDF, loads the complete open font, and sets your new text in Big Shoulders itself. The rest of the page is carried over untouched.
Measured metrics
| Average lowercase letter width | 372.5 units per 1000 em |
|---|---|
| Average capital letter width | 409 units per 1000 em |
| Word space | 208 units per 1000 em |
| Digits | proportional (digit widths differ) |
| Spacing | proportional |
| Width of i compared with m | 31% |
| Printable ASCII characters covered | 94 of 94 |
| Category | Display |
Weights and styles
Languages beyond basic Latin
Open fonts closest to Big Shoulders
Measured on every printable character both fonts contain. A smaller difference means the same words take the same space, so lines break in the same places.
- Big Shoulders Stencil Regularnearly identical widths (1 units)
- Big Shoulders Text Regularnearly identical widths (4.9 units)
- Big Shoulders Stencil Text Regularnearly identical widths (4.9 units)
- Big Shoulders Inline Regularvery close widths (7.5 units)
- Big Shoulders Inline Text Regularvery close widths (10.4 units)
- Big Shoulders Display Regularsimilar widths (15.1 units)
- Big Shoulders Stencil Display Regularsimilar widths (16 units)
- Big Shoulders Inline Display Regularsimilar widths (19.4 units)
Compare Big Shoulders
Questions people ask
+Can I edit a PDF that uses Big Shoulders?
Yes. Drop the PDF into MythosPDF and click the text. New letters are set in Big Shoulders itself, loaded from the open font, so the edit matches the rest of the page.
+Is Big Shoulders free to use?
Big Shoulders is released under the SIL Open Font License 1.1, an open licence that allows free use in documents, including commercial ones. Check the licence text for your exact use.
+Which font is closest to Big Shoulders?
By measured letter widths, Big Shoulders Stencil is the closest match among open fonts (a mean difference of 1 units per 1000 em). Text set in one takes almost the same space in the other.
+Which languages does Big Shoulders support?
It includes these character sets: Latin, Central European, Vietnamese.
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