Cairo
Cairo is a sans serif font in 8 weights, also available as a variable font. Its lowercase letters are 9% narrower than the typical sans serif font. Last updated 16 September 2025.
Editing a PDF that uses Cairo
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 Cairo from the widths stored in your PDF, loads the complete open font, and sets your new text in Cairo itself. The rest of the page is carried over untouched.
Measured metrics
| Average lowercase letter width | 474.3 units per 1000 em |
|---|---|
| Average capital letter width | 585.3 units per 1000 em |
| Word space | 220 units per 1000 em |
| Digits | tabular (every digit is 560 units wide, so columns of numbers line up) |
| Spacing | proportional |
| Width of i compared with m | 26% |
| Printable ASCII characters covered | 94 of 94 |
| Category | Sans serif |
Weights and styles
Languages beyond basic Latin
Open fonts closest to Cairo
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.
- Cairo Play Regularidentical letter widths (0 units)
- Sunflower Lightnearly identical widths (0.8 units)
- Titillium Web Regularnearly identical widths (0.8 units)
- Murecho Regularsimilar widths (27.1 units)
- Sofia Sans Semi Condensed Regularsimilar widths (29.7 units)
- PT Sans Regularsimilar widths (29.8 units)
- Familjen Grotesk Regularsimilar widths (29.8 units)
- Sofia Sans Regularloosely similar widths (30 units)
Compare Cairo
Questions people ask
+Can I edit a PDF that uses Cairo?
Yes. Drop the PDF into MythosPDF and click the text. New letters are set in Cairo itself, loaded from the open font, so the edit matches the rest of the page.
+Is Cairo free to use?
Cairo 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 Cairo?
By measured letter widths, Cairo Play is the closest match among open fonts (a mean difference of 0 units per 1000 em). Text set in one takes almost the same space in the other.
+Which languages does Cairo support?
It includes these character sets: Arabic, Latin, Central European.
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