iOS Fonts › Display › Papyrus

Papyrus on iOS

A rough-edged display face evoking hand-made papyrus lettering. Use sparingly and only at large sizes.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
PapyrusRegular
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
Papyrus-CondensedCondensed

Papyrus at a glance

CategoryDisplay
DesignerChris Costello (1982)
Styles on iOS2 (Regular, Condensed)
First on iPhoneiOS 3.0
First on iPadiOS 4.3
Family namePapyrus
Default PostScript namePapyrus

PostScript names for every Papyrus style

iOS looks fonts up by their PostScript name, not the friendly family name. Use the names below exactly as written — they are case-sensitive.

StylePostScript nameiPhoneiPad
RegularPapyrus5.04.3
CondensedPapyrus-Condensed3.05.0

How to use Papyrus in code

SwiftUI

Swift
Text("Hello, world")
    .font(.custom("Papyrus", size: 17, relativeTo: .body))

UIKit

Swift
let base = UIFont(name: "Papyrus", size: 17)!
label.font = UIFontMetrics(forTextStyle: .body).scaledFont(for: base)
label.adjustsFontForContentSizeCategory = true

Objective-C

Obj-C
label.font = [UIFont fontWithName:@"Papyrus" size:17];

CSS for Safari on iPhone and iPad

CSS
.headline {
  font-family: "Papyrus", Georgia, serif;
  font-weight: 400;
}

Wrapping the font in UIFontMetrics, or passing relativeTo: in SwiftUI, lets Papyrus grow and shrink with the user’s Dynamic Type setting. Read the custom fonts guide for the full checklist, or the San Francisco guide if you want Apple’s system font instead.

Frequently asked questions

What is the PostScript name of Papyrus on iOS?

Use “Papyrus” with UIFont(name:size:) or SwiftUI’s Font.custom(_:size:). The family has 2 styles: Regular, Condensed.

Which iOS version added Papyrus?

According to the iOS Fonts availability data, Papyrus first shipped on iPhone in iOS 3.0 and on iPad in iOS 4.3.

Can I use Papyrus on a website?

Safari on iPhone and iPad can render installed system fonts, so a CSS stack such as font-family: "Papyrus", Georgia, serif; will use Papyrus on Apple devices and fall back elsewhere. Embedding the font files on a server requires a separate web licence from the foundry.