Setting the Default Font of Swing Program

Question

I was wondering how to set the default font for my entire Java swing program. From my research it appears it can be done with UIManager, something to do with LookAndFeel, but I can't find specifically how to do it, and the UIManager appears pretty complicated.

Solution 1

try:

public static void setUIFont (javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource f){
    java.util.Enumeration keys = UIManager.getDefaults().keys();
    while (keys.hasMoreElements()) {
      Object key = keys.nextElement();
      Object value = UIManager.get (key);
      if (value instanceof javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource)
        UIManager.put (key, f);
      }
    } 

Call by ...

setUIFont (new javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource("Serif",Font.ITALIC,12));

Solution 2

UIManager.put("Button.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("ToggleButton.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("RadioButton.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("CheckBox.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("ColorChooser.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("ComboBox.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("Label.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("List.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("MenuBar.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("MenuItem.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("RadioButtonMenuItem.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("CheckBoxMenuItem.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("Menu.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("PopupMenu.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("OptionPane.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("Panel.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("ProgressBar.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("ScrollPane.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("Viewport.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("TabbedPane.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("Table.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("TableHeader.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("TextField.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("PasswordField.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("TextArea.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("TextPane.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("EditorPane.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("TitledBorder.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("ToolBar.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("ToolTip.font", /* font of your liking */);
UIManager.put("Tree.font", /* font of your liking */);

Source: http://www.jguru.com/faq/view.jsp?EID=340519

Solution 3

java -Dswing.aatext=true -Dswing.plaf.metal.controlFont=Tahoma -Dswing.plaf.metal.userFont=Tahoma …

This will not only set Tahoma on your complete UI but also turn on anti-aliasing which makes any font much more beautiful immediately.

Solution 4

I think this is better, calling it for the current laf instead of the whole UIManager put this

UIManager.getLookAndFeelDefaults()
        .put("defaultFont", new Font("Arial", Font.BOLD, 14));

Somewhere in the main before instantiating your JFrame object. It worked perfectly for me. Remember this is the default font, for the components that have no specified font.

source: http://www.java.net/node/680725

Solution 5

Inspired by Romain Hippeau, use this code if you want to set just the font size.

for (Map.Entry<Object, Object> entry : javax.swing.UIManager.getDefaults().entrySet()) {
    Object key = entry.getKey();
    Object value = javax.swing.UIManager.get(key);
    if (value != null && value instanceof javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource) {
        javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource fr=(javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource)value;
        javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource f = new javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource(fr.getFamily(), fr.getStyle(), FONT_SIZE);
        javax.swing.UIManager.put(key, f);
    }
}

View more solutions

Comments

[Connor Neville]

For some reason, this is only changing the font on the text of the tabs on my JTabbedPane.

[gumuruh]

waw... is that working by adding New Font object to the /* font of your liking */ portion? Bcoz, it seems that Once the JFRame created and running... There's no effect I obtained. Is there anything I Forgotten @Amir Raminfar?

[Emmanuel Touzery]

works great. And to set a font which has spaces in its name you can quote. Also specify the font size by adding a "-": -Dswing.plaf.metal.controlFont="Droid Sans-15" (size 15)

[flup]

Source's source: BasicLookAndFeel.java

[user1568901]

Doesn't work at all for me. Throws unrecognized option errors.

[Matthieu]

I had it working using UIManager.getLookAndFeelDefaults() instead of UIManager.getDefaults() and using the returned reference instead of UIManager.put() (see my answer below). It works only when overriding the default L&F though (Nimbus in my case)...

[Thufir]

works fine for a netbeans swing app made with palette, drag and drop.

[matthiasboesinger]

Additional information: Some components have multiple keys to set the font for a distinct part of the component. For example JOptionPane: To set the default fonts for JOptionPane you should use: UIManager.put("OptionPane.messageFont", /*font*/); and UIManager.put("OptionPane.buttonFont", /*font*/);

[Nicolas GOUDARD]

Sorry I think this code is better : UIManager.put("Button.font", new FontUIResource("Helvetica", Font.BOLD, 16));

[Lumii]

A more accurate way will be UIManager.put(key, new javax.swing.plaf.FontUIResource(fr.deriveFont(fr.getSize2D() * 2.0f)));

[Asce4s]

@gumuruh it works when you refresh the content tree SwingUtilities.updateComponentTreeUI(this);

[yolob 21]

note calling it BEFORE invoking the ui is necessary else only few places the font effect takes place.