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If Chinese text looks italic or slanted in a wkhtmltopdf PDF, first check which font and style the rendering host is actually using. The browser preview may use a different font from wkhtmltopdf, and older 0.12.x builds can have unreliable per-character font fallback. Install and verify a CJK-capable font, explicitly set its family and a normal style, then compare builds only if the font configuration is sound.
Why Chinese characters can look slanted in wkhtmltopdf
wkhtmltopdf renders HTML using the fonts available to the process on its host, along with that system’s fontconfig and FreeType configuration. Its output can therefore differ from a browser preview: the browser may find a suitable Chinese font while the wkhtmltopdf environment selects a different face or cannot reliably fall back for individual characters.
A Chinese font-selection problem can resemble an italic-style problem. The selected face may be oblique, or the intended CJK family may not be the one actually used. A CSS declaration that names a Latin-oriented family first does not guarantee that every Chinese character will be filled in from another family. The project documentation describes the runtime dependency on installed fonts, fontconfig and FreeType; issue #2809 discusses character-level fallback limitations in 0.12 releases.
Start by checking the environment and the selected font. Changing margins, line height or other page-layout settings is unlikely to correct a font face that is being matched as oblique.
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Collect a reproducible test case
Before changing production CSS or replacing the renderer, reduce the failure to one HTML file containing the exact Chinese text that looks wrong. Keep the styles that affect the text, but remove unrelated layout where possible. Render that same file in the affected environment and in any environment where it looks correct.
- Record the output of
wkhtmltopdf --version, the operating system and distribution, and how wkhtmltopdf was installed. - Include the minimal HTML, its relevant CSS and any JavaScript that affects the text or page load.
- State whether the font is installed on the system or loaded using
@font-face. - Record which account runs wkhtmltopdf: an interactive shell user, a web-server account, a container user or another service account.
The project’s support guidance asks for the version, operating system and a detailed HTML/CSS/JavaScript reproduction. That information matters because identical markup can encounter different installed fonts and runtime libraries on different hosts.
Check which Chinese font and style the host can match
On systems with fontconfig, run these checks in the target environment:
fc-match "sans-serif:lang=zh"
fc-list :lang=zh family stylefc-match shows the match for a generic sans-serif request associated with Chinese; fc-list lists installed families and styles that fontconfig associates with Chinese. Look for a CJK-capable family and check whether the matching style is roman/regular or italic/oblique. Fontconfig exposes a slant property for this distinction, so an oblique match is a concrete clue to investigate.
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These commands describe what fontconfig can see; they do not prove by themselves which face a particular wkhtmltopdf build ultimately uses for every glyph. Compare the result with the CSS family name and repeat the check as the same user or service account that launches wkhtmltopdf. A successful match in your login shell is not enough if the rendering service has a different account or font configuration.
Install and verify a known-good CJK font
For a controlled test, install a CJK-capable font such as an appropriate Noto Chinese variant using the package or deployment method for your operating system. The exact family name varies by distribution and installed variant, so use the family reported by fc-match rather than assuming that one name works everywhere.
- Install the chosen font where the wkhtmltopdf process can access it.
- Refresh the font cache. A commonly used command is
fc-cache -f -v; confirm the appropriate procedure for the target distribution. - Run the fontconfig checks again as the rendering service account.
- Render the minimal test page again, without changing the HTML or CSS at the same time.
Changing one variable at a time helps distinguish an installation or font-cache issue from a CSS or renderer issue. A wkhtmltopdf issue report describes Noto Chinese/Japanese fonts rendering correctly while other font files produced malformed glyphs. Treat that as evidence that font choice can matter, not a guarantee that a particular Noto variant will fix every installation.
Set the Chinese font and style explicitly in CSS
Once you know the family name available on the host, name it directly and make the intended style and weight explicit. For example:
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body {
font-family: "Noto Sans CJK SC", "Noto Sans SC", sans-serif;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 400;
}
.zh {
font-family: "Noto Sans CJK SC", "Noto Sans SC", sans-serif;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 400;
}Replace the example names with the family name or names reported by the target host. The two-family stack is not a substitute for installing a font: if neither named family is available, the generic fallback is still left to the host’s matching rules. Also inspect more specific CSS selectors and inherited styles that might override font-style or font-weight. Setting font-style: normal in one rule will not help if a more specific rule later applies an italic or oblique style.
If only the Chinese is affected in mixed-language text, test the Chinese span independently. If the problem follows the font rule, focus on font availability and matching; if the same text looks different only under wkhtmltopdf, keep the host and renderer in the investigation.
Handle Latin and Chinese text with separate elements
If Latin text should use one face and Chinese text another, wrap the scripts separately and assign concrete families to each. This avoids depending on character-by-character fallback behavior in older wkhtmltopdf releases.
<p>
<span class="latin">Order number: A-103</span>
<span class="zh">ä¸æ–‡å†…容</span>
</p>.latin {
font-family: "Your Latin Font", sans-serif;
font-style: normal;
}
.zh {
font-family: "Noto Sans CJK SC", "Noto Sans SC", sans-serif;
font-style: normal;
font-weight: 400;
}Use family names actually present in the deployment. Issue #2809 reports that current 0.12 releases do not support font-family fallback at the character level reliably and describes separate elements with explicit fonts as a workaround. This is a workaround for mixed-script font selection, not a claim that every 0.12 rendering defect has the same cause.
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Try text-rendering settings only after verifying the font
If the selected family is CJK-capable and the style is normal, but the output still has spacing or shaping artifacts, test one of these declarations at a time:
body { text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; }body { text-rendering: geometricPrecision; }Issue #1734 records these settings as a suggested workaround and a user reported success. They are experiments, not guaranteed fixes. In particular, they do not establish that wkhtmltopdf has stopped selecting an oblique face; verify the font match and computed CSS separately.
Compare wkhtmltopdf builds if the font configuration is correct
If the same minimal HTML still fails after the installed font, font cache, CSS family and style have been checked, compare the distribution-specific wkhtmltopdf package with another controlled build. The project’s downloads guidance notes that runtime fontconfig and FreeType versions affect behavior, so generic binaries are not expected to act identically on every platform.
Issue #2809 mentions a 0.13 alpha or patched build as possible workarounds for fallback problems, but also warns of compatibility caveats: an alpha or patched build may lack features or have other issues. Do not replace a stable production renderer solely on the assumption that a newer label guarantees a fix. Render the same test file with each candidate and check both the Chinese output and the rest of the document before deciding whether to deploy it.
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Troubleshoot by symptom
| What you observe | Likely area to check | Next action |
|---|---|---|
| The Chinese looks slanted but other text looks normal | The CJK face selected by fontconfig, or a rule applied specifically to the Chinese text | Check fc-match, inspect the relevant CSS cascade, and explicitly set a CJK family with normal style. |
| The page works in a browser but not in the PDF | Different host fonts, fontconfig/FreeType runtime, or renderer build | Run the font checks on the wkhtmltopdf host and compare the same minimal HTML there. |
| The font works in a shell but not in the application | The service may run as a different user or see a different font configuration | Repeat the checks as the account that launches the renderer, refresh the cache as appropriate, and render from that same service context. |
| Chinese glyphs are missing or malformed rather than simply slanted | The selected family may not contain the required glyphs, or fallback may not work as expected | Install and verify a CJK-capable font; for mixed scripts, assign fonts to separate elements. |
| CSS says normal, but the output still looks oblique | A more specific or inherited CSS rule, an oblique font match, or a renderer difference | Inspect the full relevant CSS and fontconfig match before testing a different build. |
| The problem persists with verified CSS and fonts | Distribution-specific runtime libraries or wkhtmltopdf build behavior | Compare a distribution package or a separately controlled build against the same test case. |
Choose a fix that fits your deployment
- CSS-only change: Lowest operational scope when the correct CJK font is already installed and visible. It will not make a missing font available.
- Host font installation: Improves certainty when the renderer has no suitable Chinese face, but requires the font and refreshed cache to be available wherever the rendering service runs.
- Separate script elements: Useful where mixed Latin and Chinese text depends on fallback that the current renderer handles unreliably. It adds markup or templating work.
- Distribution-specific package or controlled build: Appropriate when verified fonts and styles still yield different results. This has the broadest compatibility and deployment impact, so test the full document before rollout.
For repeatable PDF output across machines, record the renderer version and operating system alongside the font families and relevant CSS. Keep the font installation and cache-refresh steps in the same deployment process that provisions wkhtmltopdf; otherwise a working developer machine can conceal a missing production dependency.
Or skip the browser setup
ScreenshotNeo is a separate option if what you need is a website screenshot rather than a wkhtmltopdf-rendered PDF; it does not repair wkhtmltopdf’s font selection. Its screenshot API can return an image or PDF from a URL. For example, one GET request saves a screenshot:
curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options. ScreenshotNeo removes cookie banners, newsletter popups and chat widgets before capture; bot checks, blank pages and failed loads are not billed. Its MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots. The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots a month with no card, and paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 screenshots. Those features may help with screenshot capture, but they do not change the fonts used by your wkhtmltopdf installation.
Learn about ScreenshotNeo, or sign up for 1,000 free screenshots a month with no card.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every wkhtmltopdf 0.12.x installation have the same Chinese fallback problem?
No. Issue #2809 describes unreliable character-level font fallback in current 0.12 releases, but the visible result also depends on the installed fonts, runtime configuration and CSS. Treat it as a known limitation to test for, not proof that every 0.12.x PDF will render Chinese incorrectly.
Is there a reported percentage of wkhtmltopdf users affected by slanted Chinese glyphs?
No authoritative prevalence statistic is established in the project documentation or issue records described here; bug reports are not a population study.
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