[Tex/LaTex] How to choose a specific weight from a font family using fontspec and XeLaTeX

fontsfontspecxetex

I have installed an open-type font on my OS and would like to use in a LaTeX document using XeLaTeX.

It works fine, but when I define my font family like this:

\ifxetex
  \newfontfamily{\neosans}{NeoSans} 
\else
\fi

When I then use \selectfont\neosansit just selects the Regular version of that font. However, I would like to use the Light version!

Even if I write \newfontfamily{\neosans}{NeoSans-Light} or \newfontfamily{\neosans}{NeoSans Light} it still chooses the Regular version.

The specifications of the font I would like to use looks as follows (in Danish, though):

Link to image

My question is

How do use the Light version of the font?

Best Answer

I don't have NeoSans, but experimented with another font:

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\newfontfamily{\os}{Open Sans}
\newfontfamily{\osl}[UprightFont={* Light}]{Open Sans}
\begin{document}
{Normal: \os Open Sans\par}
{Light: \osl Open Sans Light\par}
\end{document}

You see that the second line indeed chooses the light version.

enter image description here

Notice that \selectfont is not needed (and does nothing).

In your case you probably want to also change the italic and bold version:

\newfontfamily{\neosans}
  [Ligatures=TeX, % recommended
   UprightFont={* Light},
   ItalicFont={* Light Italic},
   BoldFont={* Medium},
   BoldItalicFont={* Medium Italic}]
  {NeoSans}

If you want that NeoSans is used as the standard sans serif font, then instead of \newfontfamily{\neosans} write \setsansfont:

\setsansfont
  [Ligatures=TeX, % recommended
   UprightFont={* Light},
   ItalicFont={* Light Italic},
   BoldFont={* Medium},
   BoldItalicFont={* Medium Italic}]
  {NeoSans}
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