There is a bug in JR, at least in 4.7.0, You cann't use <font fontName="" size="11" /> because You will get Font '' is not available to the JVM" even with net.sf.jasperreports.awt.ignore.missing.font=true as a workaround register yours any custom font under "" <fontfamilies> <fontfamily name=""> <normal><!--[CDATA[fontName.ttf]]--></normal> <bold><!--[CDATA[fontNameb .ttf]]--></bold> <italic><!--[CDATA[fontNamei.ttf]]--></italic> <bolditalic><!--[CDATA[fontNameib.ttf]]--></bolditalic> <pdfembedded><!--[CDATA[true]]--></pdfembedded> </fontfamily> </fontfamilies>