diff -upr a/config.mk b/config.mk
--- a/config.mk	2012-01-10 19:03:22.000000000 +0200
+++ b/config.mk	2012-01-10 19:03:38.000000000 +0200
@@ -12,9 +12,13 @@ X11LIB = /usr/X11R6/lib
 XINERAMALIBS  = -lXinerama
 XINERAMAFLAGS = -DXINERAMA
 
+# Xft, comment if you don't want it
+XFTINC = -I/usr/include/freetype2
+XFTLIBS  = -lXft -lXrender -lfreetype -lz -lfontconfig
+
 # includes and libs
-INCS = -I${X11INC}
-LIBS = -L${X11LIB} -lX11 ${XINERAMALIBS}
+INCS = -I${X11INC} ${XFTINC}
+LIBS = -L${X11LIB} -lX11 ${XINERAMALIBS} ${XFTLIBS}
 
 # flags
 CPPFLAGS = -D_BSD_SOURCE -D_POSIX_C_SOURCE=2 -DVERSION=\"${VERSION}\" ${XINERAMAFLAGS}
diff -upr a/dmenu.1 b/dmenu.1
--- a/dmenu.1	2012-01-10 19:14:19.000000000 +0200
+++ b/dmenu.1	2012-01-10 19:14:23.000000000 +0200
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ dmenu lists items vertically, with the g
 defines the prompt to be displayed to the left of the input field.
 .TP
 .BI \-fn " font"
-defines the font or font set used.
+defines the font or font set used. eg. "fixed" or "Monospace-12:normal" (an xft font)
 .TP
 .BI \-nb " color"
 defines the normal background color.
diff -upr a/dmenu.c b/dmenu.c
--- a/dmenu.c	2012-01-10 19:14:19.000000000 +0200
+++ b/dmenu.c	2012-01-10 19:24:39.000000000 +0200
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
                              * MAX(0, MIN((y)+(h),(r).y_org+(r).height) - MAX((y),(r).y_org)))
 #define MIN(a,b)              ((a) < (b) ? (a) : (b))
 #define MAX(a,b)              ((a) > (b) ? (a) : (b))
+#define DEFFONT "fixed" /* xft example: "Monospace-11" */
 
 typedef struct Item Item;
 struct Item {
@@ -26,6 +27,7 @@ struct Item {
 
 static void appenditem(Item *item, Item **list, Item **last);
 static void calcoffsets(void);
+static void cleanup(void);
 static char *cistrstr(const char *s, const char *sub);
 static void drawmenu(void);
 static void grabkeyboard(void);
@@ -50,10 +52,12 @@ static const char *normfgcolor = "#bbbbb
 static const char *selbgcolor  = "#005577";
 static const char *selfgcolor  = "#eeeeee";
 static unsigned int lines = 0;
-static unsigned long normcol[ColLast];
-static unsigned long selcol[ColLast];
+static ColorSet *normcol;
+static ColorSet *selcol;
 static Atom clip, utf8;
 static Bool topbar = True;
+static Bool running = True;
+static int ret = 0;
 static DC *dc;
 static Item *items = NULL;
 static Item *matches, *matchend;
@@ -104,7 +108,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 			usage();
 
 	dc = initdc();
-	initfont(dc, font);
+	initfont(dc, font ? font : DEFFONT);
+	normcol = initcolor(dc, normfgcolor, normbgcolor);
+	selcol = initcolor(dc, selfgcolor, selbgcolor);
 
 	if(fast) {
 		grabkeyboard();
@@ -117,7 +123,8 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 	setup();
 	run();
 
-	return 1; /* unreachable */
+	cleanup();
+	return ret;
 }
 
 void
@@ -160,6 +167,15 @@ cistrstr(const char *s, const char *sub)
 }
 
 void
+cleanup(void) {
+    freecol(dc, normcol);
+    freecol(dc, selcol);
+    XDestroyWindow(dc->dpy, win);
+    XUngrabKeyboard(dc->dpy, CurrentTime);
+    freedc(dc);
+}
+
+void
 drawmenu(void) {
 	int curpos;
 	Item *item;
@@ -167,7 +183,7 @@ drawmenu(void) {
 	dc->x = 0;
 	dc->y = 0;
 	dc->h = bh;
-	drawrect(dc, 0, 0, mw, mh, True, BG(dc, normcol));
+	drawrect(dc, 0, 0, mw, mh, True, normcol->BG);
 
 	if(prompt) {
 		dc->w = promptw;
@@ -178,7 +194,7 @@ drawmenu(void) {
 	dc->w = (lines > 0 || !matches) ? mw - dc->x : inputw;
 	drawtext(dc, text, normcol);
 	if((curpos = textnw(dc, text, cursor) + dc->h/2 - 2) < dc->w)
-		drawrect(dc, curpos, 2, 1, dc->h - 4, True, FG(dc, normcol));
+		drawrect(dc, curpos, 2, 1, dc->h - 4, True, normcol->FG);
 
 	if(lines > 0) {
 		/* draw vertical list */
@@ -321,7 +337,8 @@ keypress(XKeyEvent *ev) {
 		sel = matchend;
 		break;
 	case XK_Escape:
-		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
+        ret = EXIT_FAILURE;
+        running = False;
 	case XK_Home:
 		if(sel == matches) {
 			cursor = 0;
@@ -359,7 +376,8 @@ keypress(XKeyEvent *ev) {
 	case XK_Return:
 	case XK_KP_Enter:
 		puts((sel && !(ev->state & ShiftMask)) ? sel->text : text);
-		exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
+		ret = EXIT_SUCCESS;
+		running = False;
 	case XK_Right:
 		if(text[cursor] != '\0') {
 			cursor = nextrune(+1);
@@ -490,7 +508,7 @@ void
 run(void) {
 	XEvent ev;
 
-	while(!XNextEvent(dc->dpy, &ev)) {
+	while(running && !XNextEvent(dc->dpy, &ev)) {
 		if(XFilterEvent(&ev, win))
 			continue;
 		switch(ev.type) {
@@ -524,11 +542,6 @@ setup(void) {
 	XineramaScreenInfo *info;
 #endif
 
-	normcol[ColBG] = getcolor(dc, normbgcolor);
-	normcol[ColFG] = getcolor(dc, normfgcolor);
-	selcol[ColBG]  = getcolor(dc, selbgcolor);
-	selcol[ColFG]  = getcolor(dc, selfgcolor);
-
 	clip = XInternAtom(dc->dpy, "CLIPBOARD",   False);
 	utf8 = XInternAtom(dc->dpy, "UTF8_STRING", False);
 
@@ -582,7 +595,7 @@ setup(void) {
 
 	/* create menu window */
 	swa.override_redirect = True;
-	swa.background_pixel = normcol[ColBG];
+	swa.background_pixel = normcol->BG;
 	swa.event_mask = ExposureMask | KeyPressMask | VisibilityChangeMask;
 	win = XCreateWindow(dc->dpy, root, x, y, mw, mh, 0,
 	                    DefaultDepth(dc->dpy, screen), CopyFromParent,
diff -upr a/draw.c b/draw.c
--- a/draw.c	2012-01-10 19:14:19.000000000 +0200
+++ b/draw.c	2012-01-10 19:14:23.000000000 +0200
@@ -9,9 +9,6 @@
 
 #define MAX(a, b)  ((a) > (b) ? (a) : (b))
 #define MIN(a, b)  ((a) < (b) ? (a) : (b))
-#define DEFAULTFN  "fixed"
-
-static Bool loadfont(DC *dc, const char *fontstr);
 
 void
 drawrect(DC *dc, int x, int y, unsigned int w, unsigned int h, Bool fill, unsigned long color) {
@@ -23,7 +20,7 @@ drawrect(DC *dc, int x, int y, unsigned 
 }
 
 void
-drawtext(DC *dc, const char *text, unsigned long col[ColLast]) {
+drawtext(DC *dc, const char *text, ColorSet *col) {
 	char buf[BUFSIZ];
 	size_t mn, n = strlen(text);
 
@@ -35,19 +32,24 @@ drawtext(DC *dc, const char *text, unsig
 	if(mn < n)
 		for(n = MAX(mn-3, 0); n < mn; buf[n++] = '.');
 
-	drawrect(dc, 0, 0, dc->w, dc->h, True, BG(dc, col));
+	drawrect(dc, 0, 0, dc->w, dc->h, True, col->BG);
 	drawtextn(dc, buf, mn, col);
 }
 
 void
-drawtextn(DC *dc, const char *text, size_t n, unsigned long col[ColLast]) {
+drawtextn(DC *dc, const char *text, size_t n, ColorSet *col) {
 	int x = dc->x + dc->font.height/2;
 	int y = dc->y + dc->font.ascent+1;
 
-	XSetForeground(dc->dpy, dc->gc, FG(dc, col));
-	if(dc->font.set)
+	XSetForeground(dc->dpy, dc->gc, col->FG);
+	if(dc->font.xft_font) {
+		if (!dc->xftdraw)
+			eprintf("error, xft drawable does not exist");
+		XftDrawStringUtf8(dc->xftdraw, &col->FG_xft,
+			dc->font.xft_font, x, y, (unsigned char*)text, n);
+	} else if(dc->font.set) {
 		XmbDrawString(dc->dpy, dc->canvas, dc->font.set, dc->gc, x, y, text, n);
-	else {
+	} else {
 		XSetFont(dc->dpy, dc->gc, dc->font.xfont->fid);
 		XDrawString(dc->dpy, dc->canvas, dc->gc, x, y, text, n);
 	}
@@ -69,16 +71,33 @@ eprintf(const char *fmt, ...) {
 }
 
 void
+freecol(DC *dc, ColorSet *col) {
+    if(col) {
+        if(&col->FG_xft)
+            XftColorFree(dc->dpy, DefaultVisual(dc->dpy, DefaultScreen(dc->dpy)),
+                DefaultColormap(dc->dpy, DefaultScreen(dc->dpy)), &col->FG_xft);
+        free(col); 
+    }
+}
+
+void
 freedc(DC *dc) {
+    if(dc->font.xft_font) {
+        XftFontClose(dc->dpy, dc->font.xft_font);
+        XftDrawDestroy(dc->xftdraw);
+    }
 	if(dc->font.set)
 		XFreeFontSet(dc->dpy, dc->font.set);
-	if(dc->font.xfont)
+    if(dc->font.xfont)
 		XFreeFont(dc->dpy, dc->font.xfont);
-	if(dc->canvas)
+    if(dc->canvas)
 		XFreePixmap(dc->dpy, dc->canvas);
-	XFreeGC(dc->dpy, dc->gc);
-	XCloseDisplay(dc->dpy);
-	free(dc);
+	if(dc->gc)
+        XFreeGC(dc->dpy, dc->gc);
+	if(dc->dpy)
+        XCloseDisplay(dc->dpy);
+	if(dc)
+        free(dc);
 }
 
 unsigned long
@@ -91,6 +110,20 @@ getcolor(DC *dc, const char *colstr) {
 	return color.pixel;
 }
 
+ColorSet *
+initcolor(DC *dc, const char * foreground, const char * background) {
+	ColorSet * col = (ColorSet *)malloc(sizeof(ColorSet));
+	if(!col)
+		eprintf("error, cannot allocate memory for color set");
+	col->BG = getcolor(dc, background);
+	col->FG = getcolor(dc, foreground);
+	if(dc->font.xft_font)
+		if(!XftColorAllocName(dc->dpy, DefaultVisual(dc->dpy, DefaultScreen(dc->dpy)),
+			DefaultColormap(dc->dpy, DefaultScreen(dc->dpy)), foreground, &col->FG_xft))
+			eprintf("error, cannot allocate xft font color '%s'\n", foreground);
+	return col;
+}
+
 DC *
 initdc(void) {
 	DC *dc;
@@ -109,39 +142,33 @@ initdc(void) {
 
 void
 initfont(DC *dc, const char *fontstr) {
-	if(!loadfont(dc, fontstr ? fontstr : DEFAULTFN)) {
-		if(fontstr != NULL)
-			fprintf(stderr, "cannot load font '%s'\n", fontstr);
-		if(fontstr == NULL || !loadfont(dc, DEFAULTFN))
-			eprintf("cannot load font '%s'\n", DEFAULTFN);
-	}
-	dc->font.height = dc->font.ascent + dc->font.descent;
-}
-
-Bool
-loadfont(DC *dc, const char *fontstr) {
 	char *def, **missing, **names;
 	int i, n;
 	XFontStruct **xfonts;
 
-	if(!*fontstr)
-		return False;
-	if((dc->font.set = XCreateFontSet(dc->dpy, fontstr, &missing, &n, &def))) {
+	missing = NULL;
+	if((dc->font.xfont = XLoadQueryFont(dc->dpy, fontstr))) {
+		dc->font.ascent = dc->font.xfont->ascent;
+		dc->font.descent = dc->font.xfont->descent;
+		dc->font.width   = dc->font.xfont->max_bounds.width;
+	} else if((dc->font.set = XCreateFontSet(dc->dpy, fontstr, &missing, &n, &def))) {
 		n = XFontsOfFontSet(dc->font.set, &xfonts, &names);
 		for(i = 0; i < n; i++) {
 			dc->font.ascent  = MAX(dc->font.ascent,  xfonts[i]->ascent);
 			dc->font.descent = MAX(dc->font.descent, xfonts[i]->descent);
 			dc->font.width   = MAX(dc->font.width,   xfonts[i]->max_bounds.width);
 		}
-	}
-	else if((dc->font.xfont = XLoadQueryFont(dc->dpy, fontstr))) {
-		dc->font.ascent  = dc->font.xfont->ascent;
-		dc->font.descent = dc->font.xfont->descent;
-		dc->font.width   = dc->font.xfont->max_bounds.width;
+	} else if((dc->font.xft_font = XftFontOpenName(dc->dpy, DefaultScreen(dc->dpy), fontstr))) {
+		dc->font.ascent = dc->font.xft_font->ascent;
+		dc->font.descent = dc->font.xft_font->descent;
+		dc->font.width = dc->font.xft_font->max_advance_width;
+	} else {
+		eprintf("cannot load font '%s'\n", fontstr);
 	}
 	if(missing)
 		XFreeStringList(missing);
-	return dc->font.set || dc->font.xfont;
+	dc->font.height = dc->font.ascent + dc->font.descent;
+	return;
 }
 
 void
@@ -151,20 +178,29 @@ mapdc(DC *dc, Window win, unsigned int w
 
 void
 resizedc(DC *dc, unsigned int w, unsigned int h) {
+	int screen = DefaultScreen(dc->dpy);
 	if(dc->canvas)
 		XFreePixmap(dc->dpy, dc->canvas);
 
 	dc->w = w;
 	dc->h = h;
 	dc->canvas = XCreatePixmap(dc->dpy, DefaultRootWindow(dc->dpy), w, h,
-	                           DefaultDepth(dc->dpy, DefaultScreen(dc->dpy)));
+	                           DefaultDepth(dc->dpy, screen));
+	if(dc->font.xft_font && !(dc->xftdraw)) {
+		dc->xftdraw = XftDrawCreate(dc->dpy, dc->canvas, DefaultVisual(dc->dpy,screen), DefaultColormap(dc->dpy,screen));
+		if(!(dc->xftdraw))
+			eprintf("error, cannot create xft drawable\n");
+	}
 }
 
 int
 textnw(DC *dc, const char *text, size_t len) {
-	if(dc->font.set) {
+	if(dc->font.xft_font) {
+		XGlyphInfo gi;
+		XftTextExtentsUtf8(dc->dpy, dc->font.xft_font, (const FcChar8*)text, len, &gi);
+		return gi.width;
+	} else if(dc->font.set) {
 		XRectangle r;
-
 		XmbTextExtents(dc->font.set, text, len, NULL, &r);
 		return r.width;
 	}
diff -upr a/draw.h b/draw.h
--- a/draw.h	2012-01-10 19:14:19.000000000 +0200
+++ b/draw.h	2012-01-10 19:14:23.000000000 +0200
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 /* See LICENSE file for copyright and license details. */
 
-#define FG(dc, col)  ((col)[(dc)->invert ? ColBG : ColFG])
-#define BG(dc, col)  ((col)[(dc)->invert ? ColFG : ColBG])
-
-enum { ColBG, ColFG, ColBorder, ColLast };
+#include <X11/Xft/Xft.h>
 
 typedef struct {
 	int x, y, w, h;
@@ -11,6 +8,7 @@ typedef struct {
 	Display *dpy;
 	GC gc;
 	Pixmap canvas;
+	XftDraw *xftdraw;
 	struct {
 		int ascent;
 		int descent;
@@ -18,15 +16,24 @@ typedef struct {
 		int width;
 		XFontSet set;
 		XFontStruct *xfont;
+		XftFont *xft_font;
 	} font;
 } DC;  /* draw context */
 
+typedef struct {
+	unsigned long FG;
+	XftColor FG_xft;
+	unsigned long BG;
+} ColorSet;
+
 void drawrect(DC *dc, int x, int y, unsigned int w, unsigned int h, Bool fill, unsigned long color);
-void drawtext(DC *dc, const char *text, unsigned long col[ColLast]);
-void drawtextn(DC *dc, const char *text, size_t n, unsigned long col[ColLast]);
+void drawtext(DC *dc, const char *text, ColorSet *col);
+void drawtextn(DC *dc, const char *text, size_t n, ColorSet *col);
+void freecol(DC *dc, ColorSet *col);
 void eprintf(const char *fmt, ...);
 void freedc(DC *dc);
 unsigned long getcolor(DC *dc, const char *colstr);
+ColorSet *initcolor(DC *dc, const char *foreground, const char *background);
 DC *initdc(void);
 void initfont(DC *dc, const char *fontstr);
 void mapdc(DC *dc, Window win, unsigned int w, unsigned int h);
