Matching Fonts: Font Recogntion Tools

Ever try to figure out what a particular font is and match it? Maybe you inherited a project from someone else and need to match the existing font. Or perhaps you’ve been assigned a project that must conform to a corporate look but no one knows exactly what font was used. Or it could be as simple as falling in love with a font and wanting it for your own use.

Matching fonts is not an easy task. You could eyeball it. It would take a long time to manually compare your desired font to those installed on your computer. Perhaps you could narrow it down to what you know about the font. For example, if it’s a 12 point san serif font. Only trouble is, that describes thousands of fonts. There’s so much more to consider besides font size and font style when trying to match fonts. Thanks to modern technology, several font recognition tools are available to help you match one font to another.

âÂ?¢ WhatTheFont – “WhatTheFont” is a free online application that recognizes and tries to match an existing font. All you need to do is upload a scanned image of your font and “WhatTheFont” compares it to images in its extensive database in search of a match. “WhatTheFont” also has links with font tips, notes and even a “WhatTheFont” Forum.

âÂ?¢ Identifont – Another online tool for recognizing and matching fonts is Identifont. Simply answer questions about the various font characteristics and key features of your font and compare to Identifont’s provided images. Once Identifont has gathered enough information, it comes back with the closest font matches.

âÂ?¢ FontMatch – “FontMatch” is an actual software program rather than an internet based tool that identifies and compares fonts based on those located on your own system. If you know that the font you want to find is one located on your system, this tool is helpful. In addition, it saves you from purchasing a font, or a similar font, that you already own. “FontMatch” compares the sample font to those fonts already installed, scouring your computer for a match.

âÂ?¢ Forums – As mentioned previously, “WhatTheFont” has a forum of users where you can go and query other font fanatics for advice. Forums dedicated to fonts, graphics, typography are all good places to discuss font recognition.

With a little help from these font recognition tools, you should find a match or at least an acceptable close match to the font in question. Happy font hunting!!