How to recognize a font that you may have found on the web may perhaps seem like a mere exercise in style, in reality, you must know that the applications related to the correct identification of a character are not as obvious as you can generally think.
Did you know, for example, that font is one of the parameters that marketing agencies take into consideration before starting a sponsorship campaign for a service or product?
How do you say? On this specific topic, your knowledge is not so developed that you can make a choice in total autonomy? We are there for these events, and you will see that after reading our guide, you will surely have much clearer ideas.
Are you ready? Let’s start then.
Read also- Sites to download free fonts
3 sites to try if you need to recognize a font accurately
How to recognize a font if you don’t even know where to start looking? It is a question that you might ask yourself and that, in fact is completely logical, luckily for you, you will no longer have to go desperately looking for that font you spotted long ago and whose name you do not remember.
Today, there are specialized sites with which you can carry out specific searches clearly and effectively. Let’s see the main ones.
WhatTheFont
WhatTheFont is one of the most renowned and used solutions by anyone who wants to identify a particular font.
The great advantage of this service is that it is configured as a web application, which means that you will not need to download any specific software or programs at all; you just need to use its online function.
Specifically, its operation consists in scanning images in JPG or PNG format, possibly with a size not exceeding 2 MB. The service will take care of the analysis of the uploaded photo, and after a short search, it will return the result related to the font, really fantastic, isn’t it?
If you want to try the service or have an urgent need to try the service, connect to the official website and from the homepage proceed with the upload of the file you want to be scanned; alternatively you can also simply drag it to the space provided.
But what if the image has different characters and your interest is only in one of them?
Don’t worry, WhatTheFont comes with a special editing feature by which you can highlight even a single word and let only that actually be scanned.
To do this, simply select the chosen word, click on the arrow icon and wait for the analysis to complete. The scan will produce a list of fonts sorted by probability, among which surely there will be just what you are looking for.
Finally, once identified, you will also be free to download it on your PC or buy it where it is not free; just press the Get it button and follow the clear instructions as proposed.
This service was also created as an app; in fact it is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Font Matcherator
Font Matcherator is another really great font recognition service that comes with surprisingly user-friendly features.
Like the previous one, here too we are faced with a type of web application that works by uploading a scanned photo or the ability to directly drag the image into the space designated for recognition.
The service editor is handy and will allow you to select only a specific character among all those present in a given file.
After proceeding with the upload, you will need to click on the Matcherate it button and wait for the analysis in progress to complete.
The results obtained will be returned according to an order of probability and similarity with the original character. Finally, the idea of being able to compare the original image and the result obtained so as to facilitate the identification process, also thanks to the visual aspect, is truly excellent.
What Font Is
The last service we are going to see is called What Font is, and like the previous ones, it follows a purely online operating logic.
A small clarification- the use of the service for the basic functions is absolutely free. However, if you want to take advantage of advanced features such as the absence of advertising or greater accuracy in identification, the site offers a subscription with the relative cost of 39.99 Euros per year.
The choice is yours; however, it must be said that even in the free version, it is excellent.
Let’s see how it works.
To use it, you will first need to connect to the official website. Directly from the homepage, upload the image by clicking on Browse by clicking here, or simply drag it into the space called Drag and drop image here to identify your font.
The choice of proposing the analysis of a photo taken directly from the internet without having downloaded it first was definitely appreciated. To take advantage of this feature, you will first need to copy and then paste the URL in the Specify a URL space instead.
After loading your image correctly, click on the Find the font button and use the editor provided to select only a partition or a specific character.
At this point, click twice on the Next Step item to start the actual font search. Before the report,, you will also be able to determine more precisely some fundamental details, such as contrast or brightness, in order to obtain optimal results.
The results obtained will be sorted by probability and similarity, and if you can identify the font you are looking for, you can also download or buy it, if for a fee, by clicking on the Download item.
Read also- How to install new fonts on Windows
How to identify a font from PDF
As long as we talk about JPG or PNG images, that’s fine, but in case you want to identify a font that you found on a PDF document, which is notoriously more difficult to edit?
Do not worry; even for these occurrences, there are special online services, it is understood that if you want to speed up the procedure you can consider the idea of making a screenshot of the offending text and proceeding with the identification through the applications discussed in the previous paragraph.
However, if you prefer to work on actual PDFs, the best solution we recommend is to use the free ExtractPDF.com service.
It is an online application that excels in terms of functionality and customizations. If you want to try it, you must first connect to the official reference site.
From the homepage click on the item Choose and select the file you want to scan, alternatively,, you can also paste a URL in the appropriate field Or enter a URL.
The upload allows a file size of 25 MB or less.
After successfully uploading the image, click on Start and wait for the service to return all the potential results identified. By going to the Fonts section, you can even download them by clicking on the Download button.
How to recognize a font with Photoshop
Do you want the graphics software par excellence, Photoshop, not to have a feature that allows you to recognize and locate a specific font? Of course not, and in fact, it provides an ad hoc service characterized by extreme accuracy of results.
Do you want to know how to do it? We tell you right away!
Make sure that the software is correctly started, then click on File and then on Open and proceed with the upload of the photo of your interest; alternatively, you can also drag the image directly to the main space.
At this point, locate the Text item from the menu at the top and click on the Find similar font option.
The function of this last item is quite clear and from the results obtained, you will be able to identify with extreme simplicity that character that had made you suffer so much. Finally you can also decide to download it by clicking on the characteristic cloud-shaped icon.
Also Read- Best Photoshop Alternatives
How to recognize a font from an image
How to recognize a font from an image? Although all the above solutions are fully functional and ultimately accessible even to users with low to medium computer knowledge, we can certainly tell you that a lot depends on your needs and skills.
If, for example, you are not familiar with graphic software, downloading a complex program like Photoshop just to identify a character could be excessively expensive for you; it would be better if you used the online services that we have exhaustively illustrated previously.
On the other hand, if your work or business makes a lot of use of written texts, you could opt for more professional solutions such as the graphic software already mentioned.
Of one thing, however, you can be sure- whichever option you favor, we assure you that you will be able to discover the font you are looking for and maybe even be positively surprised by the characters you did not know and that you will go to download.
How to recognize the font of a book
It is true that usually in publishing to print a book the main fonts are used, however, especially in the oldest volumes, it is not at all unusual to come across characters of rare beauty and skill now in disuse.
And in these cases, how do you find the exact font?
A book is a physical object and as such making use of the solutions indicated so far would be impossible, if you want you could contact an expert librarian or restorer, but if you want to drastically reduce the time we suggest a little trick.
Simply take a picture, possibly with excellent resolution, and then decide which service to use.
Do not worry if you fear that the font is too old, usually, the sites specialized in this field rely on vast databases and it will not be difficult for you to find what you are looking for.
How to recognize a quality font
A quality font usually has very specific peculiarities that make it immediately recognizable, however, it must be said that a lot depends on what your personal needs may be.
In the case of sponsorship of your product or service, for example, a clear and decisive character is certainly more suitable than one that makes baroque its strong point.
In general, however, it can be said that among the essential characteristics to recognize a quality font there are:
- The total amount of glyphs makes the font flexible and adaptable to a thousand uses.
- The presence of multiple weights is capable of creating specific textual hierarchies.
- The good presentation of the diacritics.
- The homogeneity of the graces.
- The presence of variations in style.
- Excellent space management.
