Hacksar

If you’ve been using computers for any amount of time, you are probably quite aware that there are almost an infinite amount of fonts out there. Serif, sans-serif, it can almost become too much to keep track of. Often times, you may come across a certain font that you really like, but have no idea what it is. Too bad there isn’t a way to find the name of a font just by looking at it…

But wait, there is! (I think I’ve been watching too many infomercials lately…)

WhatTheFont.com does just that. You upload a sample image of some words written in the font you want, and then the website will analyze and give you the closests matches to the font. I’ve used this site multiple times and it has never failed me. Keep reading for the step by step guide.

1. First, visit WhatTheFont.com and make sure that you have a clear image of the font you want sampled. They also have some samples that you can check against to see what types of images work the best.
2. Now, you can either upload your own scanned image, or link to an image online. Either way, once you hit Continue, the image will be analyzed.
3. As you can see in the image to the right, you will be then taken to a page where it asks you to confirm the accuracy of its letters. Most letters are correct, but it has trouble with some (such as i’s, as they get split). To combine letters, you can drag one on top of another. (I had to do that for the i and the ? in this example).
4. After choosing the correct letters, go to the next screen and it will show you a list of all of the viable options.
5. Here, you can compare the text of the predicted fonts alongside the original. They conveniently included a floating version of the original image that follows if you scroll down, so it becomes extremely easy to go back and forth and verify that every nuance of every letter is accommodated for by the font.
6. Once you have the font selected, clicking on the name will take you to the fonts page. From here, you can either purchase the font, or it will link you to an external site where you can purchase the font.

If you don’t want to pay for the font, there are always other options, such as searching for a similar or the same font on a free font website. Google is your best friend, and can help you possibly find the font of your desire for free. If not, you can search sites such as DaFont.com or 1001FreeFonts.com.

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