Identifying fonts just got a whole lot easier.

One of the most difficult tasks designers face is trying to identify fonts. The differences between one font family and another can sometimes come down to the most minute of details. Maybe it's the width of a serif, the curvature of the bowl or the hight of a crossbar. Any of these can hamper a designer when trying to identify a font.

Luckily, the days of searching page by page through encyclopedia size tomes of font families are long gone. Nowadays there are online resources that can help us pinpoint the name of a font we're trying to identify in a matter of minutes. For years, the staple in such resources has been WhatTheFont by myfonts.com. With WhatTheFont all you have to do is upload an image of an elusive font (not too large a file mind you), let the software isolate and recognize each character (you can correct it if it guesses wrong) and then let it do its magic. If you are lucky, WhatTheFont finds the exact match to your font, and you get to leave as a happy designer. If WhatTheFont can't pinpoint an exact match, it lists fonts that are close proximity to the one you uploaded. Sometimes this is helpful; sometimes it's not.

Enter the WhatTheFont App

OK, just to be clear, the WhatTheFont App isn't new. It's been around for almost as long as there have been smartphones. But to be honest, the old App wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But all that has changed. Myfonts.com recently released version 2.0 of the app, and it's a game changer. Now, identifying fonts is as easy as point and click.

Powered by deep learning, a type of artificial intelligence that makes the new WhatTheFont App not only fast but extremely accurate. The App is so powerful that it has surpassed it's browser counterpart and can do things the desktop version can't. Things like identifying connected scripts and a huge plus, in my opinion, it can now identify multiple fonts in the same image.

To use the App, all you do is take a photo and let WhatTheFont automatically isolate the text within it. You then tap the font(s) you want to identify, and the App will show you a list of possible matches. You can even try out the suggested fonts with your own text.

After discovering this new updated App, I spent almost an hour putting it through its paces by taking photos and identifying fonts from random sources around the house. I'm amazed at how accurate it is. It didn't find every font, but it did identify most of them. In the time I've been using it, I can say it's much easier to use and much more accurate than the website version.

But don't take my word for it. Download this free App today and add it to your design toolbox. WhatTheFont App is available for both IOS and Android phones.

Are you looking for more great design resources?

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Running a graphic design or web design business isn't easy. If there are any struggles you face running your design business, please reach out to me. I'll do my best to help you by addressing your issues in a future blog post or podcast episode here at Resourceful Designer. You can reach me at feedback@resourcefuldesigner.com