I’ve always gotten a kick out of sleuthing out fonts, and identifont is supposed to make that much easier to do. I decided to use a sample from a magazine to test it. I started with the “identify font by appearance” link, and typed in the letters that appear in the sample word above. I read a series of questions, clicking on the best answers. Of course the questions and answers will vary according to each sample.
- What shape is the lower-case ‘g’? Two storey (with or without gap).
- Do the characters have serifs? Strokes have spiked/slab ends (serif).
- Is the font suitable for body text? A readable font suitable for setting continuous text at small sizes.
- What shape is the lower-case ‘e’ bar? Straight, horizontal.
- Does the lower-case ‘g’ have a gap in the tail? No gap.
- What shape are the serifs? Thinner than strokes, with brackets (Garalde or Venetian).
- Are the character outlines smooth or corroded/jagged? Smooth/sharp.
- Are the strokes upright or sloped? Upright.
- Is the axis of the upper-case ‘O’ or lower-case ‘o’ inclined to the left? Axis curves are inclined to the left (Garalde or Venetian).
- How many serifs on each of the lower-case ‘n’ strokes? Two, two.
- Do the characters look handwritten? The character outlines are drawn with geometric precision.
- Is the font fixed-width? Characters vary in width.
After 12 questions, identifont offered over 30 matches, with the first being Berling. By clicking on the font name on the left I could see a sample, along with design information and vendor links. The third sample was Bembo, which was a perfect match.
I’m impressed with Identifont. From the questions I was asked, it helps you find obscure font styles like grunge and bitmapped styles. I even learned what “Geraldine” and Venitian” mean, which I never knew. If you are trying to match a mystery font, I’d recommend Identifont.
