Marketing/Design Tech Tip: iPhone App For Identifying Fonts

In a previous article we discussed the benefits of using WhatTheFont.com, a free online service for identiying fonts.  I recently discovered the folks at MyFonts developed an App that delivers the same great font-matching features to the iPhone. 

The process is simple.  First upload a photo that includes the font in question.  This is done by either taking a new photo or using a photo you have saved on your iPhone.

Once the photo is uploaded, you can click and drag with your finger to isolate the characters(s) you would like to identify.

WhatTheFont will present a character check screen to help the system better identify each letter.  You can omit or change characters if the system guessed wrong, but in my experience the system is usually right on point for identifying letters.

Once the characters are correct you can click the Identify! button.  WhatTheFont will report back a list of the closest matching fonts MyFonts has in its databse. 

From my experience, using Photoshop can help WhatTheFont better identify your fonts if at first you don't succeed: 

1. Make sure your font has plenty of contrast from the background. 
2. Add kerning if your letterforms are touching.
3. If possible, be sure to include any unique characters.  In the previous screen shots, you'll notice the the letter "k" is pretty unique to this font.