How To MATCH FONTS In Photoshop CC – The COMPLETE Guide on Finding Fonts
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Match fonts in Photoshop by pointing the Match Font tool at a photo or screenshot so it can suggest the closest typefaces from your computer and Adobe Fonts.
Once you find the match, you can use it right away in your own designs, no more guessing at typefaces by eye.
The Match Fonts Feature in Photoshop was introduced in the CC 2015.5 release.
Match Font takes the guesswork out of identifying a typeface, and lets Photoshop do the hard work for you.
Photoshop uses built-in machine learning to analyze the image and determine which font is used in a photo.
Once Photoshop analyses the image using machine learning technology, you will receive a set of matching or similar fonts from your computer and the Adobe Fonts library.
Note: This tutorial was recorded in Photoshop 2018 (version 19.1). Every step below still works the same way in the current version of Photoshop. Adobe renamed Typekit to Adobe Fonts in October 2018, so this article uses that name throughout instead.
Key Takeaways
- Match Font only works well on a single line of one typeface. Mixing styles inside the selection box throws off the results.
- The feature only recognizes Roman and Latin characters, so it cannot identify fonts in other scripts.
- A skewed or angled photo confuses Match Font. Straightening the perspective first gives you far better matches.
- Boosting the contrast between the text and its background, with Levels or the Dodge and Burn tools, helps Photoshop read a low-quality photo.
- Adobe Fonts, formerly Typekit, often finds a closer match than Photoshop’s own results, and it lets you preview the font at different sizes first.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Keyboard Shortcuts
- Match Fonts In Photoshop From an Image
- Step 01 – Open The Match Font Window
- Step 02 – Select Your Text with The Match Font Selection Box
- Step 03 – Select The Font From The Match Font Window
- Correct The Fonts Perspective Before You Find Fonts In Photoshop
- For Better Results, Use The Adobe Fonts Website To Match Fonts
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Conclusion
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to open and use the Match Font tool on a single line of text
- How to fix a distorted or angled photo with the Perspective Crop Tool before matching a font
- How to improve a low-quality photo with Levels, Dodge, and Burn so Photoshop can read the text
- How to search for a closer match on the Adobe Fonts website
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop 2018 (version 19.1 or later) or the current version
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Action | Windows | macOS |
|---|---|---|
| Desaturate the image | Ctrl Shift U | Command Shift U |
| Invert the colors | Ctrl I | Command I |
| Commit the Perspective Crop | Enter | Return |
| Free Transform | Ctrl T | Command T |
Match Fonts In Photoshop From an Image
Step 01 – Open The Match Font Window
With any image with text open go to Type > Match Font. This will open the Match Font window and you will see the selection box over the image.
Step 02 – Select Your Text with The Match Font Selection Box
Click-and-drag corner handles of the Selection Box so that it includes a single line of text. Select a single typeface and style. Don’t mix typefaces and styles inside the Match Font selection.
Also, make sure that you closely crop the Selection Box to the left and right edges of the text.
Note: Photoshop’s Match Font, font classification, and font similarity feature currently work only for Roman/Latin characters.
Step 03 – Select The Font From The Match Font Window
After you place the Match Font Selection Box closely around the text, Photoshop displays automatically list fonts similar to the font in the image, including fonts from Adobe Fonts.
Fonts from Adobe Fonts will need to sync to your Creative Cloud account.
To only view fonts installed on your computer, uncheck Show fonts available to add from Adobe Fonts.
In the results, click on the font closest to the font in the image.
After you press OK Photoshop will select the font that you clicked on.
Correct The Fonts Perspective Before You Find Fonts In Photoshop
Some images might be too distorted or have an extreme angle which will make it difficult to find fonts in Photoshop.
In the example below, the sign’s perspective is too extreme and the Match Font command will not work.
For an image like this, you can use the Perspective Crop Tool (nested under the Crop Tool) to correct the perspective.
Simply click-and-drag the corner handles and match the angle of the surface where the text lays. Then press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS) to commit the change.
Once the perspective is corrected, follow the same steps in the first example to match the font.
Tip: The Perspective Crop Tool is not the only way to fix a skewed image. See Perspective Warp in Photoshop for another method that works well on more complex objects.
For Better Results, Use The Adobe Fonts Website To Match Fonts
Instead of using Photoshop to find fonts, you can also use the Adobe Fonts website instead.
Once you have matched a font, put it to work. Try typing text along a circular path with it.
The website lets you do a visual search with a jpg, gif, or png file, and it shows better previews than Photoshop. You can preview the matched font using any text you like, and you can adjust the size of that text to help you decide which font works best.
Just like with Photoshop, make sure to place the selection box tight around one line of text. Remember that samples containing the characters Aa to Zz will get the best results.
Frequently Asked Questions
Open an image that has the text you want to identify, then go to Type > Match Font. Drag the handles of the selection box around a single line of text, and Photoshop lists the closest matches from your computer and Adobe Fonts. Click a result to select that font with the Type tool.
Match Font struggles with a photo that has an angled or distorted perspective, low contrast between the text and the background, or more than one typeface in the selection box. Crop the selection tightly around a single line of one font for the best results.
Select the Perspective Crop Tool, nested under the Crop Tool, then drag the corner handles to match the angle of the surface the text sits on. Press Enter (Windows) or Return (macOS) to commit the change, and the text straightens out for a better match.
Match Font, along with Photoshop’s font classification and font similarity features, currently works only with Roman and Latin characters. If your source text uses another script, Photoshop will not be able to identify it.
Adobe renamed Typekit to Adobe Fonts in October 2018 and folded it into every Creative Cloud plan. The site now lives at fonts.adobe.com, with no sync or pageview limits.
Yes. A font you sync from Adobe Fonts needs to sync to your Creative Cloud account before it appears in Photoshop’s Type tool font list.
The Adobe Fonts website lets you preview a matched font at different sizes and with your own sample text, something Match Font inside Photoshop does not offer. It often turns up a closer match too.
Conclusion
Matching fonts in Photoshop no longer means guessing at a typeface by eye. The Match Font tool reads a photo or screenshot and lists the closest matches from your computer and Adobe Fonts.
A distorted photo or a low-quality image will not stop you. Straighten the perspective first, and boost the contrast if you need to, then run Match Font again.
Watch the video above for the full walkthrough, and comment on the video if you have a question.
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Next, learn how to build editable see-through cutout text in Photoshop with your matched font.
