Need Help Finding the total area of a font?

[TXFB.INS]

is there a way to take a font and using a given height calculate the width of said font WITHOUT using a design program?

Sales will get asked how much it is for XXX" H letters which are using "insert font name".
Which means they then have to go to a designer and have them open a design file, select the font, enter the letters and height to find out the width. all of this is fine if they are proofing the job, but not for pricing.
How do you get the total SQFT / SQIN based on the height and font QUICKLY and without a design program?

 

[Zendavor Signs]

Tell them to figure height x 1.5 (to allow for ascenders and descendents), and figure the same width as height per letter.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[visual800]

to be safe I always take height and assume width is same (for sake of figuring)

there are too many fonts out there with too many configurations to make the rule work for each one, but Ive had good luck with this....also the poster above that says he does 1.5, not a bad idea either

 

[TXFB.INS]

thank you, this will give a quick reference for ballpark

 

[JTBoh]

This takes 2 minutes.
I'm sure it's annoying for the GAs, but they can suck it up... they don't have a job if sales can't sell it. Before I added "designer" to my hat rack, I used the GAs as a tool to figure this out.

There is another way, but it's also annoying.

1. Have your sales go into Word or any program with the font, and type the font out (if it's in the system).
2. Measure the font on your screen with a ruler, height and width.

3. Input those numbers into this site, using the first two boxes:
https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/math/ratios.php

4. Enter in the theoretical proposed letter height in the 3rd box. The 4th box (length) will be calculated.

Which is more annoying?

EDIT: That ratio calculator is also great for estimating pan faces, etc., if you can't reach it in the field. Measure something near it, columns, bricks, poles, etc. I find it's usually enough for a quote, though always go back with a ladder or truck if I have to make it. Probably 95%+ accuracy, varies depending on parallax/size.

 

[DesireeM]

JTBoh's suggestion is a good work around so that you don't need a designer to do it. But as far as saving time.... font letter height and width, style, etc are never the same and can often be so wildly different that there is no "safe" calculation using anything constant. Especially just within a font and whether it's condensed or stretched. And regardless you'd need to type out at least one of the letters in the font to identify a height vs width ratio per letter (or at least three because the ratio for "i" vs "a" vs "W" are very different...then throw in a "q" just for fun. ) and then you'd have to calculate each ratio per letter in the word. For example "wonders" vs "illicit". You'd end up with very different "guesstimates" for the same font and letter count.