findmyfont.com.... is this the best?

[ironchef]

Im looking to buy a font recognition software. Lets get a tally on the best programs... theres a special on the findmyfont for 39

 

[Fred Weiss]

I wrote the first font ID program (FontFinder) in 1993 and distributed the second one (FontExpert) as well. I currently use Find My Font and love it. Much friendlier. I'm not even aware of anything else being sold. Nuff said.

 

[ironchef]

Nuff said indeed. I trust you mr. Weiss. Thanks. Im going to buy it. Thanks

 

[GB2]

Thanks for the heads up on the special, I use it and I think it's great. For that price, you can't afford not to have it. I actually just purchased another copy of it but I'm having a little trouble downloading it. My antivirus says that the download contains a virus WS.Reputation.1 and won't allow the download to proceed. I have a support request in and I'm waiting for an answer.

 

[Border]

Cool, I just bought the pro version too, thanks for the tip. Downloaded fine for me with issues at all.

 

[ironchef]

Hey gb2. Let us know how it pans out

 

[GB2]

Well, as of this moment, I haven't gotten a response from support yet but I had a copy of the program from a previous installation so I installed that with a new license activation code and I was in business. I'll let you know what they say when they contact me.

 

[SignosaurusRex]

You can check out reviews of FindmyFont in the "Product Reviews" section of Sign 101. Personally I think it is "The cat's meow" if you have a very large font library, but I am not impressed with it's web-based search capabilities. On that end, it seems to be extremely limited and almost pointless.

 

[GAC05]

Sounds like a good program.
Now that I am past the half century mark in age I am hoping someone will come out with a FindmyKeys app.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[VolunteerSign]

Here you go Wayne: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/690528216/hone-for-iphone-4s-never-lose-your-keys-again

 

[Colin]

Yes, I can't believe how much I use FMF, and how I managed without it. A must buy for any sign shop.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

What is the advantage of this software over say whatfontis? Signosaurus says the web based search is not good. That is probably my important need. I don't want to have to search for and add tens of thousands of "free fonts" to my hard drive to make the software work properly. The online services point me to the proper font for purchase or download and works about 90% of the time.

The web based part must work properly in order to be beneficial for pay fonts.

Can anyone elaborate or confirm what signosaurus is saying?

 

[GB2]

OK, so I just heard from support and the verdict is that Norton Antivirus will very often give a false positive on the download so it is confirmed that you can ignore that warning and continue the download. If the download is removed, it can be restored from the quarantine folder or you can turn off the antivirus and then download if you are running Norton.

Eric, there is tremendous advantage over whatfotis. The software is easy to use, you can clip script apart and identify it, the web based search is good, the font search of font libraries is excellent, you don't need to add any fonts to your hard drive for the software to work and the cost is so minimal for what it offers that you shouldn't even think about it but should put your order in right now. I'm just a satisfied customer by the way and nothing more...

 

[signcrafters london]

Can anyone elaborate or confirm what signosaurus is saying?

I downloaded the free version to test it last night. That is my only experience with the program. I had already searched -- and found -- a couple of obscure fonts on whatfontis earlier in the day. I tried to search the web for them with the FMF program and it didn't come up with anything close. (BTW, whatthefont didn't find them, either.)

I have a ton of fonts on my computer and I can see where it would be useful in searching through all of those, but I was very disappointed in the web search.

 

[Fred Weiss]

I don't agree with Signosaurus but I guess it depends on your perspective and your expectations. I have a pretty extensive pay library already on our file server, so my problem is in adding in libraries from free sites like Dafont.com. The online library from FMF does that for me, saving me a ton of time ... and I expect that will be a growing endeavor as time passes. I would estimate that the online library increases the identifications I get from 60% - 70% to better than 90%.

What I find most impressive about Find My Font is its much better tolerance in making IDs. I'm getting a lot of correct IDs of art samples that have been pretty badly stepped on as far as stretching, slanting and emboldening. Those of you who already are using FMF should try tweaking your accuracy preferences when your first try at getting an ID fails. I have no expectation of being able to ID ever sample I try. I only know that for very little money, it improves my results significantly.

As far as Whatthefont goes, I question whether or not they cover much in the way of fonts they don't sell since they are owned by MyFonts.com.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

whatthefont won't find a font that they don't sell or offer for free. My first choice is always whatfontis and very rarely will whatthefont identify a font when whatfontis wont. Usually it is the other way around. The disadvantage to whatfontis is that you cannot submit low contrast images. For instance a light blue font won't work. You have to adjust levels in photoshop for a high contrast. Black and dark letters work best.

The success of whatfontis is due to the fact that it also searches the thousands of fonts that are freely available.

I was offered a chance to test drive this software when first introduced but it did not support PS fonts so I declined at the time. I may have to give it another test run