If you design with text in Silhouette Studio you’ve probably had this same issue. The problem of remembering which font you have used for a text design many months later!
To recap the basics – Below is text just typed out, When clicked, the text shows with a bounding box around it. Over to the right and you can see the Text window opens up and it clearly shows the font used. So far so good …
Double clicking on the text will open a green box around it, and a cursor will appear so the text may be edited – again the font used will appear at the right of the screen.
This is great but if you do any further work on the text such as welding, ungrouping, using the knife or eraser tools etc etc, the text will no longer be text but will convert to a path or compound path. This basically means it’s not editable as a font and is treated as if it were an object – the same as if it was a square or circle. So now when the text is selected, it won’t open up the text box to identify the font anymore. If you go back to the file at a later date and want to identify the font the chances are, (if you’re anything like me) you won’t remember which font you used and the two methods pictured above won’t help.
A Solution
Type the text out again in Studio using the default text settings. Click on the text to bring up the bounding box, move your cursor to the right and select the first font on the font list in Text Settings. Click on the one below that, you will see the text change. Then simply use your keyboard down arrow key to change and compare with each font that is installed in your computer until you get a match!
This comparison method will also work using the free font management program Nexus Font. (see my post about Nexus here)
It’s effective but rather time consuming. It will only work if you have that original font installed on the computer. If you changed computers and don’t have that font anymore this solution won’t work.
A better Solution
This method requires thinking ahead, but is so simple I wish I’d started doing it years ago. It would’ve saved me heaps of time font hunting and matching!
When I use text in my designs now, I write the name of the font somewhere on my file. I usually place it somewhere off the cutting area, so it won’t get in the way and I won’t accidentally cut it out. Months later I can open the file, double click on the name and my Text Style window will open with that font ready to go. If it’s not installed I have the font name right there in front of me so I can simply find and re install the font.
You may already do this, but if you don’t, it’s a great habit to get into. Start doing this now 🙂
Great idea. I frequently try a dozen fonts before choosing one and can never remember which one it was. I like the idea of writing out the font name instead of just keeping an unwelded copy because it is more likely to stick in your mind.
Now I just need to search out The Carpenter Regular, it’s a lovely font.
Thanks Kate, It’s a great font and I was lucky enough to get it a while back in one of those font bundles.
Hi Pam. Yes I’ve had that problem, so this is going to be great, thanks for sharing, Cheers Anna.
I write notes for myself everywhere else – why not in my silhouette software??
Thank you for sharing this simple and clever idea!!
After I’m finished I save it to my library and write the font in the description, Your way seems faster, I will try it next time. Thanks for all your great suggestions and tutorials!
Simple ideas are always the best. Bless you heart for sharing.
Thanks for your comment Tami, you are right, simple ideas are the best 🙂
I save all my created projects in my Silhouette Projects folder on my desktop. This is where I include the font name when I name the file. Example: life is good Sunflower Fields font.
I save my own files to a folder too Jill rather than leave in the library. That’s a great tip about including the fonts in the file name 🙂
Brilliant!!!!! Thank you!!
does anyone know a way to find out if the design is not saved in the library?
Hi Zoe,
I just did a google search for: how to identify a font
and a bunch of online apps came up that will help to identify.
They may be worth a try if you are trying to match up an unknown font.
Now that we have the post notes, I type the name of the font in there and anything else that I do.
Yes, I’ve been doing that lately too Marilynn. Another reason for people to upgrade to the new versions of the software. the post it notes are a really handy feature 🙂
Love the idea of font name just off the cutting board! I have a THING for downloading fonts & going through one by one is not an option!
Thanks!
I started doing “name the font” to the side three or four years ago when I made cards and I wish I had started doing it before that. At the time I was sending cards to friends and family all the time and I wanted to make sure I was mixing the fonts up and not just using my favorite ones all the time. Then I started turning my text into a compound, so once that happens the font name is gone. I have even started working on something and before I’ve gotten it finished I’ve forgotten the name, so now I type out my text, copy it and change it to the name of the font first thing. And if I am doing a subway piece where just about every word is a different font, I write down every word on a piece of scratch paper, then while I’m changing the fonts I just write down the font next to the word. If I change it, which I always do, I just draw a single line through the old one and write the new one. Sometimes I end up using a pretty big sheet of scratch paper. When I’m done, I just text in a list of the word – name of font. I have not discovered the “post notes”, but that sounds very helpful also.