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Identify the fonts used in images and outlined text

Use Retype to identify the fonts of Roman (English, French, German) and Japanese scripts used in raster images and outlined text and apply them to live text.

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Identify the fonts used in static text in a few simple steps.

Identify fonts

  1. Select the image or outlined text, and then select Window > Retype. The Retype panel appears.

    You can also access Retype from the Type menu, the right-click menu, and the Quick Actions section of the Properties panel.

  2. Select Match Font in the panel. A dotted line appears around all the words that Retype auto-detects. If adjacent words have the same font, the dotted line appears as a common border. Retype automatically highlights the text with the largest border, surrounds it with a marquee, and shows its matching fonts in the panel.

    By default, the panel shows 10 matching fonts, ordered by their closeness to the highlighted text's appearance. To get five more matching fonts, scroll to the end of the fonts and select Find more font matches.

    Retype panel showing matching fonts for the text detected in the image.
    Use Retype to get matching fonts for rasterized or outlined text.

  3. Select Roman or Japanese in the Choose Script And Match Font menu to specify the script, if needed.

  4. Deselect From Adobe Fonts or From your device from Apply Filter   to exclude font suggestions from one of those sources.

  5. For a better preview of the suggested fonts:

    • From the panel menu, select one of the three text sizes.
    • Type your own sample text in the Type your text to preview on card field.
  6. Select any other text in the image or outlined text for which you want font suggestions. Retype highlights all the words that have the same font, even if they are not adjacent. If the text for which you want font suggestions doesn't have a dotted line around it, drag the marquee over it.

    Note:
    • Use the marquee only if you don't see a dotted line around the text.
    • Marquee works best on horizontally aligned single-font text.
  7. To add a matching font from Adobe Fonts to Illustrator, hover over it, and select Click to add   . The fonts you add will be available across all Creative Cloud apps.

  8. To add a font as a favorite, hover over it, and select Add to favorites   .

  9. Press Exit to exit the Retype scan mode. When you exit, the Retype panel automatically shows the fonts you marked as favorites. To get all the suggested fonts from the last scan, select Clear Filter   .

  10. Select Reset Retype panel   to remove the suggested fonts from the panel.

Apply the suggested fonts to live text

  1. Select the text on the canvas to which you want to apply the font you identified using Retype.

  2. In the Retype panel, select the font from the last scan or the Show Favorite Fonts   filter.

Use Retype on Japanese text

If you're not using a Japanese version of Illustrator, select these options for Retype to work on Japanese text:

  1. Navigate to Edit > Preferences > Type (Windows) or Illustrator > Settings > Type (macOS).

  2. Select Show East Asian Options and Enable Japanese Font Preview in 'Find More'.

Provide feedback on Retype

At the bottom of the Retype panel:

  • Select Good Result or Bad Result to rate the quality of font suggestions.
  • Select Click to provide feedback through a survey to provide detailed feedback.

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