App Idea: Font Finder/Identifier?

Hey guys,

So I don't know if this is even possible but could an application be created in which you point your camera to some text and it some how identifies the font? You know, similar to how Shazam (or other song identifiers) work.

I have been out and about and many times I have seen some cool looking fonts and wish I knew what the names of those fonts were. Is this even possible?

It is possible, by taking a photo, the app will check the 'outer-lines' and compare them with all the available fonts.

It is a cool idea, but it think that it won't be free if somebody develops it.
(I CANT make an app like that, I don't use the Native SDK / Actionscript. Only a tiny bit C++ and a lot of HTML5 & CSS3)

Jeroen

You would need to use C++ for the speed, and either an internet connection to a large font database, or a large database in the app (resulting in a large filesize)

so it is indeed doable.

There's already an Android app called "WhatTheFont" that seems to work quite well converted for PB: com.myfonts.whatthefont_v1.0.3.0.bar

I've only tested it briefly, but it was able to find very similar fonts to the one I took a picture of. (Doesn't work too well with fonts on a computer screen, but that's because of the glare in the picture. In that sort of instance, you're better to take a screenshot, crop it to just the font and upload it to the website: http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/)

Good find. thanks!

Originally Posted by jtokarchuk

Good find. thanks!

No problem. I remembered using the website version before, and was trying to see if that worked on the PB when I noticed they had an Android app. Quickly downloaded it to my Android phone, pulled it off and converted it, and was pleased to discover it actually worked reasonably well (much better than it did on my phone, on account of my phone's camera being pathetic in comparison to the PB).

Originally Posted by SifJar

There's already an Android app called "WhatTheFont" that seems to work quite well converted for PB: com.myfonts.whatthefont_v1.0.3.0.bar

I've only tested it briefly, but it was able to find very similar fonts to the one I took a picture of. (Doesn't work too well with fonts on a computer screen, but that's because of the glare in the picture. In that sort of instance, you're better to take a screenshot, crop it to just the font and upload it to the website: WhatTheFont! � MyFonts)

Thanks SifJar. Thanks for your comments, insight and for suggesting that android app.

It would be cool to see a native one.

Originally Posted by bounce007

Thanks SifJar. Thanks for your comments, insight and for suggesting that android app.

It would be cool to see a native one.

Well of course native is always best, but beggars can't be choosers I guess :p Better than nothing ;)