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Posted on 10/10/11 09:42:27 AM |
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Tony S
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Typefaces
I am a journalist and now photographer now living and working in the south of France - the cheap end near Narbonne. I use Photoshop and Lightroom on a Mac and have bought and enjoyed "How to Cheat..." for both CS3 and CS4 but I have one small question. I have recently opened a physical studio (that is to say a REAL studio, not one where people get physical) linked to my website www.eyelinestudio.com Now, I am attracting more work from the many vignerons around here who are usually so hard up that I have to manipulate existing files. So here's the question. How can I replicate a typeface? I am sometimes asked simply to "update" a photograph of a wine bottle with a label which usually has awful script of a totally unidentifiable font and usually on an arc of a bottle. For instance change the date from 2007 to 2009 or change the grape name. As there are 52 l/c and u/c letters, 10 digits and then at least six variations of letters with diacritical marks it would not make sense to duplicate each character. Is there any other way? |
Posted on 10/10/11 10:15:04 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply  |
Re: Typefaces
The first thing you need to do is to try to identify the font used. I recommend What The Font: http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/ Easy to use - you upload a screen shot containing as many characters as possible, and it gives you the best guess. If you do manage to identify it correctly, then - since you only need a couple of characters - you're probably best off finding a vendor who sells the font online, and then using the custom preview facility to display just the words you need. You can then screenshot this to add it to your Photoshopimage. If you can't identify the font, then characters can often be created from existing ones - so it's easy to make a 6 into a 9, or an n into an m, or a d into a p, and so on. If this isn't possible, I'd recommend simply changing the font to something else. Chances are, the client will never notice. And if they do, explain why you've done it! Do you have any examples you could post here? Maybe we could suggest possible solutions based on an actual label. Welcome to the forum! Steve |
Posted on 10/10/11 1:27:02 PM |
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Tony S
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Re: Typefaces
Hi Steve Thanks so much for your prompt answer and the good sense. Buying fonts for an impoverished French client who grows grapes for a living is not always a good move - direct quote: "Vous voulez dépenser combien? Pourquoi? Vous vous moquez de moi!" "You want to spend how much on what? You're taking the p***?" I will send an example.. Regards Tony |
Posted on 10/10/11 1:37:03 PM |
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Tony S
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Re: Typefaces
Hi Steve As promised I attach a wine photo - not great but what I was given to work with. The client wanted the date changed to 2008 and the small gold decorative cross changed to the words " Cuvée Spéciale " Regards Tony  |
Posted on 10/10/11 2:40:07 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply |
Re: Typefaces
I see your point. Well, just change the font to one that you have, I'm sure the client's interest in typography is minimal! |
Posted on 11/10/11 01:11:43 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4033 Reply  |
Re: Typefaces
 _________________ You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. |
Posted on 11/10/11 07:36:03 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply |
Re: Typefaces
My favourite cartoon, Gordon! Always a pleasure to see it again. |
Posted on 11/10/11 08:18:39 AM |
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Tony S
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Re: Typefaces
Thanks for your advice - I will bear it in mind. It is amazing how new words appear in the English language. The verb to photoshop (no capital P for a verb) now literally means : 1 the act of magically making elements or people disappear from a photograph; 2 the art of improving a very bad photograph and turning it into something reasonably acceptable; 3 the exception that proves the rule that photographs cannot lie. |
Posted on 11/10/11 2:13:08 PM |
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Jota120
Ingenious Inventor Posts: 2615 Reply  |
Re: Typefaces
Interesting side points Tony. My dictionary does not recognise it yet though. I thought Steve would come to the rescue with those links and advice, so quiet on my part. I'm not a Fontist but find Steve's Art & design in Photoshop book a very interesting insight to fonts and the fields of design..... oh of course Art too  Just a thought. |
Posted on 11/10/11 7:43:18 PM |
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Sophie
Political Parodist Posts: 595 Reply  |
Re: Typefaces
Thanks for the cartoon Gordon. Good luck with your quest Tony. And thank you Steve for more useful hints and tips. |
Posted on 25/10/11 00:31:17 AM |
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BigVern
Q Quipper Posts: 674 Reply  |
Re: Typefaces
Just to add to the comments I use the WhatTheFont app for iPhone where I can simply photograph a typeface and confirm to the app the letters it thinks it has found and it then goes off searches and then identifies the font and fonts similar to it. As long as there is sufficient light and contrast in the subject the app is pretty good at suggesting fonts, many of which can be downloaded for free. I do not have an android phone but would imagine that this app or something similar is available for those devices as well. Looking at the cartoon, Gordon, reminds me of the joke "there are 10 types of people in the world ... those who understand binary and those who don't!" |
Posted on 25/10/11 07:34:11 AM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4033 Reply |
Re: Typefaces
 _________________ You do not need a parachute to skydive. You only need a parachute to skydive twice. |