How do I find out what fonts are used in a document/picture?

Question

Is it possible to identify the font used in a specific document/picture?

Answers to this question should identify:

• Possible methods to do this (perhaps one answer per method) and adequately describe how to use it (as opposed to merely stating it);
• Ways of finding the identified fonts, if possible (free or not); and
• Any prerequisites associated with the method used, if required (for example, "In order to use method X, your document has to be in format Y").

_{This question is meant as an FAQ, based on an original inquiry launched on meta. Its aim is to facilitate the community with the general procedures involved in font identification. Similar cases are solved on a per-usage basis on Graphic Design's {font-identification} tag.}

Answer 1

For PDFs, I know of two ways you can find out the fonts of a file.

If you have Adobe Acrobat/Reader, you can find out the fonts used in the file by looking at the Fonts tab in the document's properties (CTRL+D or File->Properties->Fonts). There you will see a list of all the fonts used in the document. It can take several seconds to compile the entire list if a document uses many fonts.

You can use the tool pdffonts. This is included as part of xpdf, which is available in pre-compiled binaries for both Linux and Windows. The program's website says that people have reported being able to compile it on OS X and other systems.

Answer 2

There is a dedicated »Type ID« sub-forum on typophile.com. About one to two dozen type id questions are asked and answered there every day. Whenever WhatTheFont doesn't help, this is probably the best place to go.

As a third solution, midway between consulting an expert and consulting an automat, Identifont offers a semi-automated method which can be fun to use, and pretty instructive too, as you practice how to look at a typeface.