How to Identify a Font in a Low-Resolution Logo with Illustrator Retype

The short answer

Retype is an Illustrator feature that analyzes lettering in a placed raster image or in outlined text and suggests matching fonts from the fonts installed on your computer and from Adobe Fonts. To use it, select the logo image or the outlined lettering, choose Retype from the Type menu, pick a detected text area, and review the suggested fonts. You can then convert the text into live, editable type set in the chosen font. Treat the suggestion as a candidate, not a confirmed identification. You still need to compare it against the original before you rebuild the logo with it.

A few terms set the scope. A raster image, such as a JPEG, PNG or screenshot, is made of pixels, so its edges blur when enlarged. Vector artwork is built from paths defined by anchor points, so it scales cleanly. Outlined text is type that has been converted into vector paths; it keeps its shape but no longer records which font it came from. Live text is editable type that is still linked to a font. Retype works on the first and third cases: raster images and outlined text.

What Retype can and cannot tell you

• Retype only suggests fonts it can compare against, which means installed fonts and the Adobe Fonts library. A typeface sold only by another foundry may never appear as an exact match.
• Low resolution, JPEG compression artifacts, blur, perspective and heavy effects remove the fine details that separate similar typefaces. Expect less reliable suggestions from degraded sources.
• Many logos use custom lettering or a font with redrawn letters, ligatures or altered spacing. Retype can find the closest base font, but it cannot show which letters were modified.
• Adobe's documentation has described Retype as supporting Latin-alphabet text. If your logo uses another script, confirm current language support in Adobe's help for your version.

Check what kind of artwork you actually have

Before running Retype, find out whether the file contains pixels, outlined paths or live text. A file extension is not proof. An AI, EPS, PDF or SVG file can hold nothing but an embedded bitmap, and a file that does contain vectors gives you no permission to reuse the logo.

• Switch to Outline view (View > Outline, or Ctrl+Y on Windows and Command+Y on macOS). Vector paths appear as thin outlines. A placed raster image appears as a box rather than as letter shapes.
• Open the Links panel. Any placed or embedded raster image is listed there.
• Click the lettering with the Direct Selection tool. Outlined text shows anchor points around each letter. A raster image shows only a rectangular bounding box.
• Select the lettering with the Type tool or check the Character panel. If the text is still live, the panel already shows the font name and you don't need Retype. Illustrator may also warn about missing fonts when you open the file.
• Zoom in closely. Stair-stepped or fuzzy edges indicate pixels, not paths.

If the lettering is live text, read the font name directly. If it is outlined, run Retype on the outlines. If it is a raster image, run Retype on the image, and then plan to redraw everything else in the logo as vectors.

Before reconstructing anything, look for an authorized original. Ask the client or brand owner for master logo files and the typeface name, or check the brand's official brand guidelines, press kit or media-assets page. Brand guidelines often name the typeface outright. An official master file is more accurate than any reconstruction. Also confirm that the version you are matching is the right one for the job: the current logo rather than a retired one, and the correct lockup and color version. Compare it against the brand's guidelines and the brand's own current materials.

Before you start

• Use an Illustrator version that includes Retype. Look for it in the Type menu; some versions label it Retype (Beta). If it is missing, update Illustrator. Menu names and button labels have changed between releases, so check Adobe's help for your installed version if anything below doesn't match what you see.
• Sign in to Creative Cloud so Illustrator can suggest and activate Adobe Fonts.
• Start from the cleanest source you can find. Use the largest, least-compressed copy of the logo, not a screenshot of a screenshot.
• Place the image with File > Place. If Retype doesn't detect any text in a linked image, try embedding it from the Links panel menu as a troubleshooting step.
• Work on a copy of the file, or lock the original image on its own layer so you always have an untouched reference.

Step by step: identify the font with Retype

• 1. Place the logo image, or open the file that contains the outlined lettering.
• 2. Select the image or the outlined text with the Selection tool.
• 3. Choose Type > Retype. The Retype panel opens, and Illustrator scans the selection and marks the areas where it detects text.
• 4. Select a detected text area. The panel lists the fonts that best match it.
• 5. Click through the candidates, comparing each against the original at high zoom (see the comparison cues below). Choose the closest one.
• 6. To turn the lettering into editable live text, double-click the detected text area or use the panel's apply command. The wording varies by version.
• 7. Check the converted text. Correct any characters Retype misread, and adjust size, tracking and kerning to match the original.
• 8. Exit Retype from the panel when you're done.

Compare letterforms, not overall impression

Similar typefaces can look identical at small sizes, so compare the letters most likely to differ.

Feature | What to compare

Single- or double-storey a and g | Whether the lowercase a and g are drawn in one bowl or two

Terminals | Whether stroke ends are cut flat, angled, rounded or finished with a ball

Stroke contrast | How much thick and thin strokes differ in weight

x-height | How tall the lowercase letters are relative to the capitals

Apertures | How open or closed the gaps are in c, e, a and s

Distinctive capitals | The leg of R, the tail of Q, the arms of K and the middle of M and W

Serifs | Whether serifs are present, and if so their shape and how they join the stroke

Width and weight | Whether the font is condensed, normal or extended, and light, regular or bold

Confirm the match before you use it

• Overlay the live text on the original image. Lower the opacity of the top layer and scale the type until the cap heights align.
• Check the distinctive letters one by one. If most letters align but one or two don't, the logo probably uses a modified font or custom lettering.
• Check weight and width. A matching family set in the wrong weight or width will still look off.
• Compare letter spacing. Logos are often kerned by hand, so you may need to adjust individual pairs even when the font is correct.
• If the brand owner can confirm the typeface, prefer their answer over any visual match.
• Check the font's license terms for logo use before delivering artwork built on it, and record the font name, weight and source alongside the project files.

Turn the match into usable logo artwork

Once the font is confirmed, set the wordmark as live text and finish the spacing. Then make a copy and convert it with Type > Create Outlines. Outlined lettering displays correctly for recipients who don't have the font installed. Keep the live-text version on a hidden layer or in a separate master file so you can still edit it. If some letters were customized, edit the outlined paths with the Direct Selection and Pen tools until they match the reference. Redraw the non-type parts of the logo, such as symbols or frames, as vector shapes.

Before export, delete or hide the reference image and confirm that nothing raster remains. Use Outline view and the Links panel to check. For print delivery, AI, EPS and PDF files with outlined text are common choices. For digital use, SVG is common; in the SVG export options you can choose to convert fonts to outlines. After exporting, reopen each file and check it in Outline view to confirm that it contains only paths and that no font substitution has occurred.

When Retype finds no convincing match

• The source is too degraded: look for a larger or cleaner copy of the logo, or ask the brand owner for one.
• The lettering is custom: use the closest suggested font as a base for proportions and stroke weight, then redraw the differing letters by hand.
• The typeface isn't in Adobe Fonts or installed locally: Retype cannot suggest it. Ask the client or brand owner, or check the brand guidelines for the name.
• The text uses an unsupported script: identify it by other means, such as confirmation from the brand owner.

Note on evidence: no measured data was available on Retype's accuracy or on a minimum image resolution for reliable detection. This guide therefore gives no thresholds. Test the result against your own source image using the confirmation checks above.