Upload your font

What the viewer shows

Once a file loads you get its size in bytes, its format identified from the first four bytes, and, for TrueType and OpenType files, the family and style from the name table together with the number of glyphs. Below that sit an editable sample you can resize from 12 to 160 pixels, a row at 12, 18, 24, 36, 48 and 72 pixels for comparing sizes, and a set of pangrams plus the capital letters, digits and punctuation.

It is also a quick way to compare two fonts: load one, note how the sample looks, then load the other. The viewer keeps only one font loaded at a time and removes the previous one from the browser when you choose a new file, so nothing piles up in memory, and your sample text stays put between files so the comparison is fair.

Reading the first four bytes

This is the same check the maker runs on every export, before it lets a file be called a .ttf. If a font you downloaded elsewhere says OTTO but ends in .ttf, the viewer will tell you, and you can then decide whether to rename it honestly or ask the source for a true TrueType file.

Why a pangram

A pangram uses every letter of the alphabet at least once, so one line shows whether any glyph is missing, mis-spaced or oddly sized. The viewer sets four of them, then a full line of capitals and a line of digits and marks, which is where handwriting fonts tend to have gaps. A square box in place of a letter means the font has no glyph for it.

Why a font can look different in other apps

A browser, a word processor and a design tool each lay text out with their own engines. They agree on the shapes in the file but can differ in how they round positions, apply kerning and choose line height. A handwriting font with generous spacing can look looser in one program than another. Use the viewer to judge the file, then judge the result in the program where you will use it.

Installing the font you just checked

On a Mac, open the .ttf and choose Install Font in the preview window that appears; it is added to Font Book. On Windows, right-click the file and choose Install, or Install for all users if you want it available to every account. Restart any program that was already open so that it rereads the font list, then look for the family name shown above in the program's font menu.

When a file will not load

• Check the first four bytes. If they are not one of the four signatures in the table, the file is not a font, or is a different kind of file with a font extension.
• Try the same file in a desktop font manager. A font that installs there but fails here usually has tables the browser considers unsafe.
• Re-download or re-export it. Interrupted downloads produce files that are cut short.
• If the file came from this site, export it again from the maker. The export is checked and rebuilt each time.

A short checklist for a new font

1. Check the family name. It is what you will search for in Word or Canva.
2. Type words you use often, including your own name, at 18 and 48 pixels.
3. Look at the digits line. A font made from letters only will show boxes or a fallback face there.
4. Scroll the size list: spacing that looks right at 72 pixels can crowd at 12.

Viewer questions