GLIPH / gliph.us

Compare Text vs Compare Fonts

Text comparison tools compare characters; fonts differ in outlines, spacing, and metrics. Here is when a text diff is right, when it fails, and how to compare two typefaces.

The same sentence set in two typefaces shown side by side, with glyph outlines overlaid to reveal differences a text diff would miss

What text comparison actually compares

What differs between two fonts

How to compare two fonts properly

Where the text tools still win

Make something to compare

GLIPH / ASCII SPECIMEN 001

  SPECIMEN / 001                              FONT FILE  .TTF

   .:::::::::.   ::::::::      :::::::::      +---------+
  :+:       :+: :+:    :+:    :+:     :+:     |  .TTF   |
  +#+  +:+  +#+ +#+    +#+   +#+     +#+     |         |
  +#+ +#+#+ +#+ +#+    +#+   +#+     +#+     |         |
   #+#+# #+#+#  #+#    #+#    #+#     #+#     +----+    |
    ###   ###    ########      ########       |    |    |
                                              |    +----+
   a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t    |         |
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9  & ? @ # % * ! + =    +---------+

   hand-drawn or generated  ->  extracted  ->  vectorized
   GLIPH / a sheet of characters becomes a working font

GLIPH needs JavaScript to run the extractor. Enable JavaScript to upload a sheet and create a font, or read more at gliph.us.