By the Letter

Perhaps you saw an interesting typeface on a poster, or in a magazine. You're not a typeface expert and you've got no idea how to track it down beyond hunting through hundreds (if not thousands) of candidates on the web. There are a few simple options: 

What the Font is a very neat way of identifying a typeface from just a small sample. The feature will work with a scanned sample or a fairly low resolution image from a digital camera. The clearer the sample, the better the program works. What The Font managed to correctly identify several partial samples we uploaded to it.  A linked forum also offers a bit of human interaction if the software doesn't do the trick.

A simple way of identifying a type sample

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Typophile is a haunt for hardcore typeface enthusiasts and designers. If you don't have any luck with What the Font, then some of the folks at Typophile may rise to the challenge posed by your enigmatic sample. Membership is free.

Search by Sight is offered at ITC's website (among other places) and involves the font seeker answering a series of yes/no questions relating to the type sample. If you only have a small number of letters/characters, the questions may continue for some time until the list of potential matches is narrowed down.

Type Navigator at the Font Shop doesn't require a sample, but instead offers clues based on whatever aspects of the typeface you might remember. Even if you don't find the exact typeface, you will probably see something else of interest.