With Retype in Illustrator, you can identify the fonts of static texts used in raster images and outlined texts, eliminating the need for guesswork. Once you identify the font of a text, apply it to the text and edit it effortlessly.
Note:
- Retype supports Latin scripts only.
- On macOS 11, font identification from the image works fine. But to be able to edit the text, consider updating to macOS 12 or higher.
Convert static text to live text
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Select the image or outlined text, and then select Type > Retype. You see a dotted line around all the words that Retype detects. The Retype panel also appears.
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Select the download icon at the bottom of the panel, and then select Download to install the editing capability. This installation is a one-time process.
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Select the word in the image or outlined text you want to edit. The Retype panel shows 10 matching fonts as suggestions, ordered by the closeness to the font of the selected word.
Font suggestions from both Adobe Fonts and system fonts are enabled by default. You can choose to turn off either of them by deselecting From Adobe Fonts or From your device respectively in Apply Filter .
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(Optional) Select Find more font matches at the bottom of the panel to find five more matching fonts.
Also, you can type in your own text in the Retype panel to preview it with the given font suggestions.
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Select the preferred font on the Retype panel, and then double-click the word on the canvas. The word gets converted into live text.
If the font you apply is an Adobe Font and it isn’t already activated, it gets activated.
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Select Press & hold to view your source image for comparison. You can also restore your original image by selecting Revert to your source image .
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Repeat the steps if you want to convert more words in the image or outlined text into live text.
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Press Esc to exit the Retype mode, and then double-click the live text to edit it.
The font suggestions remain in the Retype panel until you run Retype again.
Note:
- In addition to the Type menu, you can access Retype from the Window menu, by right-clicking the image/outlined text, and the Quick Actions section of the Properties panel.
- The fonts from Adobe Fonts that you activate from the Retype panel are available across Creative Cloud apps for future use.
