Computing the degree of blackness

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Mike Thompson
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Computing the degree of blackness

Post by Mike Thompson »

Is there any software that can analyse a font and report on
where it lays on the light/bold scale?
Mike
Mike Thompson
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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Re: Computing the degree of blackness

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

I very much doubt it, and the Panose weight information may be wrong or missing altogether. You can calculate the Panose weight of a font quite easily from the formula:

WeightRatio = CapH / WStem(E)

On some typefaces, it is rather difficult to decide where to measure the width of the stem on the capital E, and even the Cap Height may not be too obvious. In those case the human eye is the best tool for the job. Just make a best guess by comparing with the illustration below.

Image
2_0 = Any (Don't use.)
2_1 = No Fit (Don't Use)
2_2-Very Light....................WeightRat ≥ 35 (35 or greater)
2-3-Light....................18 ≤ WeightRat < 35 (18 or greater, less than 35)
2_4-Thin.....................10 ≤ WeightRat < 18
2_5-Book....................7.5 ≤ WeightRat < 10
2_6-Medium..................5.5 ≤ WeightRat < 7.5
2_7-Demi....................4.5 ≤ WeightRat < 5.5
2_8-Bold....................3.5 ≤ WeightRat < 4.5
2_9-Heavy...................2.5 ≤ WeightRat < 3.5
2_A-Black...................2.0 ≤ WeightRat < 2.5
2_B-Extra Black...................WeightRat < 2
My FontsReviews: MainTypeFont CreatorHelpFC15 + MT12.0 @ Win 10 64-bit build 19045.2486
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