This tip was printed from the MalekTips Computer and Technology Help and Tips website at http://malektips.com.

Windows XP and Fonts - Sort Fonts by Similarity

If your Windows XP system contains dozens, perhaps hundreds, of fonts, it may be difficult to navigate through all of them. For organizational purposes, you can have Windows XP sort similar fonts together. This will show you nearly-duplicate fonts, allowing you to remove or file away certain fonts you no longer need.

1) Access your Windows XP Fonts Control Panel.

2) Select "View" - "List Fonts by Similarity".

3) Your "Fonts" window will now show a pull-down where you can find fonts similar to a font of your choosing. Pick a font and then let Windows show you whether or not other fonts are similar to the given font.

For example, on one system I selected "Arial". The following fonts were listed very similar:

* Arial (obviously a font is similar to itself)
* Arial Black
* Avant Garde Medium BT
* Eurostile
* Microsoft Sans Serif
* Trebuchet MS

Many fonts were listed as not similar at all to Arial, including:

* Allegro BT
* Courier New
* Engravers MT
* Impact
* Perpetua
* Webdings

Microsoft determines font similarity by looking at a font's Panose information that classifies fonts based on visual styles. Not every font contains such information. More information on the Panose classification system can be found at http://www.panose.com/.