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I want to choose proper GIMP font for my purpose, so I would like to browse through all of them visually. But, having to choose GIMP font based on a single letter "Aa" (as provided by the text tool) really sucks:

enter image description here

Googling around, I found there are three ways to open font dialog in GIMP, but all of them are equally bad.

Is there some better preview of all the default GIMP fonts? In the GIMP program itself or at least somewhere on the Internet.

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    I've used gimp for 20 years and wanted this. I don't want to use a font manager, I want to see my text, in my colours, in the image, in the font that I'm interested in without messing around. Anyway I saw someone say you can use the mousewheel on the fonts dialog (not the popup) but no use to me as I am on a laptop.
    – Cameron
    Commented Nov 25, 2019 at 23:59
  • @Cameron You can use a mouse on a laptop.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Jan 23 at 5:49

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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There are no "Gimp" fonts. The fonts are on your system.

Google for some Font Manager on your operating system, and choose the one that has previews.

On Windows I use the font manager that comes with Corel Draw, but there a some interesting free tools:

xiles.net Nexus font has a nice interface, can make some groups of your favorite fonts and preview all installed ones.

This is really interesting fontba.se because I used it to download the google fonts to a folder, but has many features that you need to explore.

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    The system font manager only sees fonts that are installed for the system, not the ones that have been added only to Gimp.
    – xenoid
    Commented Nov 30, 2018 at 23:38
  • Aha! Wow, I didn't know that! Ok, in this situation I can just use Microsoft Word to select fonts in more user friendly way - they have font name typeset in that font. My OS is Windows 10 Professional. If there is a better preview tool I would be grateful for that. Thanks!
    – Tomas
    Commented Dec 1, 2018 at 0:43
  • @xenoid: Don't know your platform, but the Windows font tool in Windows 7 and 10 can preview uninstalled fonts too and even install them for you. Just right click the font and select Preview. But note that Gimp will only show installed fonts.
    – Rudy Velthuis
    Commented Dec 1, 2018 at 19:07
  • @RudyVelthuis thanks! Anyway, right-clicking each font when you need to select out of 100+ isn't a solution :)
    – Tomas
    Commented Dec 1, 2018 at 21:50
  • @Tomas: that's true. Not really the ideal way to choose a font. Although, you should only click those that may be useful. If they don't look good in the font selection box of Gimp, no need to click them. But I agree, that is still not a very good way.
    – Rudy Velthuis
    Commented Dec 1, 2018 at 22:09
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In GIMP 2.10.x you can use the mouse scroll wheel to go through all the fonts. If you don't have a mouse, then use the keyboard.

Mouse wheel

Just type some text. In the tool options mouse over the font icon, and scroll the mouse wheel:

enter image description here

Keyboard

Open the Dockable Fonts Dialog. It can be opened in the menus, Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Fonts selected under the mouse below:

enter image description here

Then after typing/selecting some text, click in and scroll through the font list with the keyboard arrows:

enter image description here

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  • Not working. Some attributes changes when using Tool Options window (size, antialiasing, box, adjusting). Others don't (font, color). Looks like these two windows are not synchronized. In small window you cannot "scroll" through fonts.
    – sZpak
    Commented Sep 3, 2023 at 10:13
  • @sZpak It is working. I just tested it in GIMP 2.10.34 (the most recent version as of today). You need to type some text, with the text tool, then mouse over the font icon in the tool options for the Text tool, then the scroll wheel works. Also note that if you have typed some text, then used other tools, you will need to click on the text with the text tool to get the cursor back inside the text box before trying this. Also this only works on live text layers, not rasterized text. It's also possible to do the same in the Fonts dialog using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented Sep 3, 2023 at 10:35
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    I'll edit the info into the answer, in case it helps. Been experimenting with simple screen recorder & ffmpeg gifs anyway
    – Xen2050
    Commented May 2 at 4:31
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    @Xen2050 - Cool. I approved your edit. It's very nice nice. Thank you.
    – Billy Kerr
    Commented May 2 at 10:00
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    @maxkoryukov Well, the question already mentions the font dialog, but says it's "bad", and the linked webpage about the dialog has "use the arrows on your keyboard to browse through the fonts" although neither said you can see your selected text actually change font as you scroll - that's what I was looking for and it's a good enough answer. I think the question really wants to see all the different fonts at the same time? Some of the font viewers in your answer's linked Q can do that, but gimp alone can't. @ Billy NP :-)
    – Xen2050
    Commented May 5 at 5:15
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Simple answer: GIMP (up to v2.8) can not do that for you.

But there are workarounds. At first, one side note: there are no "Gimp fonts" — all fonts come from your system.

So we all can use the system font viewer. Or, as an alternative, install an external viewer for the appropriate operating system. Here are several useful links:

PS. After all, it is embarrassing, that the official Graphic Editor doesn't provide many basic features for image editing (please, correct me if I'm wrong). For small pictures I always use small editors, for large projects - I go to Fiverr...

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I think he is right the font viewer on Gimp is a total pain. Also I don't want to open yet another program when looking at fonts. Gimp needs a larger font interface that's easier to navigate and shows the fonts more clearly.

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This answer is Windows only. Open File Manager. Go to C:\Windows\Fonts (or equivalent). For convenience, hit F11 to expand the window to full screen. You should now see large icons, one per font variant. Inside the icon is text written in that font, in the primary script for that font. That should help you choose your font, remember its name. Now Use the text tool to add your text. It will be in the wrong font, no worries. Note the popup that appears above the text. Use -a to select all the text. If you type in the font name box (upper left), it becomes a font name search box and shows you matches. Choose the name that you want to change the font. You can also set the text size and color here.

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