How to find a font with the same width as my current font?

Question

Numerous times when creating a grid based layout for print, I would like to be able to change a font of some text content but know which other fonts are also the same text width (despite the same font size). This is so that when changing a font, the text does not fall outside of the layout bounds when it is larger in width compared to the original, and I then have to readjust everything. Eg. if I have specific text which needs to fit onto one page, if this text changes to a font with a bigger width this will no longer fit, and in cases where the font size is already the minimum readable size the font size cannot be reduced to fix this.

Is there a resource (website or software) or a way to be able to determine fonts with a matching width to a currently used font? Or what is the best way to approach this? At the moment I have been just doing this by trial and error until I fond a font which appears to fit the same, but surely there is a better way.

Answer 1

I'm afraid that just part of the job. The individual characters of two fonts can differ in many ways. I can't really see a way to systematically categorize fonts to avoid this issue. Even changing from one version of a font to another can cause your text to reflow.

Once you have begun fine tuning your layout it's almost impossible to change the font without making (at least tiny) adjustments. Sometimes you just need to decrease the font size with 0.01 points or change the tracking a tiny bit. Sometimes you need to drastically redesign.

A way to avoid wasting money on readjusting your layout to a different font is to layout a few pages and make the client approve of the layout. If the client later wants to change the font, you can add the time spent on changing the font to the bill.

When you are in the initial design phase, you can try to set up your document so everything doesn't have to fit 100% exactly into the text boxes. Don't snap the text boxes to the text. Make them large enough to absorb different fonts and sizes and use vertical and horizontal alignment to keep everything in place.