How to Determine Which Fonts Are Used in Newspaper Front Pages

The Los Angeles Times print edition newspaper uses 22 different fonts and typefaces in the design of their front page. Weird but true.


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This was revealed when MSNBC cartoonist Daryl Cagle [via] took the LA Times paper and painstakingly reviewed the fonts used on their front page.

If you are no typography expert like Daryl, how do you find the font names that are used in newspaper or magazine layouts ? The answer could be in Adobe PDF files.

Most newspapers provide a sample PDF file on the websites that's an exact replica of their print edition layouts. You may find links to download these PDF files in sections where they have information for subscribing to a the paper via Home Delivery.

The newspaper font information is embedded inside these sample PDFs and can be accessed by opening the file in Adobe Reader and pressing Ctrl+D to access the document properties.

Check the fonts tab and you are likely to find the font name used while composing that newspaper. Here's the LA Times newspaper front page in PDF format. As the PDF suggests, it mainly uses variation of fonts like Deck, Gothic, Helvetica and others.

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Earlier, a font study stated that Poynter, Franklin Gothic, Helvetica, Utopia, Times, Nimrod, Century Old Style, Interstate, Bureau Grotesque and Miller were the most popular typefaces in newspapers.