# Finding a coupla fonts (preferably free)?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [March 16, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929 "2012-03-16T04:27:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/1 "2012-03-16T04:27:59Z")
Given the results of [this other thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14859086) (thanks to all who responded there) and a conversation with my brother in law, I need to find a couple of specific fonts: Avant Garde Gothic Book and CandiaScriptSSi (for Mac, if it matters).
Is there anywhere I can find them (preferably for free) that won’t hard sell me or download malware as soon as I surf to them (this is the reason why I’m extremely reluctant to Google this issue)?
Thanks in advance!
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/2 "2012-03-16T04:52:08Z")
Unless a font was created specifically to be free, then you will need to pay for it either directly from the creator or a vendor that is allowed to sell the font. [$29 is very cheap for a font.](http://www.itcfonts.com/Fonts/detail.htm?ProductID=167921)
Downloading fonts for free that aren’t released as free is the same as downloading music or movies that aren’t released as free.
Your [CandiaScriptSSK](http://www.fonts101.com/fonts/view/Uncategorized/19365/Candia_Script_Ssk.aspx) is a free font. I downloaded it from this site and did a virus scan and nothing bad happened. I’m on a PC.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/3 "2012-03-16T05:02:50Z")
Yes, I should have said “as free as I can get within legal limits.”
Is CandiaScriptSSK different from CandiaScriptSSi?
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### Author:  [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2012, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/4 "2012-03-16T10:13:43Z")
You won’t find Avant Garde free (legally) but there is a free font called Avian which is all-but identical, and which can be found to download easily with a Google search.
I can’t personally vouch for any particular site, so use your best judgement. I can say that I’ve never experienced any problems resulting from searching for, or downloading, any fonts.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2012, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/5 "2012-03-18T06:41:59Z")
And I was gonna ask if there were sources where I could find similar looking fonts that might be free. 🙂
But what _kind_ of Avant Garde does Avian look like, though? As with my CandiaScript question earlier, don’t different types of the same font look at least kind of different?
(Ignorance showing here, I know, but I really don’t know!)
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [March 18, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/6 "2012-03-18T06:56:36Z")
[www.dafont.com](http://www.dafont.com) is an excellent font resource with free (or free for personal use) fonts submitted by fontmakers.
You can use [http://www.identifont.com/](http://www.identifont.com/) or [WhatTheFont | MyFonts](http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/) to find similar fonts, though I’m not sure if they use the fonts in dafont’s database.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/7 "2012-04-13T06:23:47Z")
Sorry to bump this, but not only do I have a couple of unanswered questions (above), but I’m _finally_ trying to get these fonts onto my computer.
Are there any font sites I should avoid as being malware-ish? Are the top Google searches for the fonts I’m looking for reliable indicators at all for this? And is Avian (from post #4) different from Aviano and Aviana? I assume so, but want to be sure.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/8 "2012-04-13T06:31:31Z")
You should definitely be careful about the font downloads. I’ve seen a lot of junk sites offering FREE FONTS!. Just use a modern, updated browser and you SHOULD be ok, and once you download the font, only open ZIP files and TTF or OTF font files, definitely not EXEs or MSIs or any other sort of installer.
As for your other questions, can you repeat what you still need to know? If you just need to find similar looking fonts, try the sites I linked to before. If it’s more than that, please explain.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/9 "2012-04-13T06:42:42Z")
Well, as a Mac user, I don’t _think_ I need to worry about .exe’s… I’d still love a way (or recommendations) to find out what sites are reliable, though. This is Firefox 3.6.28, which is relatively modern/updated…
As for my questions, mostly these, from various posts above:
Is CandiaScriptSSK different from CandiaScriptSSi?
But what kind of Avant Garde does Avian look like, though? As with my CandiaScript question earlier, don’t different types of the same font look at least kind of different?
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/10 "2012-04-13T06:46:09Z")
Yes, there are often minor variations between typefaces and fonts. Sometimes it’s just a bold/italics/normal thing, sometimes they’re slightly different characters because someone recreated the look and feel from scratch.
Download them all (or look at the previews) and compare them for yourself. Similar enough is usually good enough for most uses.
Just do a bit of Googling and compare the fonts for yourself, since only you can decide if they look close enough 🙂
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/11 "2012-04-13T08:01:20Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> Are there any font sites I should avoid as being malware-ish? Are the top Google searches for the fonts I’m looking for reliable indicators at all for this?
There are lots of malware font sites out there, but if the font you’re looking for is available anywhere legitimately for free, you should probably only need to look in one or two of the decent free font sites (including dafont, which is excellent) to find it - if it aint there, you may be chasing a baited hook.
Googling _Free Fonts Categories_ has served me well in the past - seems that mostly, the scam sites can’t be bothered to categorise their fake//malware/vapourware content.
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### Author:  [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/12 "2012-04-13T08:10:41Z")
> [@Leaper](#):
>
> This is Firefox 3.6.28, which is relatively modern/updated…
Firefox 3.6 is 8 major versions behind. It’s still updated but you should really upgrade to Firefox 11.
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### Author:  [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/13 "2012-04-13T10:43:35Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#):
>
> Firefox 3.6 is 8 major versions behind. It’s still updated but you should really upgrade to Firefox 11.
So, that’s what, two weeks old?
Too easy 😉
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2012, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/14 "2012-04-14T08:15:02Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> There are lots of malware font sites out there, but if the font you’re looking for is available anywhere legitimately for free, you should probably only need to look in one or two of the decent free font sites (including dafont, which is excellent) to find it
What’re the others? (Especially since the previously mentioned CandiaScript is nowhere to be found on dafont…)
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2012, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/15 "2012-04-14T08:50:23Z")
Hmmm… I may have overgeneralised there - I guess there might also be a number of fonts that, whilst free, are not widely circulated.
A couple of other good font sites (although neither have the one you’re after - sorry):
> **[SimplytheBest Free Fonts](http://simplythebest.net/fonts/)**
>
> Simply the Best Free Fonts where you can find fonts, webfonts and icon fonts displayed in a unique way.
> **[Free Fonts | 110,000+ Font Downloads | FontSpace](https://www.fontspace.com/)**
>
> Free downloads of legally licensed fonts that are perfect for your design projects. The best place in the universe to search for amazing fonts.
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### Author:  [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-a-coupla-fonts-preferably-free/615929/16 "2012-04-14T20:23:06Z")
Crap. Well, between the three, hopefully I’ll find something with the same… atmosphere, as it were.
Thanks! Help on this topic still appreciated!