PANOSE 是一种依照字体外观来进行分类的方法。对于未知的字体，可以透过PANOSE体系将字体的外观特征整理并且与其他字体归模拟较。

PANOSE定义了几个范围：Latin Text, Latin Script, Latin Decorative, Iconographic, Japanese Text, Cyrillic Text, Hebrew。PANOSE的原形在1985年由 Benjamin Bauermeister 所开发，当时一个字体由七个16进位数字所定义，现在则发展为十个。这每一个数字都定义一种视觉外观的单位，像是笔划的粗细或是字体衬线的样式。

The PANOSE System is a method for classifying typefaces solely on their visual characteristics, developed by Benjamin Bauermeister. It can be used to identify an unknown font from a sample image or to match a known font to its closest visual neighbor from a font pool. The word "PANOSE" is composed of letters taken from the six classes in which the creator of the system organized the Latin alphabet.