diff --git a/interface/src/ui/overlays/Text3DOverlay.cpp b/interface/src/ui/overlays/Text3DOverlay.cpp
index 0a803043cc..2cf8e6d006 100644
--- a/interface/src/ui/overlays/Text3DOverlay.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/ui/overlays/Text3DOverlay.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ const xColor DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_COLOR = { 0, 0, 0 };
 const float DEFAULT_BACKGROUND_ALPHA = 0.7f;
 const float DEFAULT_MARGIN = 0.1f;
 const int FIXED_FONT_POINT_SIZE = 40;
+const int FIXED_FONT_SCALING_RATIO = FIXED_FONT_POINT_SIZE * 40.0f; // this is a ratio determined through experimentation
 const float LINE_SCALE_RATIO = 1.2f;
 
 Text3DOverlay::Text3DOverlay() :
@@ -104,8 +105,6 @@ void Text3DOverlay::render(RenderArgs* args) {
         glm::vec3 bottomRight(halfDimensions.x, halfDimensions.y, SLIGHTLY_BEHIND);
         DependencyManager::get<GeometryCache>()->renderQuad(topLeft, bottomRight, quadColor);
         
-        const int FIXED_FONT_SCALING_RATIO = FIXED_FONT_POINT_SIZE * 40.0f; // this is a ratio determined through experimentation
-        
         // Same font properties as textSize()
         TextRenderer* textRenderer = TextRenderer::getInstance(SANS_FONT_FAMILY, FIXED_FONT_POINT_SIZE);
         float maxHeight = (float)textRenderer->computeExtent("Xy").y * LINE_SCALE_RATIO;
@@ -229,22 +228,12 @@ Text3DOverlay* Text3DOverlay::createClone() const {
 }
 
 QSizeF Text3DOverlay::textSize(const QString& text) const {
+    auto textRenderer = TextRenderer::getInstance(SANS_FONT_FAMILY, FIXED_FONT_POINT_SIZE);
+    auto extents = textRenderer->computeExtent(text);
 
-    QFont font(SANS_FONT_FAMILY, FIXED_FONT_POINT_SIZE);  // Same font properties as render()
-    QFontMetrics fontMetrics(font);
-    const float TEXT_SCALE_ADJUST = 1.025f;  // Experimentally detemined for the specified font
-    const int TEXT_HEIGHT_ADJUST = -10;
-    float scaleFactor = _lineHeight * TEXT_SCALE_ADJUST * LINE_SCALE_RATIO / (float)FIXED_FONT_POINT_SIZE;
+    float maxHeight = (float)textRenderer->computeExtent("Xy").y * LINE_SCALE_RATIO;
+    float pointToWorldScale = (maxHeight / FIXED_FONT_SCALING_RATIO) * _lineHeight;
 
-    QStringList lines = text.split(QRegExp("\r\n|\r|\n"));
-
-    float width = 0.0f;
-    for (int i = 0; i < lines.count(); i += 1) {
-        width = std::max(width, scaleFactor * (float)fontMetrics.width(qPrintable(lines[i])));
-    }
-
-    float height = lines.count() * scaleFactor * (float)(fontMetrics.height() + TEXT_HEIGHT_ADJUST);
-
-    return QSizeF(width, height);
+    return QSizeF(extents.x, extents.y) * pointToWorldScale;
 }
 
diff --git a/interface/src/ui/overlays/TextOverlay.cpp b/interface/src/ui/overlays/TextOverlay.cpp
index 2f4b0d355d..f3b05b7300 100644
--- a/interface/src/ui/overlays/TextOverlay.cpp
+++ b/interface/src/ui/overlays/TextOverlay.cpp
@@ -165,19 +165,8 @@ QScriptValue TextOverlay::getProperty(const QString& property) {
 }
 
 QSizeF TextOverlay::textSize(const QString& text) const {
+    auto textRenderer = TextRenderer::getInstance(SANS_FONT_FAMILY, _fontSize, DEFAULT_FONT_WEIGHT);
+    auto extents = textRenderer->computeExtent(text);
 
-    QFont font(SANS_FONT_FAMILY, _fontSize, DEFAULT_FONT_WEIGHT);  // Same font properties as render()
-    QFontMetrics fontMetrics(font);
-    const int TEXT_HEIGHT_ADJUST = -2;  // Experimentally determined for the specified font
-
-    QStringList lines = text.split(QRegExp("\r\n|\r|\n"));
-
-    int width = 0;
-    for (int i = 0; i < lines.count(); i += 1) {
-        width = std::max(width, fontMetrics.width(qPrintable(lines[i])));
-    }
-
-    int height = lines.count() * (fontMetrics.height() + TEXT_HEIGHT_ADJUST);
-
-    return QSizeF(width, height);
+    return QSizeF(extents.x, extents.y);
 }
diff --git a/libraries/render-utils/src/TextRenderer.cpp b/libraries/render-utils/src/TextRenderer.cpp
index f1fcb3cb8b..fb720b3040 100644
--- a/libraries/render-utils/src/TextRenderer.cpp
+++ b/libraries/render-utils/src/TextRenderer.cpp
@@ -136,10 +136,12 @@ public:
 
     glm::vec2 drawString(float x, float y, const QString & str,
             const glm::vec4& color, TextRenderer::EffectType effectType,
-            const glm::vec2& bound) const;
+            const glm::vec2& bound);
 
 private:
     QStringList tokenizeForWrapping(const QString & str) const;
+
+    bool _initialized;
 };
 
 static QHash<QString, Font*> LOADED_FONTS;
@@ -186,7 +188,7 @@ Font* loadFont(const QString& family) {
     return LOADED_FONTS[family];
 }
 
-Font::Font() {
+Font::Font() : _initialized(false) {
     static bool fontResourceInitComplete = false;
     if (!fontResourceInitComplete) {
         Q_INIT_RESOURCE(fonts);
@@ -255,8 +257,6 @@ void Font::read(QIODevice& in) {
         // store in the character to glyph hash
         _glyphs[g.c] = g;
     };
-
-    setupGL();
 }
 
 struct TextureVertex {
@@ -291,6 +291,11 @@ QRectF Glyph::textureBounds(const glm::vec2 & textureSize) const {
 }
 
 void Font::setupGL() {
+    if (_initialized) {
+        return;
+    }
+    _initialized = true;
+
     _texture = TexturePtr(
             new QOpenGLTexture(_image, QOpenGLTexture::GenerateMipMaps));
     _program = ProgramPtr(new QOpenGLShaderProgram());
@@ -411,7 +416,9 @@ glm::vec2 Font::computeExtent(const QString & str) const {
 // even without explicit line feeds.
 glm::vec2 Font::drawString(float x, float y, const QString & str,
         const glm::vec4& color, TextRenderer::EffectType effectType,
-        const glm::vec2& bounds) const {
+        const glm::vec2& bounds) {
+
+    setupGL();
 
     // Stores how far we've moved from the start of the string, in DTP units
     glm::vec2 advance(0, -_rowHeight - _descent);