There are plenty of high-quality fonts available online, both free and paid, that can be used in any design project. However, there are times when you need a custom font to really make the design stand out.
- Mac version also generates suitcase-based Mac Type 1 and Mac TrueType. Imports OpenType CFF (OTF), OpenType TT / TrueType (TTF), PostScript Type 1 (PFB/PFA/MM), FontLab VFB, Fontographer FOG, and legacy Mac fonts. Import Bitmaps and EPS drawings from Illustrator. Allows user to test the font for Spacing and Kerning issues.
- Dec 01, 2018 #4 Suitcase Fusion — Best Mac Font Manager for Advanced Professionals. We already covered RightFont 5 as the professional Mac font manager, but Suitcase Fusion is definitely an upgrade. If you ask us, most of the features in Suitcase Fusion are working underground. It means you will feel an overall upgrade to the designing process.
- FontForge is a free and open source font editor brought to you by a community of fellow type lovers. You can donate to support the project financially. Get involved. Anyone can help! You don't have to be a programmer. If you want to help but don't know where then join the developer list and introduce yourself.
- Oct 25, 2017 Choosing a good font editor is a key part of this process, and these digital tools play no small part in influencing your design decisions. An influx of new tools has given rise to a wider enthusiasm for type-creation from designers of all backgrounds, making font development as simple or as complex as you would like it to be.
If that’s the case, you’re probably wondering if there are any tools available that will help you create your own font. Or maybe, you’d just like to try your hand at designing a custom font as a fun side project.
No matter what your situation is, the good news is that there are quite a few tools geared towards helping you create a custom font. We’ve rounded up the best of them in this post so without further ado, let’s jump in and check them out.
FontLab Studio
Let’s start with the one and only thing you absolutely have to have to create your own fonts: font-making software. Several very good programs can be purchased that are quite user-friendly and simple to use. Two of the best are Fontographer for $350 and FontLab Studio for $650.
The first tool on the list, FontLab Studio is a premium font creation software aimed at professionals that want to create and edit their own typefaces. It works on both Mac and Windows and supports all major font outline formats.
FontForge
FontForge is an open-source application that can be used on Mac, Windows, and Linux computers. With this program, you can create and edit PostScript, TrueType, OpenType, SVG, and bitmap fonts as well as convert fonts from one format to another.
FontCreator
FontCreator is a Windows-only font editor. It has an advanced set of features that make it suitable for professional font designers and an easy to use interface that’s beginner-friendly. You can create and edit high-quality TrueType and OpenType fonts as well as convert scanned vector graphics into glyphs.
Fontographer
Fontographer lets you create new fonts from scratch or customize the existing ones. You can modify and design Type 1, TrueType, OpenType, Type 3 fonts. Special features include the ability to fine-tune spacing and kerning Fontographer is available for Windows and Mac systems.
FontStruct
FontStruct is a free online tool for designing your own fonts. This tool let you easily create your own fonts by using geometric shapes. When you’re done, FontStruct then generates TrueType fonts, ready to download and use in any application.
Fontifier
If you ever wanted to make a font out of your own handwriting, Fontifier is the tool you need. It’s an online app that lets you upload a scanned image of your handwriting and turns it into a TrueType handwritten font that you can use in your word processor or graphics program.
BirdFont
BirdFont is another free tool for designing your own fonts and it has advanced features that will satisfy even the hard-core font designers. The tool has detailed documentation and allows you to create fonts by drawing on a grid or importing images from other programs. It’s available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
iFontMaker
If you rely on your iPad as your primary design tool, iFontMaker will come in handy. It’s an iPad app that lets you design your “handmade” typeface in less than 5 minutes using just your fingers. You can then install the font on your computers and also on your iPad & iPhone.
Pentacom’s Bit Font Maker
Love pixel-style fonts? Then check out Pentacom’s BitFont Maker. This tool lets you create your own pixel fonts, which are reminiscent of old video games. The tool has a neat gallery where you can other fonts created with the app or you can immediately dive into the editor and start creating your font.
TTFEdit
A TrueType font editor, this tool lets you edit and modify existing TTF fonts or create new ones from templates. TTFEdit is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux and is free to download.
Glyphr
Glyphr is a web-based font design tool that touts itself as being free and easy to use for font design enthusiasts. You can easily design your own font, ligatures, and adjust kerning and tracking.
Conclusion
Designing your own font is a great way to add a custom touch to your design project. It’s also a nice way to earn extra income if you discover you have a knack for creating fonts and enjoy doing it. With these tools, you’ll be able to create your own font quickly so be sure to check them out and give them a try.
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Though there are plenty of fonts out there for you to choose from (and many are even free), you may have the desire to create your very own custom font. Perhaps you want to design your own unique font for your company's logo, or you may have a specific font design in mind and, after looking at hundreds of fonts, you've concluded that you'd have to make your own lettering to get exactly what you want.
Software for designing your own fonts (often called font editors) can be expensive, with FontLab Studio, one of the industry's standards, fetching over $600. Though professional font foundries — which make a business designing and selling fonts — would be happy paying this high sticker price, the cost is prohibitively high for those of us who want to build simple fonts.
What's great is there are several free font editors out there that you can use to create your own fonts. Below, you'll discover seven of the best free tools for designing fonts.
With these tools, don't expect to create high quality professional fonts right from the start — it will take time and practice, just like with any endeavor. But, if you're simply looking to create a custom font or would like to try your hand at a fun, fulfilling and creative activity like font design, these tools will certainly help you get the job done.
Though there are many free font editors out there, we focused on those that are still actively maintained and those that we can comfortably recommend. But if you're the adventurous type, do check out other free font editing software and projects such as GNU Font Editor, DoubleType, Horus, Bitmap Font Editor, and Bitmap Font Editor.
What font editor do you use? Let us know in the comments below.
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