Whether you are a student, a business person, or someone looking to make a quick income, I’m pretty sure you have searched for “how to make custom fonts” and landed on this article. The font is an important element in typography. We use words everywhere, and the beauty of the words is presented in fonts. Wherever the necessity to convey information in words comes, then typography is necessary. There are over 200,000 fonts in this world. And guess what? Fonts have six main types you can make. And the probability is the one you create will fall under one of these categories. Therefore, the types are Serif, Sans serif, Handwritten, Display, and Monospaced.
So, how do you know which one falls under which category? It’s pretty easy, considering you can differentiate them by looking.
Serif has strokes, generally attached at the end of the characters. Those are mostly used for professional use. Fonts like Times New Roman and Helvetica are professional fonts. On the other hand, Sans-serif doesn’t have those kinds of strokes. These fonts are more visually appealing and are widely used in websites and user interfaces. Calibri is an example of a Sans-serif font. Handwritten fonts look natural and are basically calligraphy in digital form.
The best handwritten fonts are those that look like they have been handwritten, like the font Quentin. Display fonts are eye-catching due to their unique and exaggerated features. That’s why they are mostly used in headlines, logos, titles, and just anything to grab the user’s attention, like the font Impact.
Monospaced fonts have a blocky appearance, and each of the characters occupies the same horizontal space. It is mostly used in tech areas, and if you’re a programmer, you definitely know what they look like. Monaco is an example of a monospaced font. Likewise, if you want to create your own font, you should know what custom fonts are. Generally, there are two types of fonts. One is a system UI font, which is given by the system itself, and the other is a custom font. Custom fonts are unique typefaces that denote a specific brand, enhance user experience, or create a long-lasting visual experience.
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What is the importance of Custom Font?
People create custom fonts for various reasons. Using custom fonts is a unique way of presenting a brand or a project. Fonts are one of the important elements of UI design. Whether it is a project you’re working on, an app you are using, or any website you are visiting, typography should be seriously taken. For businesses, you can use fonts to convey your main objective. When you create a font, it is unique and distinct from other businesses. That means the font used in your business gives your brand a distinct identity.
Likewise, fonts enhance the user experience. Let’s take an example of fonts used in movie labels. If it is a haunted movie, the fonts are probably exaggerated with eerie designs. Without watching the movie, you get an idea of the genre of the movie. Custom font creation is also a form of artistic expression. We can use it for personal projects and explore creativity of our own. Also, making custom fonts allows you to create and monetize your fonts. Designing a font and selling it can be a side hustle or an actual income source for graphic designers or anyone interested in designing.
Best Tools for Designing Custom Fonts in 2024
As of 2024, font creation software is in a competitive space. Of course, there is no ‘one’ best tool, but there are best tools that stand out in the font creation world. Whether it is to capture the attention of users, convey a professional tone, create an easy and cutesy vibe, or convert leads, the fonts we use are really useful. When you create a font, there is definitely more than just one area to look for. Font creation tools make the building of the fonts way easier because more than 50% of the task is usually completed by it.
From converting your sketches to actual fonts, testing, optimizing, exporting, uploading, and many more, all of the font creation software provides basic features. But how do you choose the perfect font creation tools for your needs? We have made a list of top 6 font creation tools with their best features so that you know which one to choose.
| Tools | Price | Best feature |
| FontLab | $499/year with full license and a 10-day trial | 1. Mostly used by professionals 2. Has advanced vector tools. |
| FontForge | Free | 1. It is open-source 2. It has a community-driven development. |
| Adobe Illustrator | $22/month with a 7-day trial | 1. Has advanced vector features for editing 2. Integrates well with other Adobe tools like Adobe Photoshop. |
| BirdFont | Free | 1. Beginner-friendly 2. Supports SVG file import and vector editing. |
| Glyphr Studio | Free | 1. Most compatible with browser 2. User-friendly. |
| Calligraphr | 1. Free version 2. Premium version- $8/month | 1. Has documentation and guide 2. Best for creating handwritten font. |
| Glyphs Mini | $9.99/month with 7-day free trial | 1. Best for beginners 2. Has features like automatic kerning and real-time previews |
Simple Steps for Creating Your Own Font (Beginners)
Font creation is a long process. If you have spent a long time looking at an interface and analyzing the details, you have probably thought of making your font. Although it can be an exhausting process, if we break it down into smaller steps, you will have an idea for better execution. Likewise, one of the first steps after deciding to make fonts is knowing what kind of typeface you want to make. The second step is to research the resources you are going to need. Look if the software you will use has documentation in case you need a guide. See if it provides a tutorial for creating custom designs.
The third thing is to start creating the characters. Know what size, thickness, and height you aim for while drawing. The fourth step is choosing the right software for making rough designs of fonts to digital fonts. Then, check for any refinements the fonts need, as well as any quality testing and final touch-ups. And the last thing is exporting your creation. Therefore, creating a font from scratch can be hectic, but with the right guidance and research, you can create custom files and make your fonts available online.
Planning of the Font
Font designing is not just about creating individual glyphs(graphical representations of a character). It involves considering broader aspects such as:
- Purpose and functionality: You should know the application of your font, what areas we can use the font in, and what kind of purpose it serves. Is it for a brand, a project, or a digital interface? Also, is it functional enough when used across different interfaces?
- Target audience: As these questions to yourself- What kind of audience are you planning to attract? Are you aiming for a professional vibe like serif fonts or a playful vibe like Comic Sans? Likewise, there are many moods(haunted, robotic, etc.) you can base your fonts on. Just know the tone you want your fonts to convey and what demographic of audience you want to see use your fonts.
- Consistency and style: Make sure you maintain consistency in terms of size, height, and spacing between characters in the typeface.
Design and Sketch the font.
After you have carefully planned your font, it’s time to sketch the idea. Whether it is uppercase, lowercase, or punctuation, you need to design a rough outline of how you want your glyphs to look. Start by creating smaller artboards for each character. For only uppercase characters, it needs 26 artboards; including lowercase, you will need 52. If you were to look up typefaces in online services like Adobe
Typekit and Google Docs, they have around 1,500 characters. So, the more characters you want to build, the more artboard you will require. What you really want to do is use vectors so that when scaled up, it’s not too pixelated, and when scaled down, it doesn’t lose quality. The choice for smaller artboards is that they will load faster and are easier to import into font creation software.
Install Font Creation Software or Tools
The next step in designing custom fonts is installing font creation software and tools for converting sketches to actual fonts. That means digitizing the fonts so we can use them in the real world. After installing the software, double-click to start the app and go to the file menu to create a new document and begin digitization. As discussed above, font creation is the best when drawn using vectors.
So, Adobe Illustrator is the best choice for font creation if we are working with vectors. You might need to import the SVG files of your font to start creating fonts in digital form. From this point, font creation software provides whatever your font needs to do to land in the real world. Testing, compressing font files, refining, experimenting, customizing, etc, are a few reasons for using font creation software.
Analyzing and Refining typography
So far, we know why we need to use font creation software or tools. Now, when you have your font ready, analyze the consistency of the fonts. Check if the height, weight, and size are consistent. We can make smooth, clean glyphs using the Pathfinder tool in Illustrator. While putting your font to the test, we have to consider readability on different devices, so you might want to focus on the compatibility of the fonts as well.
Another thing is the alignment and spacing of the characters. Using fontforge, analyze what your font looks like with spacing between each character- tracking. And spacing between specific pairs of characters- kerning. Font editing helps you make adjustments for any mistakes or updates needed to polish your font’s design to the smallest details.
Exporting the typeface
This is the last step of designing a font. This is where you will export your creation for the world to use. And you will need font creation software. FontForge is an open-source font editor that is free to download and popular for creating and exporting font designs. However, users also prefer BirdFont because it is user-friendly. Import a file containing your rough sketches, which is an SVG file, and compress them.
The main used formats for compressing typeface design are TrueType(TTF) and OpenType(OTF). The TTF format is simple and convenient. So, this is the best option for you if you want your font for general use. But if you want a format that is compatible with advanced features, then OTF is the format you would want to use to export your typeface design. The difference is that TrueType is generally used for common purposes, while OpenType is mostly used for professional purposes. Keep in mind that you need to select the whole character set when exporting.
Conclusion
Now that you have reached the end of this article, you have a basic idea about type design. All that you’ll need to create your font is a plan for the design process, an idea of the font type, and tools to create either professional, personal, or commercial fonts. If you have never been into graphic design, then this can be your starting point. As of 2024, there are plenty of font collections from which you can take font info and inspiration and create a new font of your own.
Decide how much time it is going to take to create a font based on what kind of font you are planning to make. Use Illustrator or other tools like FontLab or Adobe Photoshop for font creation. Locate the correct SVG file to open to start the actual font design. Using a vector while drawing digital glyphs is more useful. While editing fonts, pay attention to the spacing between each letter or set of letters. Look for consistency and readability.
Likewise, if you want to create fonts that are scalable and provide clarity, then install basic font creation tools. You can also use CSS to enhance your font design. After finalizing everything, you can upload your font to Google Fonts. From there, other users can install the font you made.
FAQs
Can you sell your font?
Yes, you can sell your font on either marketplaces or your website. But before you do so, you will need to have a font licensing. Moreover, you can have legal protection on your fonts to protect from unauthorized usage or copyright. Popular marketplace choices for font selling are Creative Market and Etsy.
Are fonts copyright-free?
Fonts can be copyright-free when released under licenses such as Sil open fonts license. It depends on the designer’s or creator’s choice if they want to keep them copyright-free or collect royalties from the fonts. However, in the US, copyright law is not implemented on fonts unless they qualify as software or software.
Can I turn my handwriting into a font?
Yes, you can turn your handwriting into a font using apps and websites. The font that mimics handwriting is called a handwritten font. Caligraphr is a popular website that does the work. Furthermore, you need to export your font sketches as an SVG file. Then compress your font files into .otf or .ttf formats. After that, export your typeface so that others can use your handwritten font.
Which software is best for font creation?
Based on the level of experience and resources available, users can use different software to create fonts. Glyphs Mini is best for you if you are a beginner in font design. Similarly, if you have somewhat of experience, you can use FontLab. And if you are searching for a free one, FontForge has your back.
