Create your own handwritten font. Editor for creating fonts ]

The text we print in Word program, may look different. Different view and letter size, thickness, style, color, text position on the page. Moreover, all this can be changed after the text is printed. And many do just that - it’s easier, faster, and more convenient.

Font

is the way the letters are written. That is, a font is a type of letters.

Here is an example of writing in different fonts:

There are a lot of fonts in the world. Some of them are already built into Windows system, others can be added. For example, download from the Internet and install on your computer.

There are, of course, a lot of fonts, but not all of them will work - most of them cannot print Russian text.

To select a font in the program Microsoft Word, you need to use a special field. It is located at the top on the left side.

At the end of this field there is a small arrow button. If you click on it, a list of fonts installed on your computer will open.

There are quite a lot of them. To make sure of this, you need to turn the wheel on the mouse or pull down the slider on the right side. By selecting a font from the list, the text will be typed in this particular type.

How to change the font

Even if the text is already typed in some type of font, it can always be changed. But to do this, the text must first be selected.

Let's look at an example. Type a couple of sentences. Please note that the text will be typed in the form shown in the font field in this moment. In my case it's Calibri.

To change the font of printed text, you need to select it. To do this, move the cursor (arrow or stick) to the very beginning or the very end of the text. Then click left button mouse and, without releasing it, pull it to the other end. When the text turns a different color (usually black or blue), it means it is highlighted.

Now all that remains is to change the font. Click on the small arrow button at the end of the field with the name of the current font. A list will open. Select a suitable font from it.

The appearance of the letters should change. If this does not happen, it means that you have chosen the wrong font - that is, one that does not work with Russian letters.

The font used to print documents is called Times New Roman.

How to change font size

Font size is the size of letters in printed text.

There is a special field to change the size of letters. This field indicates the value that is currently set.

It can be changed. To do this, click on the small arrow button at the end of the field. A list will open. Press right size- and the text will be printed by it.

If the suggested sizes are not enough, turn the wheel on the mouse or pull the slider on the right.

The font size can be changed in other ways. Highlight the value that is currently set. To do this, just left-click inside the field - by numbers. The numbers will be painted in a different color.

Then type desired value and press the Enter button on your keyboard.

To change the size of text that has already been typed, you first need to select it. To do this, move the cursor (arrow or stick) to the very beginning or the very end of the text. Then press the left mouse button and, without releasing it, drag to the other end. When the text turns a different color (usually black or blue), it means it is highlighted.

Now all that remains is to change the size. To do this, click on the small button next to the current font size and select the desired one. You can also simply delete this value, type the desired one and press the Enter button on your keyboard.

It is worth noting that text is usually printed in font size 14 or 12, and headings in font size 16.

To create fonts, I recommend using an editor FontCreator from High-Logic. I’ll say right away that the program is paid, but this is the best option that caught my eye. If you need a free font editor, pay attention to the program Type light from cr8software and online service Glyphr Studio. I'll stick to FontCreator (if I'm not mistaken, it was version 6.0).

Step 1: and so, launch the editor and using the command: File > New(File > New) - create new font. In the window that opens New Font (from English) New Font) , you will need to specify a number of parameters:

• Font family name- name of the font family, i.e. just the name of the font, something like that Times New Roman, I pointed My Font.
• Character set- a set of characters included in the font, I recommend choosing Unicode (characters).
• Font style- font style, for each style you need to create separate file. For regular (default) font style, select the option Regular.
• Predefined outlines- built-in circuits. I recommend selecting the Don’t include outlines option, which will allow you to create a clean outline of silhouettes.

Step 2: A window will appear in front of you with a form of silhouettes of some symbols, numbers and Latin letters. For adding Cyrillic alphabet to the font, you need to do the following:

2.1. Using the command: Insert > Characters… (Insert > Symbols...)- Open the window Insert Characters(from English) inserting characters).

In this case, you may receive the following message:

This operation is not undoable. Do you want to continue?

It informs you that the operation is irreversible and to complete it you need to confirm your action, press the button “ Yes».

2.2. Next, a table of symbols will appear in front of you. For convenience, in the list Fonts select font Arial. On the list Go to Unicode Block select Cyrillic. Using the field Selected Character, looks at the code for the letters “A” ($0410) and “I” ($044F). In field Add these characters and/or character ranges… we add the necessary characters and/or range of characters, in our case it is: $0410-$044F . Click the button " OK».

2.3. Symbols of Cyrillic letters will be added to your font form. In the same way, but separately, you can add the letters “е” ($0451) and “Ё” ($0401), which were not included in the range of characters specified in the previous step.

Step 3: Now you can start creating symbols. Here, in addition to vector editing, using the appropriate tools, FontCreator allows you to create characters from pictures by converting them into a vector image. Obviously, for each symbol you will need to draw a separate picture.

3.1. As an example, I will draw a capital letter "A".

3.2. In principle, after scanning, this image file can be used for import. To do this, select the image of the desired symbol in the form. Then using the command: Tools > Import Image… (Tools > Image Import)- Open the window Import Raster Image (from English) import bitmap) .

3.3. In the window that opens, click the button Load…» (from English) download) and select the image file you need.

3.4. Moving the slider Threshold (from English) threshold) Set the darkening level of the image to create a clearer outline. You can also use filters:

• Smooth Filter- smoothing filter.
• Erode- blur, makes the symbol bolder.
• Dilate- stretching makes the font thinner.

Import Mode (from English) import mode) better leave it Trace, to convert to curves. WITH Negative (from English) negative) , I think everything is clear. So click the button Generate».

Step 4: By switching to editing mode, double-clicking on the symbol in the form, all you have to do is correct the irregularities, adjust the size and set the indentation line. You will need to do the same for other symbols.

In general, the process of creating a font cannot be called particularly difficult. This requires patience and a lot of time. Using the FontCreator font editor, this time can be saved in many ways by importing and converting a character image into a vector. However, even this option is a lot of work. That's all I have. Thank you for your attention. Good luck!

A lot has been written in articles about design, especially about the history of their creation. We have read about many techniques for creating fonts. But where, exactly, should we start?

If you are a designer or illustrator and this discipline is new to you, then where should you start?

We found useful information, which was collected from many sources, and decided to make a general review article.

1. Start with a brief

Creating a font is a long and painstaking job, so it is very important to have a clear understanding of what this font should be.

Developing a brief will certainly require research and thought. How will your font be used: will it be needed for a specific project or for personal use? Is there a problem that your font would solve? Will your font fit into an array of similar designs? What makes it unique?

There are many options. Fonts can be created, for example, specifically for academic texts or for posters. Only when you know how your typeface can be used will you be ready to start designing.

2. Fundamental choice

There are a number of decisions to keep in mind. Will it be a sans serif or sans serif? Will it be handwritten text based or more geometric? Will the font be designed for text and suitable for long documents? Or maybe it will display text in creative style and will it look better in large size?

Tip: It is assumed that sans serif font design is more difficult for beginners, since the capabilities of such fonts are more specific.

3. Pitfalls in the early stages

There are several pitfalls:
– You may decide to start with computerizing handwriting, which can be a useful practice exercise. But because handwriting is so individual, your font may not have much success due to its specificity.
– You should not use existing fonts as a basis. By slightly reworking a font that is already familiar to everyone, you will not create a better font and will not develop your skills.

4. Use your hands

There is a lot of material on how to draw fonts using computer programs, but we strongly recommend that you draw it by hand first. Trying to do this on a computer will make your job much more difficult.

Try to create beautiful shapes of the first few letters on paper, and only then start computer work. The following letters can then be constructed based on existing forms, according to key features.

Tip: By hand you can usually draw smoother, more precise curves. To make it more convenient, do not be afraid to rotate the sheet of paper the way you need.

5. What characters to start with

Creating specific characters first can help you set the style of your font. Well, then these symbols will be used as guides. Typically, the "control characters," as they are called, in Latin are n and o, and capital letters are H and O. The word adhension is often used to help test the basic proportions of the font (but some write it as adhencion because the letter s can be very insidious).

6. Transfer the font to your computer

There are many ways to transfer a drawing to a computer. Some recommend tracing programs, but many prefer to do this work manually so they have full control over the points and shapes.

Many programs need a clear and vibrant design, so once you like your font, trace it with a fine pen and fill in the shapes with a marker.

Hint: If you processed the drawn font as described above, then you can simply take a photo of the drawing and work with it.

7. Program selection

Many designers like to use Adobe Illustrator. For drawing separate forms and experimentation is great for him. But later it becomes obvious that it is not suitable for creating fonts. You will want to work with a program that allows you to work with letter spacing and word creation.

An excellent program is FontLab Studio, but new software such as Glyphs and Robofont are gaining more and more popularity. These programs aren't cheap, but Glyghs has a "mini" version on Mac App Store with some missing features which is not good because these features are important for beginners.

8. Using programs

Don't forget to place extreme points letter shapes (top, bottom, right, left) to better control the process.

9. Words

When you have finished all the work on smoothing out the shapes, look at how it looks in full text. Make it a goal to analyze how the font looks in a line, paragraph, and so on. And don't wait until you've done the entire alphabet.

This online tool will help you create text using letters you already have.

10. Tests

It is very important to see how your font will look in different sizes. Following your brief, evaluate the resulting font, see if the text can be read if you set the font size to small.

You need to understand how your font will behave when its size is changed. And yes, this can create a lot of problems, but you don’t want to give away raw results.

11. Print

12. Think global

So you've created something you're proud of. Have you made a font for Latin only? What about the Cyrillic alphabet? What about the 220 million Devanagari readers? The non-Latin market is growing.

13. More tests

Try using your font on older projects and see how the text looks. Give the font to your friends so they can test it and tell you what they think. Or just ask experienced designer so that he can give you his feedback.

Font Creation Tools

1.FontLab Studio

One of the most popular font design programs. Available on Windows and Mac.

2.FontCreator

The program is available on Windows, has an intuitive interface and is perfect for beginners.

3. Fontographer

Another powerful font editor from FontLab that allows you to create new fonts or modify existing ones. Available on Windows and Mac.

4.FontForge

This program works on Windows, Mac, Unix/Linux and has been translated into many languages. It also allows you to create new fonts and edit existing ones.

5. Type 3.2 Font Editor

OpenType font editor, available on Windows and Mac OS X. Quite simple and contains a sufficient number of functions.

6.FontStruct

7. BitFontMaker 2

Another free tool with which you can create dot fonts.

8.Fontifier

A free trial ($9 per font download) online tool that lets you create fonts from handwritten text.

9.YourFonts

Another online tool (also almost $10 to download) that lets you create a font from handwritten text.

10. Glyphe

A free and fairly powerful font editor. Great for beginners and those who don't want to spend money on buying software.

11. iFontMaker

This app is available on iPad and Windows 8. It allows you to create a font from a sketch and edit existing fonts.

12.FontArk

Free tool for a limited time. With it you can create fonts and download them.

13. MyScriptFont

A free online tool that allows you to create TTF and OTF fonts from handwritten text.

14. BirdFont

There is a free and premium version. The program runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and BSD.

Adam Savage. At the beginning of the day he only has materials, and at the end he becomes the owner of something he wanted.

So I challenged myself to create a completely new font from scratch and submit it to Google Fonts within 24 hours.

In an old notebook I had sketches of several letters. I wanted to create a narrow sans serif font that could be used on posters or other large images. While working at Men's Health, I used fonts like Tungsten or Heron, which look terrible in text but look great in headlines or promotional materials (which was my day job). This was the style I wanted to create.

Very rough sketches

13:00, Wednesday

I went into Adobe Illistrator with the two or three letters I had in my sketches. I created a grid of five lines - for the descender line, base line, lowercase line, uppercase line and uppercase line. I then determined the width of the capital letters and the thickness of the main stroke.

I read a lot about letter proportions and measured some existing fonts to determine what ratio should exist between uppercase and lowercase letters. I made a few rules:

• Lowercase line = 2 × ascender line height / descender line height
• Main stroke width = ¼ capital letter width
• Width of lowercase letter = ¾ width of uppercase letter

This is what it looks like in the illustration

First I created the letters O and B. I decided that these letters would not be an oval shape, but rather a rounded corner shape. Many letters will look like a tall rectangle, but O, B and D will have rounded corners instead of ovals.

The outer corner has a radius of 12 mm, and the inner corner has a radius of 6 mm. With these rules in mind I started creating capital letters.

My font was very simple, but with one "decoration". Any aperture, that is, the cut of the ends of the semi-oval, had to be cut at an angle. The most difficult letters were G and K.

Then I started on the lowercase letters. It was more difficult, but established rules it was easier to work. I used more embellishments, especially in the top and bottom stems. The most difficult letters were f, g, a and e, since they were completely new.

21:00, Wednesday

I moved on to other symbols such as exclamation and question marks. I started working faster and managed to create about 35 characters.

Thursday morning

In the morning I finished the numbers 0 to 9 pretty quickly and started creating a font file. It was a completely new experience. My calligrapher friend Ian Barnard I recommended the Glyphs program for this. I downloaded the program, watched a few tutorial videos, and realized that I had created the file incorrectly in Illustrator. So I had to insert each character manually and adjust it to the rules of the program.

10:00, Thursday

I started working on spacing and kerning. It was an awfully long time. Before you do this, you need to master the many keyboard shortcuts in the program. And before kerning, you need to make the spacing as close as possible to what you want to see in the end. To do this, you need to measure the width of the hole in the letter O and divide it by three. This spacing should be placed to the left and right of the letter.

11:00, Thursday

At spaced intervals I began kerning. It became a very painful process. First, I went to this site and inserted my font into their kerning text.

High school and university students, often doing homework, have to do a large number of written exercises. For example, our social studies teacher gives us an assignment every lesson, which requires us to find material in the library or the Internet and write it by hand (only for this we can get an “excellent” grade), even if the material found is correct, but printed on a computer, don’t expect anything higher than a B...

Based on all of the above, I came to the conclusion: I need to make a font for the computer that duplicates my handwriting. In my opinion, I did it successfully. My own mother would not be able to tell where I wrote by hand and where I typed it on the computer. Many of my friends liked this idea, and they began to ask me how I did it all. And so as not to explain it to everyone a hundred times, I decided to write this article - a plan for completing the work with detailed comments.

So, in this article, I will tell you how to make a font that imitates your handwriting.

For work we will need:
1) sheets of blank paper in A4 format;
2) black gel pen;
3) printer;
4) scanner;
5) High-Logic FontCreator program (I suggest downloading from the official website of the program).
To download, click on the provided link.

1 step

Take a landscape sheet of paper and write on it all the letters of the Russian alphabet (lowercase and uppercase), numbers from zero to nine and punctuation marks: period, comma, semicolon, colon, quotation marks, dashes, parentheses, etc. If anyone needs, you can add other symbols that will be useful to you when writing, such as @, №, $, #, ^, %, *, etc. Write beautifully, display each letter so that later all your work does not go down the drain.

Step 2

Scan the sheet with the letters written. And those people who managed to fit all the characters on one page will eventually receive one big picture.

Step 3

Then open the FontCreator program from the manufacturer High-Logic. Her window looks like this.

In the window that appears, you need to enter the name of your future font.

Click “OK” and the following appears. window.

In this window, open a picture with your letters. Select the letter “A”, copy it and return to FontCreator, open the cell with the letter “F” and paste your letter there. The red dotted lines can be moved, arrange them as shown in the following figure.

The letter must be on the Baseline and must NOT extend beyond the top horizontal line (WinAscent), and must NOT extend beyond the bottom horizontal line (WinDescent), otherwise it will be cut off. Vertical left line should be where the letter begins, and the vertical right line is where the letter ends. If the letter extends beyond the vertical lines, then when printing there will be an overlap of one letter over another, this also does not suit us.

Now I’ll explain why we inserted the letter “A” into the cell with the letter “F”. This program designed for creating fonts using Latin letters. On the contrary, we need to make a font for Russian letters. Therefore, the RUSSIAN font we made will be on the LATIN layout. To make it more convenient, we will insert Russian letters into cells with Latin letters, in accordance with the keyboard.

Insert the letter “Y” into the cell with the letter “Q”
Insert the letter “C” into the cell with the letter “W”
Insert the letter “U” into the cell with the letter “E”
Insert the letter “K” into the cell with the letter “R”
Insert the letter “E” into the cell with the letter “T”
Insert the letter “H” into the cell with the letter “Y”

After you place all the letters in the cells, you will get a picture like this.

Now you can test the resulting font. This can be done by pressing the “F5” key, or by going to “Font - Test...”

If you are happy with everything, save the resulting font and place it in the “C:\WINDOWS\Fonts” folder. The font is installed, and now you can select it, for example, in Microsoft Word and print text with it. Below is the text printed in my font.