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Do you want to create your own custom font? So you can on Windows

Once we execute it, its main menu appears with different squares that show the alphabet, where we must write the letters as the symbols to be able to create our own font, although we see that the letter ñ is missing to have the complete Spanish alphabet since, being in English, it shows the letters of this language. It should also be said that we will not be able to delete those characters in which we have made a mistake, nor will we be able to add special characters or add more options for the text.

Microsoft Font Maker write letters and symbols

On the next screen we see three sentences What should we write? These sentences are written in English and we must write them in their corresponding box. In this way it is possible that we feel like when we were young and we had to learn calligraphy with those famous notebooks. It is a similar situation, and it is important that we do it correctly so that the program can detect the font that we are going to create.

Microsoft Font Maker write three lines

On the last page it will allow us adjust the size and create the font. At the bottom we find three slider bars to configure the space between characters, the space between words and the size. Later, in the event that a letter seems to be out of place, we can go back to the previous screens through a small arrow-shaped icon located in the upper left. If the size of the font is not too tight, there is no need to worry since we can always adjust it in applications such as Word.

Microsoft Font Maker adjust font size

Once finished, click on the button Create so that a File Explorer window opens so that we can save our font, which we must give a name and will be accompanied by a TTF extension.

Microsoft Font Maker save font as TTF

FontForge

It is a powerful open source application to create and edit digital fonts that is characterized by incorporating a good number of functions that will help us customize each letter as much as possible, including various metric and transformation functions. FontForge is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux and is completely free to use. To do this, simply download it from the developer’s website.

The application can be installed in Spanish which helps to make its handling easier. Once opened, a window appears where we can load an already created font or create a new one by clicking on New.

FontForge new font

This will make the main menu appear with a map with all the letters of the alphabet (not including the ñ), each one in its corresponding square. We will also have some special symbols. By double-clicking on any box, an editing screen appears from where you can create the font corresponding to the chosen number, letter or character. This is something that we must do individually with each square. Every time we add the source, the square will turn white, while the rest show an X.

FontForge create font

Once finished, all that remains is to save our source, for which we click on File and generate font. Now we only have to give it a name and a location where it will be saved.

FontForge generate font

Web applications to create a typeface

If we don’t want to download any software to our computer, we can also create our fonts with these web applications.

Calligraphr

It is a web application that allows us to scan our handwriting to create a custom font. It is easy to use and offers several features that will help us get your perfect font. We can export the results as TTF or OTF formats to use it on both Windows and macOS computers. We can use Calligraphr to create and export a custom handwriting font for free. Plus, having a Pro subscription unlocks additional features to help us turn our handwriting into the best possible font.

The main disadvantage of using Calligraphr free is that its font is limited to 75 characters. That may be enough for uppercase and lowercase letters, every number, and common punctuation marks, but not much else. To start we must access its official website and create a free account.

The first thing will be to create a template of the font, which is based on a grid of boxes with a box for each character that we want to include in the font. After creating the template and printing it, we must write each letter by hand in the boxes and then scan it again in our PC to be able to create the font. To do this we must click on Download template and the file format and cell size.

calligraphr template download

Once downloaded we will obtain the necessary template that we must print. We then use a black pen or marker to complete the template by drawing a single character per frame, making sure that each line is clearly drawn.

Calligraphr template to download

Now we have to click on the My sources section and then click on upload template to add the template with our font.

calligraphr upload template

It will show us the written characters that we can edit or delete if we like one in particular. We can also adjust its size to make sure each character is the same height. Once finished, click on Add characters to the font.

Calligraphr add characters to font

Finally, we only have to click on the button generate source for Calligraphr to finish converting our handwriting into a font. Once finished we make sure it looks good in the preview, then we download the file in TTF or OTF format.

calligraphr generate font

Font Maker Bit

This web application is much simpler than the one previously seen and, furthermore, it is completely free. With it we will be able to quickly create fonts for which we can use its gallery, import fonts in TTF format or use the Sample function to be able to create the font using a template. It is compatible with the main web browsers on the market and all you have to do is access its official website.

To start we must click on the box of the letter, number, symbol that we want to design. It is worth mentioning that the alphabet is English, so we will not have the letter ñ available. In the lower panel, a box appears from which to design the character that we have selected and each cell corresponds to a pixel, so we will have to select the one that best resembles it to give it the desired shape.

Font Maker Bit create font

Once finished, click on the button Build Phonet that we find in the lower right. This will show us a window where we must enter the name of the source, the name of the author and the spacing between words. Finally, we click on Build and a window will appear with the file explorer so that we can choose where to save the file in TTF format.

Font Maker Bit save font

Use the new font within Windows

To be able to use our new font in Windows, the procedure is quite simple. We simply have to save the font in a known location, for example, on the Desktop. Then we just open File Explorer, right-click on your source and copy it.

Next, we access the following address from File Explorer:

C:/Windows/Fonts

Installing font on Windows

Once here, we right-click and paste the font. We will see how a short progress bar is applied which means that our font is installing. Once finished we will have the source already available. If at any time we want to delete the source, we go back to the folder, right-click on the source and select Delete.

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