# Are there any decent freeware programs for font making? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945 "2005-06-12T05:21:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/1 "2005-06-12T05:21:01Z")
I want to make some fonts. Are there any decent freeware programs for this? ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/2 "2005-06-12T15:54:52Z")
Not that I’ve come across (and believe me, I’ve looked!). Unfortunately, designing fonts is a remarkably complex venture and I doubt anyone would take the time to make a program that would handle the task adequately. IIRC, there are only two major programs for creating fonts and for a long time, Fontographer wasn’t being supported, so all anyone had to use were old copies of Fontographer. To be sure, you can use the trial versions of existing software, but IIRC they insert random glyphs in so you can’t really use them for anything. I do know of someone who would make a custom for $150ish for handwriting type fonts. If you’re interested, let me know and I’ll get you his email. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/3 "2005-06-12T16:23:53Z")
So I guess that software program that said it’d duplicate your handwriting (for cheap, relatively speaking) was a flop. You’d send them samples of your handwriting and they’d come back to you with the font you could use in your emails. I was doing calligraphy at the time - years ago - and almost bit. ---
**Author:** ![Mathochist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c89c15/32.png) [@Mathochist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mathochist)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/4 "2005-06-12T16:29:45Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > Not that I’ve come across (and believe me, I’ve looked!). Unfortunately, designing fonts is a remarkably complex venture and I doubt anyone would take the time to make a program that would handle the task adequately. Don Knuth actually tried, and came up with Metafont shortly after he produced TeX. As for whether it’s “decent”… hard to say. I haven’t tried using it myself, but it’s supposed to be at least as difficult as working with raw TeX. Hofstadter talks about it in chapter 13 of [_Metamagical Themas_](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0465045669/). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/5 "2005-06-12T17:18:41Z")
Font creating & modification is one of the few things with which I make practical use of my Linux box, my needs being catered for by Fontforge. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/6 "2005-06-14T01:56:48Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Font creating & modification is one of the few things with which I make practical use of my Linux box, my needs being catered for by Fontforge. Wow, it has a Windows Version! How’s it work? Is it decent? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/7 "2005-06-14T03:54:43Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > my needs being catered for by Fontforge. [FontForge](http://fontforge.sourceforge.net/) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/8 "2005-06-14T07:42:15Z")
> [@Chairman Pow](#): > > Wow, it has a Windows Version! How’s it work? Is it decent? No, it doesn’t - but as been mentioned before, there’s no decent free option for Windows. There’s screenshots [here](http://sourceforge.net/project/screenshots.php?group_id=103338), which give you an idea of what it’s like. (I should admit I’ve never made a whole font from scratch - just modified them and made individual characters that I’ve needed!) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/9 "2005-06-14T07:57:40Z")
Looks like you can run it in Windows under CygWin - perhaps that’s obvious, but they do give specifics on how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-decent-freeware-programs-for-font-making/307945/10 "2005-06-14T08:12:16Z")
Thread: > **[Very cool software - Make your own font!](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=309062)** > > Now I can finally write personalised hand written letters without hurting my poor little wrists! http://www.high-logic.com/ \[sub\]Disclaimer needed? Just in case: I’m completely unaffiliated with the makers of this prog, am just having fun playing...