# Need a "hollow letters" font **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977 "2007-02-05T21:20:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/1 "2007-02-05T21:20:36Z")
My daughter (just turned 5) has a visual problem such that she has trouble drawing letters. She can, however, stay inside the lines when she draws. I’m hoping that I can find a font where the letters are hollow and she can just stay inside the lines to write the letters. I think it will give her some confidence and do some reflex training so eventually she can write letters on her own. Does anyone know of a free or low-cost font like that? ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/2 "2007-02-05T21:26:53Z")
[QUOTE=NoCoolUserName] My daughter (just turned 5) has a visual problem such that she has trouble drawing letters. She can, however, stay inside the lines when she draws. I’m hoping that I can find a font where the letters are hollow and she can just stay inside the lines to write the letters. I think it will give her some confidence and do some reflex training so eventually she can write letters on her own. Does anyone know of a free or low-cost font like that? [/QUOTE] I think you might be able to achieve what you want by picking a simple, sans serif font like Arial and, under character formatting, applying the “outline” format. It’s one of the options like “shadow,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/3 "2007-02-05T21:36:32Z")
You should be able find one [here](http://www.dafont.com/). They’re free for personal use. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/4 "2007-02-05T21:41:54Z")
MS Word also has “Word Art,” where you can warp and twist and color letters. I assume it’s intented for banners and so forth. Anyway, their base font style is a large-point outline, which sounds like just what you need. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/5 "2007-02-05T22:45:13Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] I think you might be able to achieve what you want by picking a simple, sans serif font like Arial and, under character formatting, applying the “outline” format. It’s one of the options like “shadow,” etc. [/QUOTE] Since she’s only 5, I’d recommend an outline of Futura (or Limerick), rather than Arial. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/6 "2007-02-05T23:01:33Z")
I don’t see either Futura or Limerick on my edition of Word, but Century Gothic, sized up to 16 point or more, bolded and then turned into outline is just about perfect for the style of letters my kids had to learn. No flag on the a, nice rounded round bits and straight legs. Bolding is important - it gives more space between the outlines. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/7 "2007-02-05T23:19:35Z")
Have you tried looking at Desdemona font? I think this is just what you want. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/8 "2007-02-05T23:30:37Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] Have you tried looking at Desdemona font? I think this is just what you want. [/QUOTE] Of all the outline fonts available, do you really want a 5-year-old to learn to make letters like that? Stick with something really basic, like Futura. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/9 "2007-02-05T23:36:47Z")
As much as I hate it, and as much as it deserves to die, Comic Sans would work well for this as it looks like kids’ writing, and should be on any Windows PC by default. Type up your words or alphabets, then at the top menu, select Format, then Font, and somewhere in the middle of the window will be an Outline option. Check it, and at the top, set it as something like 18 point bold. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/10 "2007-02-06T02:06:31Z")
Thanks. Y’all rock. I had no idea about the outline option. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/11 "2007-02-06T04:51:41Z")
I recommend [Andika Font](http://www.sil.org/computing/catalog/show_software.asp?id=119). Most word processing software will have “Outline” as an option. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-hollow-letters-font/390977/12 "2007-02-06T18:55:33Z")
[QUOTE=groman] I recommend [Andika Font](http://www.sil.org/computing/catalog/show_software.asp?id=119). Most word processing software will have “Outline” as an option. [/QUOTE] Perfect! Thank you! The Andika B is exactly what I need–no curve on the t, for example, very simple.