Type lightĪvailable only for Windows, Type light allows users to create TrueType, OpenType and PostScript fonts and convert from one format to another. Bricks come in a variety of circular, square and polygonal shapes that are pieced together to produce the characters of a font, often with some remarkable results as seen in FontStruct’s gallery. When finished, you simply download the resulting TrueTupe font (.ttf) that works on either Windows or Macs.ĭeveloped by FontShop, a longtime developer and online font merchant, FontStruct uses “bricks” to build fonts instead of the pixel-by-pixel approach of some other programs that usually produce jagged bitmap fonts. Instead, you work online in your browser window to create your own one-of-a-kind fonts. With web-based FontStruct, there’s no software to download and install. As an open source app, this already well-developed app continues to evolve and can easily produce professional results. While the user interface of FontForge can seem a bit overwhelming at first, the program comes with comprehensive tutorials and a wealth of other documentation that should have most designers up to speed in short order. The app is capable of importing, creating and converting a variety of font formats including PostScript (.ps), OpenType (.otf) and True Type (.ttf). FontForgeĪn open source project found on the collaborative website SourceForge, FontForge is a sophisticated desktop font editor for Windows, Mac and Linux. And while you shouldn’t expect to immediately produce professional fonts, with practice, some of these programs can give results to rival or even surpass those of their commercial counterparts.
Of course, you can also pay $650 or more for commercial programs like FontLab to make your own fonts, an expensive solution if you rarely need highly specialized fonts.įortunately, though, there are a number of free apps available that can liberate your inner typographer. But then when you think you’ve found the perfect choice, a key character or two just aren’t quite right and you go back to your search.
With a myriad of commercial and free fonts to choose from online, it shouldn’t be that hard, you always think. If you’re like most designers, you’ve probably spent hours at one time or another searching for just the right font to make a good design a great design.
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