Best Font Development Software: People Friendly Guide
Fonts are everywhere. They are ubiquitous on websites, mobile apps, ads, logos, books, social media and everything in between. A well-designed font communicates to readers, and can even add personality to a brand and make text easier and more fun to read.
Have you ever wondered how professional fonts are made, well the answer is fonts development software. With these tools, designers can draw letters, tweak spacing, add special characters, work with Unicode, add OpenType features, and finally, save a complete font that can be installed and used on computers and mobile devices.
In the present days, there are a number of font making tools to choose from from simple to advanced tools designed for the professional type designers. In this article, we will check out some of the top font development software and discuss what they're ideal for.
What is Font Development Software?
Software for development of fonts is software made specifically for creating, editing and producing fonts.
A font editor is used to create individual characters known as glyphs, to control the space between the letters, to adjust kerning, to create special characters and to prepare fonts for different languages and platforms.
The most common font formats are TTF (TrueType Font) and OTF (OpenType Font), and most professional font editors will handle these. There are also some that accommodate the modern variable font technology.
1. FontLab
FontLab is a well-recognised name in the world of professional font design. It offers everything that any serious production typographer might need to design a serious typeface.
Draw and edit glyphs, adjust kerning and spacing, create OpenType features, use variable fonts, and troubleshoot fonts.
Main Features
- Advanced glyph editing
- OpenType feature support
Tools for kerning and spacing.
- Variable font support
- Unicode support
- Font validation
- Makaton sign language software
Ideal for: Advanced typography, professional font designers.
2. Glyphs
Another popular design option is Glyphs, which is used by another professional type designer. This interface is based on the font creation process, which makes it more convenient to work with large projects of typeface.
A nice feature is that it supports multiple masters which means that designers can have several versions of a typeface and be able to make differences between them.
Main Features
- Clean and efficient interface
- Multiple-master design
- Variable fonts
- OpenType features
- Kerning tools
- Automatic interpolation
- Scripting and automation
Best for: Professional type designers, particularly for Mac OS.
3. FontForge
If you are looking for a powerful free font editor, FontForge is one of the most interesting options available.
It is available as an open source application and is available in most desktop operating systems. It is a bit of a learning curve, but offers several features that are essential for serious font editing.
You can create glyphs, tweak fonts, handle Unicode characters, tweak kerning, convert fonts and manage OpenType features.
Main Features
- Free and open source
Microsoft Windows, MacOS and Linux are supported.
- Glyph editing
- Unicode support
- Kerning
- Font conversion
- OpenType support
- Scripting
Ideal for: Beginners, students, developers or anyone wanting to use a free font-development tool.
4. RoboFont
RoboFont was built to be used by individuals who want to have more control over their font-development process. It is especially interesting for advanced designers that enjoy customizing their tools or automating repetitive tasks.
It has the ability to create custom workflows with Python.
Main Features
- Flexible interface
- Python scripting
- Glyph editing
- UFO workflow
- Extensions
- Professional font-production tools
Suitable for: Advanced type designers and developers who like customisation and scripting.
5. FontCreator
A popular font editor for Windows is FontCreator. It offers a fairly easy-to-use space for font creation and editing, without forcing users to enter an extremely complicated workflow.
It can be applied to a variety of tasks such as typography work or fonts creation.
Main Features
- Glyph editing
- Font creation
- Kerning
- Unicode support
- OpenType features
- Font validation
- Variable font capabilities
Ideal for: Windows Users, Designers, and users who want an easy-to-use and advanced tool.
6. BirdFont
If you are just beginning to learn about font design, you should try BirdFont. It's easier to experiment with creating your own characters than some of the professional font-development applications, and has a simpler interface.
Draw some glyphs and export them to popular font formats.
Main Features
- Simple interface
- Vector-based glyph drawing
- Font creation
- SVG support
- Multiple font formats
- Cross-platform support
Ideal for: Novices and Amateur font designers.
7. TruFont
Another free font editing and creation software is Trufont. It's particularly useful for individuals who like open-source software and want to get to know font development without spending any money on costly software.
It offers an easy to use interface to work with glyphs and font information.
Main Features
- Open-source
- Glyph editing
- Unicode support
- UFO workflow
- Cross-platform support
Ideal for students, developers and open-source enthusiasts.
8. Fontself
Fontself is a different way of creating fonts. It's not a font editor, but rather it works with popular Adobe creative applications.
This is handy for designers who are already familiar with the use of applications like Photoshop and Illustrator. You can use your lettering or illustrations to create a usable font.
Main Features
- Simple font creation
- Adobe workflow integration
- Lettering-to-font conversion
- OpenType support
- Ideal for hand-writing and display letters
Ideal for: Graphic Designers, Illustrators and Lettering Artists.
9. Calligraphr
Designed to convert handwriting into a font? It is in these situations that Calligraphr can be of great help.
The concept is quite straightforward: create a character template, handwrite the letters, upload the image and then let the service do the rest and produce a digital font.
It's a great way to design your own font without first learning a professional font-engineering program.
Main Features
- Handwriting-to-font creation
- Character templates
- Easy workflow
- Personalized fonts
- Browser-based tools
Ideal for: New users and font makers.
10. TypeTool
TypeTool is designed for those who wish to learn and practice font design, but don't necessarily require all the sophisticated tools of a professional font-production application.
This may be helpful for students and designers in their typography development.
Ideal for: Students, beginners and growing type designers.
What to Look for in Font Development Software?
No one single font editor is perfect for everyone. The right one will depend on what you wish to make and your experience.
If You Are a Professional Designer
Advanced applications like FontLab, Glyphs and RoboFont offer extensive tools for font production, OpenType development, variable fonts, and professional workflow, for serious projects on commercial typeface.
If You Are a Beginner
When you're beginning you don't have to use the most complex software. The following programs can help you learn the basics and try out your ideas: FontForge, BirdFont, Calligraphr.
If you want to create a Handwriting font:
Calligraphr makes it easy to write text fonts for handwriting. You don't have to take a lot of time to learn the tricks of font engineering; you can create your own typeface from your own handwriting.
If You Already Use Adobe Software
If you are already using Illustrator or Photoshop on a daily basis, Fontself can get you started on creating fonts without too much hassle.
If You Want Free Software
If you aren't willing to pay for font software, consider using FontForge. There are also some interesting alternatives to be explored, such as BirdFont and TruFont.
Important Features to Consider
When selecting a font-development application, take the time to consider what features you will need.
Glyph Editing
A solid font editor ought to provide you exact control over each character. Here, you will form the letters and create the general appearance of your typestyle.
Kerning and Spacing
Perfect letters can also be misaligned when used in too close or too distant of situations. Therefore, good spacing and kerning tools are essential to professional typography.
Unicode Support
When developing fonts for various languages, Unicode support plays an all-important role. It enables your font to include characters of various writing systems.
OpenType Features
OpenType can provide additional functionality to fonts such as ligatures, alternate characters, contextual substitutions, and more.
Variable Fonts
Variable fonts are fonts in which design variations are included in a single font file, such as different weights and widths. Variable fonts are a factor to consider if you want to delve into modern Web typography.
Font Testing
An advance check should be possible from professional font software, as well, before you publish or distribute it to prevent technical problems.
About Urdu and Arabic Fonts?
For Urdu or Arabic characters, the software's ability to handle complex writing systems is a crucial element to consider when creating fonts.
The Arabic script letters are more complex than drawing individual letters. Characters can be different sizes and shapes, depending on their context in a word, and various OpenType features, such as contextual substitutions, ligatures, positioning of diacritics, right-to-left support, etc. may be required.
Therefore, when looking for Urdu and Arabic typefaces, it is particularly critical to have software that has excellent Unicode and OpenType support.
Final Thoughts
Creating a font can be both a creative and technical experience. Simple shapes and letterforms are fine at the beginning but then you need to consider spacing, kerning, Unicode, OpenType features, file formats, and compatibility.
If you are a professional font developer, you'll find the following a valuable suite of applications: FontLab, Glyphs, and RoboFont. If you want a free solution, try out FontForge. With easier projects, BirdFont and Calligraphr can make it a lot more accessible.
In the end, software is just a component of it. The true value of a typeface lies in the knowledge of letterforms, proportions, spacing, readability and typography. Eventually, you can create your very own lettering idea into a complete digital font with practice and the proper tools.
