How to make custom fonts

hey keystone buddies. i am making this for everyone, but you in particular.
There are a couple of font making instructables here, but none of them are very high quality. i mean, they work just fine, but the finished product is choppy. i will be using the 30 day free trial of font creator to show you how to turn a custom made character set into a font.

Step 1 Supplies

here is the stuff you will need:
1. Font creator demo. it is the demo, but it includes the main features we need to make a full font. better be quick!! download edit: you have 30 days. sorry if i messed up your psyke lol.
2. a piece of paper with all of the upper and lower case letters, numbers 0-9, and all of the symbols you are planning to use. this is your chance to customize your font, make it however you want. fontcreator has a function to make the glyphs thicker once you insert the letters, but you can write in pencil, sharpie, anything.
3. Gimp, or photoshop. you will need to be able to put a threshold on your scanned paper to get rid of any unintentional marks. a threshold reduces the image to only 2 colors, in this case black for the glyphs, and white for the background.
you can use photoshop if you already have it, but its about $450 dollars so use gimp if you dont have anything. gimp

i give you these installers under the assumption you have windows. gimp.org has a download for linux, and you might be able to use wine to run font creator but i doubt it.

Comments

[junits15]

my teachers would hate this >:) "I SAID TYPED!!" "it IS typed" lol I'd probably end up with a D-hall :P

[abadfart]

dose any one know a good free font editor??

[Jesperai]

Fontforge..  http://sourceforge.net/projects/fontforge/

[Jesperai]

Fun Fact: DPI stands for Dots Per Inch, not "Details."   It measure the density of dots in a linear inch.  The more dots, the clearer the details.

[B.F.L.M]

apparently, i cant save my font (the trial is still active) it says "full version only"

[Chromatica]

What size does the bitmaps need to be? Pixles

[A.C.E.]

try to get as close to the letter as you can to decrease loading time, but the exact size does not matter. the fontcreator program will size everything for you

[Chromatica]

okay thx ill start making it now

[garrett10]

Can I download your font?

[A.C.E.]

ok i uploaded it in the intro but right click the link and click save as, because i think instructables thinks it is a picture- and a good ol 800x480!! anyway, there is one tiny problem with the underscore.. it is too low, you might choose to fix it, but idc i can live with it because it is me lol

[garrett10]

thx :)

[A.C.E.]

your welcome always glad to help

[A.C.E.]

and also cool dog lol.. I think it is a dog maybe chiwawa??

[garrett10]

Yep! I Searched world's smallest dog loaded it in Gimp, used iWarp on his eyes and put on a Old Photo Filter! If you want to learn more about Gimp, Download it for free! its really cool! :)

[A.C.E.]

yeah. i have been using gimp ever since i put linux on my desktop as a free alternative to photoshop. funny effect

[A.C.E.]

and make sure also that you rename the extension to ttf

[teamcoltra]

If you are using Vista, windows actually has a powertool that you can use with your tablet (if you have one) to make fonts as well. It always worked out well for me!

[A.C.E.]

yeah im getting the bamboo small tablet for use in gimp and other designs. what is the tool? i definitely need to search for that!!press start and search for "snipping" and click the snipping tool. awesome screenshot app that comes standard.

[Arbitror]

BAMBOO fun is the best. I'm using it right now, and I have never used my other mouses (but my S.F.M.) for about a year!

[amakerguy]

How do I install it (or put it on my laptop?) I want to download yours.

[A.C.E.]

what os do you have? vista or xp. if you have vista, download the file and rename the extension to .ttf and then right click and press install font. if you have xp there are a bit more steps, but its still easy.

[amakerguy]

I installed it and how do you change it to look that way.

[A.C.E.]

ok, depending on the program that you are using, the font list is in alphabetical order and the font will be named cyle. just select it. if you mean how to make it the default font for the entife computer like on the icons, in in the file browser like on my laptop then follow these steps. btw you can use this method to change to any font, not just mine. right click on your desktop and click personalize. cick window color and appearence. click open classic appearence for more color options. now click the advanced button. open the drop down "item" area, and select what you want to change for. if you want to change everything like i did, just start at the top and work your way down. for instance, the first item you can change the font on is active title bar. click it. change the font to Cyle, and the size to 14 is what worked for me. you will need to adjust the size to make the entire letter fit in the area. click ok when you are done. i will show you a pic of the example.

[amakerguy]

advanced settings is not there. It only lets me change the window color.

[A.C.E.]

i circled everything step by step

[amakerguy]

oh OK, I have vista. Thx

[wenpherd]

is there enything you can use uther than font creater

[A.C.E.]

well not really if you want free. font forge is way too confusing and it doesnt work for windows you have to be in linux or have cygwin. it doesnt save in a format usable by windows. you can try fontographer by adobe. Only con is its about $180 or so. no free trial. if your asking for an alternative because it wouldnt download, check my response to pyromaster.

[wenpherd]

I dont mind downloading it I just dont want a trial

[A.C.E.]

I think you may have free-trial-a-phobia... So sad..

[A.C.E.]

(removed by author or community request)

[wenpherd]

errr.....................

[A.C.E.]

yeah i was jk. i removed so people wouldnt get the wrong idea about me. i dont do illegal stuff.

[PyroMaster007]

very complicated...

[A.C.E.]

im 14 and i got the hang of it in 15 minutes. ive done worse... java, batch, video games, html. tell me where your stuck and i will help the best i can.

[PyroMaster007]

i can't get the font creator.

[A.C.E.]

i gave you a direct download link, and if you have popups blocked it might not work. try clicking while holding ctrl, or right click and save target as or save link as if your in firefox. if all else fails i will give you the website.

[21GeeOff21]

i might try thi about how long would you say it takes to complete a font?

[A.C.E.]

ok, i dont really know, as im still in school. after i finally got in the grove with my handwriting font, it took a couple of hours. this method is free, but there is a program that you buy from adobe called fontographer, and you can drag in whole rows of glyphs at a time, or just point to the folder with your glyph bitmaps, and it does the rest for you. those are pros... cons, $180. but with this free stuff it takes a while.

[A.C.E.]

by im in school, i mean i cant work on it for any uninterupted period of time