Why Create Your Own Font?
Here's the thing: when you turn your hand lettering into a custom font, you're not just making a digital file. You're creating an asset that works for you over and over again. Use it infinitely across projects, share it with clients, or sell it while you sleep.
Think about it: every professional calligrapher who's made the leap to digital fonts talks about how it completely changed their business. Jake Weidmann, one of the few living Master Penmen recognized by IAMPETH (the International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers and Teachers of Handwriting—yes, it's a mouthful), puts it beautifully: font creation lets you reach people you'd never connect with through pen work alone. You're essentially bottling your unique calligraphy style so anyone, anywhere can use it.
Personal Benefits
- • Stop redrawing everything: Just type instead of hand-lettering the same thing for the hundredth time
- • Keep your style consistent: Every wedding invitation and project looks cohesive without the variation that comes from hand work
- • Make it any size you want: Resize perfectly from tiny business cards to huge banners without losing quality
- • Build your signature look: Develop a style people recognize as uniquely yours
- • Tweak digitally: Experiment with your style in ways that'd be impossible with just pen and paper
Professional Benefits
- • Sell your fonts: List them on Creative Market, MyFonts, or Etsy and earn $15-$500+ per license (yes, really)
- • Offer custom font services: Charge $500-$5,000+ to create a one-of-a-kind font for a client's brand
- • Land bigger clients: Businesses love custom typefaces for brand identity—it shows you mean serious business
- • Make money while you sleep: Create once, sell forever—that's passive income done right (more on this in our business guide)
- • Level up your portfolio: Showing you can create fonts sets you apart from calligraphers who only do pen work
The font marketplace is booming right now. Independent designers are earning anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per font—and some calligraphers have turned this into their entire business model. They release new typefaces every few months, build email lists of loyal fans, and watch the sales roll in. Not bad for work you do once and sell forever, right?
The 5-Step Font Creation Process
Good news: professional type designers have spent decades figuring out the best way to do this, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. The process taught at places like the Cooper Type Program (and advocated by the Type Directors Club) gives you a proven path from hand lettering to working font. Let's break it down into five manageable steps.
Plan & Design Your Font
I know you're itching to start drawing, but trust me on this: a little planning now saves you hours of headaches later. Karen Cheng, who literally wrote the book on type design (Designing Type), swears by having a clear vision before you start. Spend some time studying existing cursive fonts—what makes script fonts different from display fonts? What niche will your font fill? Get this nailed down first.
Define Your Style Foundation
Here's what you need to decide: What kind of font are you making? Script fonts (you know, the flowy calligraphy-style ones) need connecting strokes that flow beautifully—they're all about that rhythm. Display fonts? Those are the showstoppers for headlines, where legibility in long paragraphs isn't the priority.
- • Font Category: Script, serif, sans-serif, display, or decorative—each serves different applications
- • Weight Range: Light, regular, medium, bold, or extra bold (starting with regular is recommended)
- • Slant Angle: For script fonts, typically 55-75 degrees; this affects the entire character set's visual rhythm
- • Stroke Characteristics: Consistent weight, high contrast (thick/thin variation), or monoweight style
- • Intended Use: Body text, headlines, invitations, branding—this informs legibility decisions
Your Basic Character Set (Don't Panic, It's Doable)
Professional designers recommend starting with what they call an "MVP font"—minimum viable product. This is genius because you can test if people actually want your font before spending weeks on fancy extras. Here's what you actually need for a font that works:
- • Uppercase Letters: A-Z (26 characters) with consistent cap height
- • Lowercase Letters: a-z (26 characters) with uniform x-height and baseline
- • Numerals: 0-9 (10 digits) with consistent width and alignment
- • Essential Punctuation: . , ! ? ' " : ; - ( ) / @ #
- • Basic Symbols: $ % & *
- • Total Base Set: Approximately 70-85 characters for marketable font
Level Up With Advanced Characters (This Is Where It Gets Fun)
Want to know a secret? Adding OpenType features can literally double or triple your font's price. No joke—Laura Worthington (professional calligrapher and type designer) says fonts with ligatures and alternates command 2-3x what basic fonts sell for. Yes, it's more work, but designers absolutely love having options when they're working with modern calligraphy fonts.
- • Ligatures: Connected letter pairs (ff, fi, fl, th, st) that improve flow and authenticity
- • Stylistic Alternates: Multiple versions of letters (a, g, y, z) for variety and customization
- • Swashes: Ornamental flourishes for initial or terminal letters, essential for wedding calligraphy
- • Contextual Alternates: Automatically swap characters based on surrounding letters
- • Extended Latin Support: Accented characters (é, ñ, ü, ç) for international markets
- • Additional Symbols: Currency symbols, fractions, math operators for comprehensive coverage
Create Your Letters by Hand
Okay, this is where the magic happens—but also where quality really matters. Seb Lester (his font work is everywhere—you've probably seen it and didn't even know it) swears that good materials and careful execution during this phase save you SO much time later. Trying to fix sloppy hand lettering in the computer? Nightmare. Getting it right on paper? Much easier. Make sure you've got your materials and tools sorted before you start.
Optimal Materials & Setup
- • Paper Selection: Ultra-smooth white paper like Rhodia, Bristol board, or marker paper prevents ink bleeding and feathering
- • Ink Choice: Dense black ink (Sumi, India ink) provides clean edges essential for scanning—avoid gray or diluted ink
- • Writing Instruments: Use the same calligraphy pen or brush consistently throughout to ensure uniform stroke characteristics
- • Guidelines are your friend: Print guides at your target x-height (5-10mm usually works great) to keep proportions consistent—or grab our practice sheet generator to make custom ones
- • Lighting: Work in consistent, bright lighting to accurately assess stroke weight and spacing
- • Reference Material: Keep your style guide visible for consistency checks
Pro Tips (Learned the Hard Way By People Who Came Before You)
Jessica Hische (she's basically type design royalty) draws each letter 5-10 times before picking the winner. Sounds excessive? Maybe. Does it work? Absolutely. Here's how to nail this phase:
- • Multiple Iterations: Draw each character 3-5 times, selecting the version with optimal balance and proportion
- • Measurement Consistency: Maintain exact baseline, x-height, cap height, and ascender/descender lengths across all letters
- • Spatial Planning: Consider natural letter spacing—avoid drawing letters too wide or narrow for typical word formations
- • White Space Management: Leave adequate margins around each character for scanning and later kerning adjustments
- • Template Adherence: Use printed grids or lightbox to trace guidelines, ensuring vertical and horizontal consistency
- • Regular Breaks: Take 5-10 minute breaks every hour to maintain focus and prevent gradual style drift
- • Comparison Checks: Regularly place letters side-by-side to verify weight, slant, and style consistency
Or Skip Paper Entirely (If That's Your Thing)
Not feeling the whole pen-and-paper thing? Plenty of designers go straight to digital. It's not cheating—it's just a different workflow. You can edit on the fly, which is nice, but you'll need solid digital drawing chops.
- • iPad + Procreate: Draw with Apple Pencil, export as vector SVG files for import into font software
- • Graphics Tablet: Draw directly in Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape using pen tablets like Wacom
- • Hybrid Approach: Sketch rough forms on paper, scan, then refine and perfect digitally
Scan & Digitize
Alright, time to get your pen work into the computer. This step sounds technical, but it's actually pretty straightforward once you know what settings to use. The key? High-quality scans and clean vectorization. Get this right and your font will look crisp at any size—from tiny text to billboard-sized letters.
Scanning Settings for Best Results
- • Resolution: 600 DPI minimum for acceptable quality; 1200 DPI preferred for finest detail capture
- • Color Mode: Grayscale (16-bit) for subtle detail, or black & white (1-bit) for clean bold strokes
- • File Format: TIFF uncompressed for maximum quality, or high-quality PNG (lossless compression)
- • Contrast Adjustment: Increase contrast to separate ink from paper, ensuring clean edges for vectorization
- • Clean Background: Scan against pure white paper or use levels adjustment to eliminate paper texture
Turning Scans Into Vectors (Sounds Scarier Than It Is)
Quick vocab lesson: "vectorizing" just means converting your scanned image into mathematical paths that can scale infinitely without getting blurry. It's essential because fonts need to look good whether they're 12pt on a business card or 144pt on a poster. Pick whichever method fits your budget and comfort level:
Option 1: Adobe Illustrator (Industry Standard)
Best for: Professionals with Adobe subscription seeking fastest, highest-quality results
- 1. Place scanned image in Illustrator (File → Place)
- 2. Select image, choose Object → Image Trace → Make
- 3. Open Image Trace Panel, adjust threshold slider for clean conversion
- 4. Click Object → Expand to convert traced image to editable vector paths
- 5. Use Direct Selection tool (white arrow) to refine anchor points and curves
Option 2: Inkscape (Free Alternative)
Best for: Budget-conscious creators willing to learn open-source software
- 1. Import scanned image (File → Import)
- 2. Select image, choose Path → Trace Bitmap
- 3. Adjust threshold, speckles, and smoothing in trace settings
- 4. Click OK to generate vectorized layer, delete original bitmap
- 5. Refine paths using Node tool (F2 key) to perfect curves
Option 3: Calligraphr (Integrated Web Platform)
Best for: Beginners wanting simplified workflow from scan to font in one place
- • Download and print Calligraphr's custom template
- • Draw letters directly into template boxes
- • Scan completed template and upload to Calligraphr
- • Platform automatically detects, traces, and vectorizes each character
- • Proceed directly to font assembly within same interface
Font Software & Assembly
Here's where you turn those vector letters into an actual, installable font file. The software handles all the technical stuff—character encoding, spacing metrics, OpenType features. And here's the thing: the "best" software is the one you'll actually learn and use. Seriously, a simple tool you master beats expensive software you never figure out.
Choose Your Font Software
Calligraphr (Start Here If You're New)
- • Price: Free for 75 characters (perfect for testing!), or $8/month for unlimited Pro features
- • Platform: Web-based—works on literally any computer with internet
- • Learning Curve: Super gentle. They walk you through each step
- • Best For: Your first font, quick prototypes, or if you just want to see what this whole font thing is about
- • One Caveat: You don't get as much fine control over advanced OpenType stuff
Glyphs (The Pro's Choice—If You Have a Mac)
- • Price: $54.99 for Glyphs Mini or $329.99 for the full version (one-time, not subscription—nice!)
- • Platform: macOS only (yeah, Mac users only on this one)
- • Learning Curve: Moderate, but tons of great tutorials out there
- • Best For: When you're ready to get serious about font design and want professional results
- • Why It's Great: Intuitive interface, powerful features, huge community to help you learn
FontLab (Cross-Platform Pro)
- • Price: $499 (one-time), with educational discounts available
- • Platform: Windows & Mac (cross-platform flexibility)
- • Learning Curve: Steep, extensive feature set requires dedicated learning time
- • Best For: Professional type designers needing advanced control and automation
- • Advantages: Industry-standard tool, comprehensive variable font support
FontForge (Free, But You'll Earn It)
- • Price: 100% free forever (open source)
- • Platform: Works on Windows, Mac, and Linux
- • Learning Curve: Not gonna lie—steep. The interface feels... old
- • Best For: If you're on a tight budget and don't mind wrestling with complex software
- • Real Talk: It's powerful once you learn it, but most beginners will have a better time with Calligraphr
Core Font Creation Tasks
Regardless of which software you choose, these fundamental steps are consistent across all font creation platforms. Mastering these basics ensures your font functions properly across different applications and operating systems.
- 1. Import Vectors: Load your traced letter shapes as SVG or EPS files into character slots
- 2. Assign Glyphs: Map each letterform to its corresponding keyboard character (Unicode mapping)
- 3. Set Metrics: Adjust sidebearings (left/right spacing) for each character to control natural spacing
- 4. Baseline Alignment: Ensure all letters sit consistently on the baseline with uniform cap height and x-height
- 5. Kerning Pairs: Fine-tune spacing between specific letter combinations (AV, To, We, etc.) for visual balance
- 6. OpenType Features: Add ligatures, alternates, swashes as discretionary features designers can toggle
- 7. Font Info: Fill in metadata including font name, designer credit, copyright, and version number
Refine, Test & Export
This is the part most people rush through—don't be that person. Erik Spiekermann (legendary type designer) says it best: "The details in spacing, kerning, and testing are what separate the pros from the amateurs." Seriously, you can have beautiful letters, but if the spacing is off or it doesn't work in Photoshop, nobody's buying it.
Critical Testing Procedures
- • Multi-Size Testing: Test at 12pt (body text), 24pt, 48pt, and 144pt to ensure readability at all scales
- • Application Compatibility: Install and test in Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, and web browsers
- • Letter Combinations: Check all problematic pairs (AV, To, Wa, We, Ta, Va) for spacing issues
- • Real Sentences: Type actual paragraphs and headlines, not just alphabet strings
- • OpenType Features: Verify ligatures activate automatically and alternates are accessible
- • Cross-Platform: Test on both Windows and Mac systems if possible (rendering differs)
- • Print Testing: Print samples at various sizes to catch issues invisible on-screen
Standard Test Phrases
Professional type designers use specific test strings designed to reveal spacing, kerning, and coverage issues. These pangrams (sentences containing every letter) help identify problems quickly.
• The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog — All 26 letters
• Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow — Shorter pangram
• Handgloves — Tests letter spacing rhythm
• AVATA AWAY — Tests problematic uppercase kerning
• 1234567890 — Verifies numeral alignment and spacing
• áéíóú ÁÉÍÓÚ ñÑ çÇ — Tests accented character positioning
Export Settings & Best Practices
- • Format: OTF (OpenType Font) recommended for maximum compatibility and feature support
- • Hinting: Enable auto-hinting to optimize rendering on low-resolution screens
- • Unicode Mapping: Ensure all characters have proper Unicode values for cross-platform compatibility
- • Font Metadata: Complete family name, style name, version number, designer credit, and copyright
- • License Embedding: Set appropriate embedding permissions (installable, editable, print & preview)
- • File Testing: Install exported font on a clean system to verify it works before distribution
Selling Your Custom Font
So you've got a polished, working font—now what? Time to get paid for your hard work. The good news: there are tons of marketplaces hungry for new fonts, and you've got options for how to sell.
Let's talk numbers: According to CreativeMarket's 2024 report, most font creators make $200-$2,000 in their first year per font. Top sellers? They're pulling $5,000-$15,000+ annually from a single typeface. The difference isn't just quality—it's about finding your niche, creating killer preview images, and promoting on social media. Combine this with your broader calligraphy business and you've got a solid income stream.
Monetization Options
Top Font Marketplaces
- • Creative Market: Popular with designers, 40% commission to platform, strong discovery features
- • MyFonts (Monotype): Professional marketplace, 50% commission, access to serious type buyers
- • Etsy: Easy setup, low fees, huge craft/wedding market, excellent for script fonts
- • Your Own Website: Keep 100% profits minus payment processing, full control over branding
- • Design Bundles: Great for bundle deals, good passive income potential
- • Font Bunny / DaFont: Free distribution builds exposure, link to paid commercial licenses
- • Gumroad: Simple direct selling platform, 10% fee, good for independent creators
Pricing Strategy
Base pricing on font complexity, target market, and competition analysis:
- • Simple Display Fonts: $12-$25 for personal use license
- • Script Fonts with Alternates: $25-$50, higher if extensive OpenType features included
- • Font Families: $50-$150+ for multiple weights (light, regular, bold)
- • Commercial License: 2-3x personal license price, or $50-$200 depending on font complexity
- • Extended/Enterprise: Custom pricing for unlimited use, typically $300-$1,000+
- • Bundle Discounts: Offer 30-40% off when buying multiple fonts together
✨ Here's What Actually Sells Fonts
Want to know a secret? Jessica Hische (yeah, her again—she knows her stuff) says you should spend as much time on preview graphics as on the font itself. Why? Because designers buy what they can imagine using. Show your font on wedding invitations, logos, packaging, Instagram posts—make them see it in their own projects.
Create 5-10 gorgeous mockups showing your font in action. Make people say "wow, I need that." And use our font pairing assistant to show which fonts work beautifully with yours—designers love when you solve problems for them.
Realistic Timeline & Success Tips
Let's be real about time investment—your first font is going to take a while. But here's the good news: it gets way faster after that. Most pros say their first font took 40-60 hours, but once they had a workflow down, they could knock out similar fonts in 15-25 hours. So think of your first font as an investment in learning the process.
How Long Will This Actually Take?
For a basic font (70-85 characters, nothing too fancy), here's the realistic breakdown:
- Planning & style development:3-5 hours
- Drawing all characters (multiple versions):8-15 hours
- Scanning & vectorizing letters:4-10 hours
- Font software setup & import:3-6 hours
- Spacing, metrics & kerning pairs:6-12 hours
- Testing, refinement & debugging:4-8 hours
- Preview graphics & marketing assets:3-6 hours
- Total (first font):30-60 hours
Adding advanced features like extensive ligatures, swashes, and alternates can add 10-20+ additional hours.
What Successful Font Creators Wish They'd Known
- • Keep your first one simple: Don't try to create a 5-weight font family with 500 alternates. Just finish something. You can get fancy next time.
- • Draw, draw, draw: Make 3-5 versions of tricky letters (a, g, y, z, &) before you commit. Your future self will thank you.
- • Get feedback early: Post work-in-progress on TypeDrawers, r/typography, or Behance. Other designers spot issues you're blind to.
- • Steal like an artist: Look at successful fonts on Creative Market. What makes them appealing? What's the going rate? Learn from what's working.
- • Print everything: Screens lie. Print test sheets at different sizes—you'll catch spacing problems you'd never see on screen.
- • Make it pretty: Those preview images? They're not optional. Beautiful mockups sell fonts. Period.
- • Share your process: People love behind-the-scenes content. Post on Instagram or TikTok as you create—you'll have an audience before you even launch.
- • Keep notes: Document what worked and what didn't. Your second font will be twice as good and half the headache.
You Can Actually Do This
Look, creating a font isn't easy—but it's incredibly rewarding. Imagine seeing your handwriting on wedding invitations across the country. Or watching designers use your font for brand identities and book covers. Or—and this is the really cool part—making money while you sleep from something you created once.
Denis Brown (master calligrapher and type designer) said something beautiful: "A well-crafted font is a gift to the design community that keeps on giving long after the final curve is adjusted." Your first font is more than a digital file. It's the start of a journey that could become a serious income stream and a lasting piece of your artistic legacy. Pretty cool, right?
Start creating your font with Calligraphr (it's free!) →