About FontCrafter
FontCrafter turns your handwriting into a real, installable font — entirely in your browser. No accounts, no uploads to servers, no cost.
Still have questions? Here's our FAQ.
How does it work?
Drop in a scan of your handwriting. The app detects each character, traces vector outlines, and builds a working OpenType font file you can install anywhere. Everything runs locally — your handwriting never leaves your device.
Who is it for?
Anyone who wants a personal handwriting font — designers, teachers, content creators, or anyone who thinks their handwriting deserves to be a typeface.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is FontCrafter really free?
Yes — completely free with no hidden limits. There's no account required, no watermarks, no feature gates, and no premium tier. You get full access to OTF, TTF, WOFF2, and Base64 exports, plus ligature generation. Your font files are yours to keep and use however you want.
Do I need to create an account?
No. FontCrafter requires zero signup. Open the page, load your scan, build your font, download it. No email, no password, no account whatsoever.
Is my handwriting uploaded to a server?
No. Everything runs locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your scan never leaves your device — no server processing, no cloud storage, no data collection. This is a fully client-side application.
What font formats can I export?
FontCrafter exports four formats: OTF (OpenType, best for desktop apps like Word and Photoshop), TTF (TrueType, universal compatibility), WOFF2 (compressed web font for websites), and Base64 (for embedding directly in CSS). All formats are generated locally.
Does FontCrafter support ligatures?
Yes. FontCrafter can auto-generate ligatures — connected letter pairs like "ff," "fi," "th," and "st" that make your font flow naturally. It also supports contextual alternates, cycling between your handwriting variants for a more organic feel. Many competing tools charge for ligature support.
How is this different from Calligraphr?
Calligraphr requires an account and processes your handwriting on their servers. Ligatures and advanced features require a paid subscription ($8/month). FontCrafter is 100% free, requires no account, processes everything locally in your browser, and includes ligatures and contextual alternates at no cost. FontCrafter also exports WOFF2 and Base64 formats that Calligraphr doesn't offer.
What kind of pen should I use?
A dark felt-tip pen (0.5mm or thicker) gives the best results. Ballpoints are often too faint, and thick markers can bleed. Keep your strokes inside the boxes with a little breathing room from the edges.
Can I use my font commercially?
The font is generated from your own handwriting, so you own it. You can use it for personal projects, commercial work, branding, merchandise — anything. Just make sure the handwriting is yours or you have permission from the person whose handwriting was used.
Turn Your Handwriting
Into a Real Font — Free
It's easier than you think. Print, write, scan — done.
- Your handwriting becomes an installable font (OTF, TTF, WOFF2, Base64)
- Natural variation — your letters won't look robotic or identical every time
- Connected letter pairs (ff, th, st, etc.) that flow like real handwriting
- 100+ special characters auto-generated — like fractions, accents, and currency
- Works in Word, Pages, Photoshop, websites — everywhere fonts are used
- No account, no server, 100% private — everything happens in your browser
If you found this useful, I'd appreciate donations & patrons (to keep iterating)!
Get Started
- Download and print the template — US Letter or A4.
Print at 100% scale (no "fit to page"). Use white, unlined paper.
- Fill in every box with a felt-tip pen. All 3 rows for each character.
Ballpoints are too faint; thick markers bleed. Keep strokes inside the boxes with breathing room from edges.
How to use the three rows: Row 1 is always uppercase. Row 2 can be a second version of your uppercase or lowercase. Row 3 can also be uppercase or lowercase.
- Scan or photograph the sheet, then drag & drop that photo file below.
Lay the sheet flat on a table with even lighting — no shadows, no curl. A phone camera works great if the sheet is flat and well-lit.
Load Your Scan
Drop your completed (scanned) image below. JPG, PNG, or high-res photo — make sure the page is flat and evenly lit. The processing happens on your end. No servers involved. Nothing is saved or stored remotely.
Drop your filled-in scan here, or click to browse
Not happy with a character? Touch it up in any image editor, or use correction tape and re-scan.
Processing your handwriting…
Verify Your Characters
Characters with green borders were detected cleanly. Click any character to deselect it — a replacement from another row will be used. Small imperfections are fine — they give your font personality.
Customize Your Font
Name your font and choose how your three rows should be used. Enable ligatures for natural-looking connected letter pairs.
Row 2 will be used as your lowercase. Adjust how much to shrink it — set to 1.00 if you already wrote Row 2 smaller than Row 1.
1.00
Allow certain characters to dip below the baseline (e.g. g, j, p, q, y, or a slashed zero).
Cleans up tiny ink specks that bled through from adjacent cells. Won't affect dots on letters like i, j, or punctuation marks.
Evens out letters that were drawn at different sizes.
Adds 100+ derived glyphs from your handwriting. Uncheck if you only want your handwritten alphanumeric characters.
Auto-generates diacritics (accents, tildes, umlauts) from your base letters. Covers French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Scandinavian, and more.
Ligatures (Optional)
Ligatures are letter pairs that connect naturally in handwriting — like ff, fi, fl, th, and st. Auto-generate is recommended — it's instant and produces natural-looking connections from your existing characters.
Comma-separated pairs. Traditional (ff, fi, th), doubles (ll, oo, ss), and common bigrams (qu, sh, ch).
Kerning (Recommended)
Kerning adjusts spacing between specific letter pairs — like AV, To, and WA — so characters with complementary shapes sit together naturally instead of having uniform gaps.
Preview Your Font
See how your font looks with sample text, or type anything you like below.
UppercaseTHE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER A LAZY DOG.
Lowercasesphinx of black quartz, judge my vow?
Mixed CaseBoth Fickle Dwarves Can Jinx My Pig Quiz!
• $11.38 + tax & a 5.69% tip = more than $20.74
• (I love Star Wars) [Yes] {Maybe} <OK>
• That’s what I said! “Really?”
• arcade.pirillo.com * chris.pirillo.com
• He scored 7/8 on the quiz — not bad~
• Order #4053: 2x @$16.99 each | Total: $33.98
• Is it _really_ 100^2 = 10,000‽
• "Yes," she said, 'it's a go;' then walked away.
Your font includes contextual alternates (calt) — consecutive characters will automatically cycle between your 3 handwriting variants. This works in apps with OpenType support but may not appear in this preview.
Try Your Font
Click here to try it for yourself...
If you found this useful, I'd appreciate donations & patrons (to keep iterating)!
Download Your Font
OTF for desktop apps, TTF for universal compatibility, WOFF2 for websites, Base64 for CSS embedding.
.OTF
OpenType — best for desktop
.WOFF2
Web font — smallest file
Base64
CSS @font-face embed