Fontcrafter: Turn Your Handwriting into a Real Font
Source: Hacker News
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 it works
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)
- 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 (0.5 mm 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 — fractions, accents, currency symbols, …
- 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
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Download and print the template — US Letter or A4.
- Print at 100 % scale (no “fit to page”). Use white, unlined paper.
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Fill in every box with a felt‑tip pen. All three rows for each character.
- Ballpoints are too faint; thick markers bleed.
- Keep strokes inside the boxes with breathing room from the 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.
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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
Customize Your Font
- Name your font and choose how your three rows should be used.
- Enable ligatures for natural‑looking connected letter pairs.
Font name
What do you want to call this font?
(Your name – optional, embedded in font metadata)
Row usage
- ☐ I wrote uppercase in all three rows
- ☐ I wrote uppercase in Row 1, lowercase in Row 2, uppercase in Row 3
- ☐ I wrote uppercase in Row 1, lowercase in Row 2, lowercase in Row 3
Lowercase size
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.
Lowercase size: 1.00
Additional options
- Turn on descenders – allow characters to dip below the baseline (e.g., g, j, p, q, y, or a slashed zero).
- Remove stray marks from neighboring boxes – cleans up tiny ink specks that bled through from adjacent cells. Won’t affect dots on letters like i, j, or punctuation marks.
- Normalize glyph heights – scale all uppercase to a consistent cap height; evens out letters drawn at different sizes.
- Generate extended characters – smart quotes, fractions, currency symbols, etc. (adds 100+ derived glyphs). Uncheck if you only want your handwritten alphanumeric characters.
- Generate accented characters – à, ñ, ü, ø, etc. Auto‑generates diacritics for 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.
- ☐ No ligatures
- ☑ Auto‑generate ligatures (recommended) – instant and produces natural‑looking connections from your existing characters.
Ligature pairs to generate: (comma‑separated)
End of cleaned markdown.
Font Features
- Ligatures – common pairs such as fi, fl, ff, ffi, ffl
- Doubles – repeated letters like ll, oo, ss
- Common bigrams – qu, sh, ch
Kerning (Recommended)
Kerning adjusts spacing between specific letter pairs — e.g., AV, To, WA — so characters with complementary shapes sit together naturally instead of having uniform gaps.
Auto‑kern letter pairs (recommended)
- Tight
- Normal
- Loose
Preview Your Font
See how your font looks with sample text, or type anything you like below.
Uppercase
THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER A LAZY DOG.Lowercase
sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow?Mixed Case
Both Fickle Dwarves Can Jinx My Pig Quiz!- $11.38 + tax & a 5.69 % tip = more than $20.74
- (I love Star Wars) [Yes] {Maybe}
- That’s what I said! “Really?”
arcade.pirillo.com*chris.pirillo.com- He scored 7/8 on the quiz — not bad~
- Order #4053: 2 × @$16.99 each | Total: $33.98
- Is it really 100² = 10,000‽
- “Yes,” she said, ‘it’s a go;’ then walked away.
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 – OpenType, best for desktop applications
- TTF – TrueType, universal compatibility
- WOFF2 – Web‑font, smallest file size
- Base64 – CSS
@font-faceembedding
I confirm that the handwriting used to generate this font is my own or I have explicit permission from the handwriting’s owner to create and use this font. I understand that I am solely responsible for how I use the generated font files, and I release FontCrafter, Chris Pirillo, LockerGnome, and
arcade.pirillo.comfrom any liability related to the font’s creation, distribution, or use.