Handwriting font maker

How to make a font of your handwriting

1. Print the template on plain white paper at 100 % (A4 or US Letter). Page 1 holds a–z and A–P, page 2 holds Q–Z, 0–9 and . , ? ! ' " - ( ) : ; & @ #.
2. Write each character once in its box with a black or dark blue pen, a fine felt tip being best. Let it stand on the solid line; small letters such as a and x reach the dashed line, and g, p, y hang below.
3. Photograph each page from straight above, in daylight or even room light, with all four black squares in the picture. A scan works too.
4. Check the grid. Each box is flattened, thresholded and traced into curves. Tap a letter that came out wrong to draw it again, clear it, or nudge it up or down.
5. Type in the preview, set the spacing, and download the .otf.

What happens to a photo

The page looks for the four black squares (the top-left one has a white centre, so a sideways photo is turned the right way) and maps them onto the template with a perspective correction, the same maths Scan Document uses. Five small squares between the top markers are the page code: they tell which page the photo shows and whether it was printed on A4 or Letter. Each box is then cut out at 2.5 pixels per point (about 180 × 220 pixels for an A4 box), compared with its own paper colour so a shadow across the page matters less, and anything darker than 58 % of the paper counts as ink. Specks smaller than half a square millimetre are removed, and the printed box border is dropped where the cut catches it. The outline of the ink is traced and fitted with Bézier curves; holes stay holes, so an o has an outside and an inside. The dashed guide sets the scale: it becomes 500 units on a 1,000-unit em, and the solid line becomes the baseline.

If the squares cannot be found (a dark photo, a cropped corner), the photo is shown and you tap the four squares yourself.

What it cannot do

• No joined cursive. Each letter is separate; there are no ligatures and no connecting strokes, so joined-up writing comes out as print with gaps.
• One shape per letter. Every e in a line is the same drawing. Size wobble only makes letters differ from one another, not from themselves.
• Latin letters only. a–z, A–Z, 0–9 and 14 punctuation marks; no accents (é, ü, ø), no other scripts. Missing characters show in the program's fallback font.
• Needs dark pen on plain white paper in even light. Pencil, light blue ink, lined or coloured paper and hard shadows lose strokes or add stray marks.
• No kerning beyond the spacing setting. Every pair of letters gets the same gap, so pairs like To or AV look wider than in a professional font.
• Saved on this device only. Save on this device uses this browser's storage; another browser or device will not have it, and clearing site data deletes it.
• Where a teacher, an exam or a form asks for your own handwriting, write it yourself.

Questions

Is this handwriting font maker free, and can I download the font?

Yes. There is no account, no paid tier and no watermark. The .otf file is written in your browser and downloaded straight to your device; install it and use it in any program that lets you pick a font.

Can I make a font of my handwriting on my phone?

Yes. Download the template, print it, fill it in, then open this page on the phone and use Take photo for each page. A missing or messy letter can be drawn again with a finger. Installing a font on a phone usually needs a font app; on a computer it is a double-click.

How do I install the font?

On Windows, right-click the .otf file and choose Install. On a Mac, double-click it and choose Install. Restart the program you want it in, then pick the font name you typed here.

Can I use my handwriting font for school work?

Not where your own handwriting is asked for. Where a teacher, an exam or a form asks for your own handwriting, write it yourself. The font suits cards, labels, invitations, comics and notes.

Why is a letter missing, or the wrong shape?

A box counts as empty when it holds less ink than a small pen dot, and faint pencil or light blue ink can fall under that. Strokes that run outside the box or over the small printed label in its corner are cut off. Tap the letter in the grid to draw it again, clear it, or move it against the baseline.