Calligraphr is a tool for creating simple fonts that I've really grown to appreciate. It's not made for elaborate font development – for me, that's exactly where the appeal lies: short development times and raw results. You can already see a few of mine under Yuzuzine Fonts :)
I wanted to share how I (roughly) go about it, even though Calligraphr already has a nice little tutorial. You can use this browser app for free; whenever I have more time to work on fonts, I sometimes get a month of Pro access*. If you have any questions about my process, feel free to message me!
Click in the top menu. On the left, you'll find the existing groups; on the right, you can see what's currently part of your template (see image). You can remove individual elements at any time.
Personally, I work with these groups:
- Minimal German
- Minimal English
- Minimal Numbers
- Basic Punctuation
- Ligatures (when I feel like it and happen to have the Pro version of Calligraphr – although I don't use Calligraphr's entire list, just ff, fi, fl, ch, ck, sch, sh, st, tt, th, sp, ss)
2. Fill out the template
Personally, I recommend using a black pen, either analogue or digital, that lets you work in a way that suits the font you're planning. If you want the font to look a bit more rough and worn, a slightly scratchy pen that skips here and there might actually be cooler than a brand-new one with perfect ink flow! Or the other way around, if you're going for something cleaner. If you want to work with a large pen that goes beyond the boxes (e.g. a really broad Edding marker or something similar), I'd recommend simply drawing the characters large without a grid, scanning/photographing them, and then placing them into the grid using the software of your choice.
If you make mistakes while filling out the template by hand, just print the template again and fill in the box you messed up before. You'll end up uploading the same character twice later, but you can simply delete the one you don't want to keep in the app.
If you want the font to look a little more realistically handwritten in different applications, fill out the same templates again and upload everything. Calligraphr recognizes duplicate characters as variants (more on that later in steps 5 and 6!). The free version lets you create 2 variants per character, while the Pro version allows up to 15. If you ask me, 2 variants are absolutely fine for 99% of cases!
It's best to scan the templates at a minimum of 300 dpi and NOT in black and white (this reduces the quality of the characters). Taking a photo works too, of course :) In that case, I'd recommend filling the frame as much as possible, using very little zoom, and shooting in even daylight (see image). I strongly advise against apps such as Adobe Scan, which can cause similar problems to scanning in black and white yourself – sometimes even more severely!
4. Upload the template
Under , create a new font (you can change the name, metadata, and other settings later, so at this point I'd just enter any name and continue). In the free version, you can work on one font at a time*, while the Pro version lets you work on up to 20 simultaneously – although you can create an unlimited number of fonts with either account type.
Under , upload the files you've filled out. If you've completed the templates by hand, I recommend leaving “Automatically clean templates” enabled. If you've worked with graphics software such as Illustrator and didn't use guidelines, you can safely turn this option off. I prefer filling out my templates on the iPad, and as long as I'm not working on an extremely fine and detailed font, the automatic cleanup has worked really well for me.
5. Check the characters
Even if the character overview looks great to you – check the characters by looking at things like character spacing (image) and baseline/size (image). When creating characters by hand and/or because of small adjustments made by Calligraphr, letters can end up sitting slightly higher or lower, or farther apart, than you might want. I actually click into every single character and take a look – at least when I want the font to look somewhat “tidy.” Sometimes I remove something under using the simple eraser tool, or add something with the drawing tool. If I'm deliberately making something chaotic, I don't adjust nearly as much, haha.
I wouldn't skip editing the metadata under : it doesn't change how your font looks, but it becomes part of the finished font file. Here you can add things like the font name, designer, copyright, and version number. This becomes especially important if you share the font or create different versions of it later.
And once you're really finished, download the font as both .ttf and .otf from the pop-up (remember the checkbox if you haven't created any variants). For my own use, I install the .otf because it's basically the more versatile format, especially for variants and ligatures, although older systems don't always recognize it (that's where .ttf can be pretty nice).
* In the free version, the character overview isn't stored forever – only for as long as Calligraphr's data remains saved in your browser. If you want to work on a font for longer than 1–2 weeks, I'd recommend a Pro account – Calligraphr will then continuously save everything on its own server. You don't have to sign up for a subscription either; you can specifically choose the “One-time payment” option (10€).