Best F/X

YourFonts is a free web-based font generator that allows you to turn your handwriting into a TrueType font within a couple of minutes. If you have a printer and scanner, nothing can stand between you and the awesomeness of your own script.

A similar service at Fontifier costs $9 per font and YourFonts has a software package for making personalized fonts that costs around $49, but the web-based tool is entirely free. YourFonts allows you to upload large templates (up to 4000 x 5000 pixels) and it has the most advanced raster to vector conversion algorithm. Yes, this service is 100% free, no hidden fees and no strings attached.

Features:

• Your own handwriting turned into your very own font for free
• Optionally include your signature
• You’ll have your very own font within 15 minutes
• Make as many fonts as you like
• Use your fonts on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux
• Personalize your digital scrapbook pages
• Make your own “family handwriting history”
• Use your fonts in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and every program that you own

What you need

To fontify your handwriting, you'll need:

• A printer - an injet does fine
• A thin felt tip pen - 0.5mm or 0.7mm
• A scanner - one that can scan an 8 1/2 x 11 black and white or color document at least 150dpi

To get started, head over to YourFonts and download the PDF template you'll use to draw your alphabet. Print a 4 or 5 copies of the template. Next use your thin felt tip pen to draw the letters of the alphabet and numbers into the designated boxes on the template. All cells on the template contain horizontal hash marks on both the left and right sides to help you write the characters in the right dimensions and the best position. Remember to leave a margin around each character; don't draw up to the edge of each cell.

The hash marks on either side of each cell indicate the baseline for your characters. Align your characters on this baseline. This is the hardest part. It's impossible not to feel like you're learning to write again. Just relax, and draw in your letters with flair and keep it as natural as possible. If you screw up one letter, don't stop - you'll fix it later.

The most difficult part is staying aligned to those baseline hash marks. Even if some of your letters float above the baseline you can fix that later.

If you make an error making a letter, instead of re-drawing the entire template, write the letter on another sheet of paper, cut it out, and affixed it to the template with glue or double-sided tape. (Or use White Out to fix errors.)

Scan your template

Make sure the template is straight on the scanner bed when you scan it. Scan your template in color (24-bit) or grayscale (8-bit), not just black and white (1-bit). Scan at a resolution of at 150 dpi, but YourFont recommends 300 dpi for a higher quality. Save the image as a GIF, JPEG, PNG, or TIFF file.

If you don't have a scanner at home head over to a Kinko's. For about 40 cents a minute at a self-service station you can scan your template.

Adjust the image

If you're not satisfied about your font preview, you will need to adjust the image. Using any good image editor, such as Adobe ImageReady, adjust letter positions up and down and erase ink blots or stray pixels that shouldn't be there. If your scanner's good, you will need to clean up any letters corrected using the methods above.

The last thing to watch out for in your font is the horizontal spacing. Make sure the letters you wrote were as square in the middle of the enclosing box as possible. Use your image editor to nudge any over that might have too much space on the left or right.

When you're done editing, re-save the template image and upload it to YourFonts. Once you're satisfied with the preview, download the True Type font (.ttf) file for installation on your computer.

Install your font

Once you've downloaded the .ttf file, install it on your system.

Windows:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. Type c:\Windows\fonts, and then click OK.
3. On the File menu, click Install New Font.
4. In the Drives box, click the drive that has the floppy or CD-ROM that contains the fonts you want to add.
5. Click the font you want to add. To select more than one font at a time, press and hold down the CTRL key while you click each font.
6. Click to select the Copy Fonts To Fonts Folder check box. The Windows\Fonts folder is where the fonts that are included with Windows are stored.
7. Click OK.

Mac:

Using the built-in Font Book, from the File menu choose "Add Fonts" and browse to your newly-created .ttf file to install.

From there launch any application that uses fonts like Word or Photoshop, and choose your font name from the list and start typing. Adjusting the tracking (space between letters) to a negative number, which brings them closer together, may make handwriting font look a little more natural. Also, note that bold and italic won't be available with your new font.