Want to see your handwriting as a font?? For free?? :)

I’d love to make your handwriting into a font! And I want to do everything possible to make sure your font looks its best. With a little help from you, I will do my best to make your font look as professional and high-quality as possible, just like the other fonts you love on this site. I know you want your font to look good too, so please take a few minutes to read and follow these few easy steps to ensure that your handwriting will seamlessly vectorize into a font. If you follow each of these steps to a “T” your font will be made quickly, professionally, and you’ll know the quality of your font will be its best! :)

1. Choose the right pen!

DO NOT USE: Ballpoint pen, pencil, thick marker, thick sharpie

DO USE: It’s important to use a really good quality pen that writes smooth and dark (black ink is best) and is not too dry or splotchy– because when handwriting is vectorized into a font, it will magnify those pen imperfections by like 1000%. It may not be too noticeable when just written with a pen, but once vectorized into a font, any dry or splotchy areas on your letters will be really, really noticeable. They’ll look really pixelated and low quality- and neither of us want that! Before sending me your font, inspect your image full-size to see if you can spot any letters where the pen might not have looked its best. Make sure all your letters are uniform. Compare it with my sample image, full-size, and make sure the pen strokes look similar. You can use any kind of pen that’s dark and smooth, but a felt tip, fine point pen (fine tip sharpie) or a gel pen is generally best.

BTW, it’s important to use a fine point tip because when handwriting is vectorized into a font, it makes your handwriting BOLDER than what it originally was. So your letters could end up looking like blobs instead of a distinguishable letters. Better to err on the side of a really fine point, rather than think “this pen may be too thick but I’m sure it’s ok!” :)

2. Write out your alphabet on unlined computer paper

Write each line all on one line, leaving plenty of space between each line. Turn the paper horizontally if you need more room. Be sure to write the sentence below the punctuation (all lowercase). It helps me make your handwriting look more natural. Like this:

• ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
• abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
• 0123456789
• ! ” & ‘ () * , – . / : ? @
• the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Click image for larger version.
It’s the size yours should be when you email it to me!
Be sure to “zoom in” if your browser resizes the image.

• Try your best to write in a straight line. If you make a mistake on one of your letters, don’t try to “correct” that letter (like by re-tracing that letter again). Just rewrite it somewhere else on the page and draw an arrow to it. Your font will turn out exactly like your wrote your alphabet. So if one letter is thicker or bigger than the rest, your font will look like that too. So take note of that! :)
• I love doodles. Send me some doodles. At least send a heart and a smiley face! :) Write them on their own line.
• Try to write as relaxed and naturally as possible. Write out the “quick brown fox” sentence several times for me if you need to! :)

3. Scan your image as a COLOR PHOTO at 300 dpi

• YES – Color Photo
• NO – Black & White, Text, or Document
• Resolution: 300 dpi

• Do not shrink your image before you email it to me – I need a large image to correctly make your font.
• HOTMAIL and YAHOO users: – Hotmail and Yahoo will automatically shrink your image so that it’ll be too small for me to use it. Check your email settings – you may need to attach your image as a FILE instead of an image / picture to ensure that the image I receive will be big enough to use.

When scanning your font, there are a couple settings you will need to check. Make sure you go into the advanced settings of your scanner. Do not let it “auto detect” or it will probably choose the wrong settings.

This is how it looks on my (Epson) scanner. It will look different on everyone’s individual scanner, but maybe this will help give you an idea:

My resolution in these examples is set to 600 dpi. But for best results, please scan yours in at 300 dpi.

4. Please ROTATE your image

5. Email me your image as a JPG and only a JPG

Please do not send me a pdf, tif, zip, doc, etc. My font program does not handle those types of files and I will have to delete your font without ever even seeing how cute it is!

6. Suggest a Name for Your Font

What should I name your font? It can be your first name, a nickname, inside joke, etc. Whatever you choose, first check and make sure your name hasn’t already been taken. You can use the search feature in the sidebar to search for your name. You may also want to try searching for just the first few letters of your name to see if a similar name has been taken. If you don’t tell me what you want your font’s name to be, I will use your first name. If your first name has already been used, I will make something up for you. And it will probably be unoriginal like your last name or something. I reserve the right to name all fonts as I see fit, but I will probably use your suggestion.

7. Cursive Fonts

I don’t like making old-fashioned cursive fonts, but I do like making cursive/print hybrid fonts. Like when you’re quickly writing and some letters are connected and some aren’t. So in addition to a “regular” neat sample, please send me your “in a hurry” font! ;) And be sure to write out the sentence “the quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog” (all lowercase). Write quickly and naturally, like you were passing a note to a friend, or making a grocery list. It really helps me make your handwriting look more natural! :)

8. Disclaimers

• If there’s an error with your sample (failed to follow one of these steps), unfortunately I won’t be able to personally email you back and ask for the correct kind of sample- that’s why I’m really hoping you’ll read it here first! :)
• When you send me your sample, please note that you have read all 7 steps and have done them to the best of your ability.
• I cannot guarantee I will do all fonts sent to me. Any fonts sent to me may be distributed freely on this webpage, but not all fonts made will be.
• Regrettably, I will be unable to let you know if I have chosen your font or not. If I have chosen your font, you will get it back in an email. If you don’t hear from me, please try YourFonts.com. Instantly create your own handwriting font and get it back in minutes!! :)

If you have read and agree to all of the above, then please email me your handwriting at:

septembermyles@gmail.com