Making My Own Fonts From Custom Shapes...Any Help?

[Moviefan2k4]

Hey, all.

I'm taking the first step into making my own font, using Photoshop custom shapes as a starting point. However, I've hit my first moderate roadblock. I have all the capital letters and numbers done, but no free program I've found will import them. The same has held true so far, with my attempts to do them as SVG files from Inkscape. My computer is fairly old - I'm using the CS6 version of Photoshop, and can't afford to upgrade my hardware. This rules out newer programs like FontSelf, which rely on the current version of Illustrator (again, incompatible with my current PC).

So, I was just wondering if the more brilliant among you might have some tips for me. Have any of you made your own fonts before? Which software did you use to create your vector shapes, and how did you conquer your first tech problems? Any help you can be is most appreciated. Thanks again for your time.

 

[kabak]

Hi!
What free program did you find?
and
What file format (extension) are you trying to import?

 

[Moviefan2k4]

Hi!
What free program did you find?
and
What file format (extension) are you trying to import?

I haven't found a free program that will work yet, and all my letters and symbols are saved in one CSH file. As an experiment, I made one shape as a PDF and then converted it to SVG with Inkscape, but even that wouldn't work with FontForge or the browser program I found called Glyphr Studio.

 

[kabak]

It seems possible to import with FontForge

pdf / svg / eps

I opened any font and imported an svg

 

[Moviefan2k4]

It seems possible to import with FontForge

pdf / svg / eps
View attachment 149626
I opened any font and imported an svg

View attachment 149628

From an existing font, sure - but I'm making one completely from scratch. I don't have Illustrator, so the only way I've been able to do vectors is by making shapes in Photoshop, saving them as a PDF, and then converting to SVG with Inkscape. But I'm guessing that even FontForge is more advanced than CS6, since the current Adobe CC appears to be on version 25 or something.

 

[IamSam]

so the only way I've been able to do vectors is by making shapes in Photoshop

Just so you know, Photoshop, in any version, is a raster based program. The shape tools are not true vector but are vector containers with raster content. Regardless of how you create a file and save it (such as PDF), Photoshop always saves both vector and raster information. You can't create true vector files with Photoshop. If your are expecting to continue creating fonts, you need to get away from Photoshop.

Have any of you made your own fonts before? Which software did you use to create your vector shapes, and how did you conquer your first tech problems? Any help you can be is most appreciated. Thanks again for your time.

Yes, in Ps, I have created one off custom "words" that I never intended to be a "font" to be used with the Type Tool. So I've never encountered any tech problems. However, if I were to take a strong interest in creating fonts on a regular basis, I would use FontLab and be done with it. I realize that you have stated your not in a position to afford new hardware/software, so you need to re-evaluate your desire to create fonts without the proper tools.

SVG font is an accepted import and export format from Glyphr Studio. So I'm not sure how to offer help here. There's also the problem that I'm not running older hardware and software so I can't troubleshoot for you.