How to turn your handwriting into a font
All you need is a pen, some paper and a phone. Here's how to make a font of your own handwriting, step by step, and how to get one that looks like you.
The short version
- Find or write a few pages of your handwriting.
- Photograph them in good light, straight from above.
- Upload them to a font maker, which finds each letter.
- Check the letters and fix any that came out wrong.
- Download the font file and install it. It works in Word, Pages, Canva and Cricut Design Space.
What you need
- Some of your handwriting. 5–10 pages of notes, letters or a journal, or our printable template (1–2 pages).
- A dark pen. Felt-tips and gel pens give the clearest lines. Pencil is often too faint.
- A phone camera or a scanner.
- About 10 minutes, plus a minute or two while the font is made.
Two ways to give it your letters
Many font makers only work with a printed template. GetYourFont takes either, and you can add more pages later.
| Pages you've already written | A printable template | |
|---|---|---|
| What you do | Photograph 5–10 pages of notes, letters or a journal | Print 1–2 pages, write each character in its box, photograph them |
| Time | About 5 minutes | About 15 minutes |
| The look | Your everyday writing, as it really is | Neater and more even, with every character |
| Best for | Notes, journals and casual text | Crafts, labels and anything that needs every letter and number |
Step by step
Choose or write your pages
Plain, separate letters work best; joined-up cursive doesn't work well yet. Pages with capitals and numbers help. Writing fresh? Write a few sentences you'd actually type, like a shopping list, a note to a friend, or “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”, which has every letter.
Photograph them
Use even light with no shadows across the page, hold the camera straight above, and get the whole page in the frame. Phone photos are fine, and so are scans: JPG, PNG, HEIC or PDF, up to 12 pages at a time.
Upload them and wait a minute or two
We clean up each page (ruled lines and grids are removed), read the words line by line, and cut out every letter that stands on its own. On a template, every box is a character.
Check your letters
You see every character we found. Each keeps up to three of your most typical versions, and the font takes turns between them as you type, so repeated letters don't look stamped. Swap a version, or take out one that came out wrong.
Fill in the gaps
A character that wasn't on your pages still gets drawn, in your style: your slant, pen width and letter sizes. These stand-ins are marked. To replace them with your own, write out the short text we suggest, photograph it and add it. That's free.
Try it, then download it
Type anything with your font in the browser, for free. When you're happy, download it for $9, once: TTF and OTF files, plus a ZIP that's ready to install.
Install your font and use it
On a Mac or a Windows PC, double-click the .ttf or .otf file and click Install. It then shows up in the font menus of Word, Pages, Photoshop, Cricut Design Space and other apps on that computer. Canva and other web apps that take your own fonts let you upload the file. Phones and tablets need a font-installing app.
Tips for a font that looks like you
- Write the way you normally do. Careful, stiff writing makes a stiff font.
- Use one pen for everything, so the letters match in thickness.
- Leave a little room between letters: letters that touch are hard to separate.
- Include capitals, numbers and punctuation if you'll want to type them.
- More pages give more choice, since each letter keeps your three most typical versions.
- Retake any photo with shadows or glare on the writing: they can break letters apart.
Other ways to make a handwriting font
- Template tools such as Calligraphr: print a sheet, write a letter in each box, scan it. There's a free plan with limits, and a subscription for more.
- A font editor such as FontForge (free) or Glyphs (Mac), where you draw each letter yourself. You get full control, but it takes hours and some know-how.
- A tablet app such as iFontMaker, where you write each letter on the screen.
GetYourFont is the quick way when your handwriting is already on paper: no template needed, and no drawing letter by letter. Making a font for a child? See how to turn your child's handwriting into a font.
Questions
How long does it take?
About 10 minutes of your time: 5 to photograph a few pages (or 15 to fill in the template), then a minute or two while the font is made.
Can I use cursive (joined-up) handwriting?
Not well yet. Joined letters can't be cut apart cleanly, so the font gets fewer of them. Printed, separate letters work best. If your everyday writing is joined-up, fill in the template one letter at a time.
Is it free?
Making and trying your font is free, as often as you like. Downloading it costs $9, once per font. There's no subscription and no account.
Can I make a font from someone else's handwriting?
Yes, if it's theirs to give: a family member who agrees, or someone whose family agrees. It works best with printed letters, so try a few pages first.
Can I use my font commercially?
Yes. Once bought, it's yours for anything, personal or commercial: products you sell, packaging, a brand. You can share it with the people you made it for.
What happens to my photos?
They're deleted as soon as your font is made. Notebook pages are read by Google's Gemini AI to find the words; nothing is kept for training.