Make TrueType fonts for free on the web
March 20, 2024 2:52 AM Subscribe
Long ago, back in 2008, Dave Faris posted a link to FontStruct, a simple, yet deceptively versatile, free system for constructing fonts on the web, which you can then download as TrueType fonts for yourself, or even allow others to use. This is to inform you that FontStruct is still operational after 16 years at a different address! And it hasn't stood still during that time, it has steadily been updated with new features!
In FontStruct, you construct your characters out of bricks, a variety of pre-made objects that align to a grid. It may seem at first like it's limited to making pixel-style fonts, but there are a lot of different bricks, and:
* In Expert Mode, up to 12 bricks can be stacked atop each other in a grid cell, which can make for more complex gliphs than you might expect.
* Making a font "bigger" in FontStruct really just makes it more detailed.
* In Expert Mode, you can select multiple bricks and then "nudge" them in a direction to get them to escape the confines of their grid cells!
* There is also support for kerning, to better allow specific combinations of characters to play well together.
There are some features, notably layers and color, that in the style of the age are available to paid patrons.
In FontStruct, you construct your characters out of bricks, a variety of pre-made objects that align to a grid. It may seem at first like it's limited to making pixel-style fonts, but there are a lot of different bricks, and:
* In Expert Mode, up to 12 bricks can be stacked atop each other in a grid cell, which can make for more complex gliphs than you might expect.
* Making a font "bigger" in FontStruct really just makes it more detailed.
* In Expert Mode, you can select multiple bricks and then "nudge" them in a direction to get them to escape the confines of their grid cells!
* There is also support for kerning, to better allow specific combinations of characters to play well together.
There are some features, notably layers and color, that in the style of the age are available to paid patrons.
Oh. Oh dear. Oh no. Oh no. Oh dear. Oh no.
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:10 AM on March 20 [1 favorite]
posted by DoctorFedora at 6:10 AM on March 20 [1 favorite]
Man, Eurostile should be covered in a layer of Z-dust 40 years deep and yet I look at it (and those knock-offs) and immediately think, "yup, that's the future. That's the display font on the starships."
posted by thecaddy at 6:18 AM on March 20 [5 favorites]
posted by thecaddy at 6:18 AM on March 20 [5 favorites]
back in 2009-2010 i made a bunch of fonts on fontstruct (and a couple of my glyphs even appeared on the poster). now i'm a type design student at type west in san francisco. fontstruct was a big part of me falling in love with type design! i'm so glad to see it's still kicking.
posted by pmdboi at 11:23 AM on March 20 [5 favorites]
posted by pmdboi at 11:23 AM on March 20 [5 favorites]
Oh, so that's where all those faux dot-matrix fonts (that no impact printer could ever print) came from!
posted by scruss at 1:08 PM on March 20
posted by scruss at 1:08 PM on March 20
The original post in 2008 got 45 favorites. This one is up to 34. I'm wondering if it can get up to that level.
posted by JHarris at 5:32 PM on March 20
posted by JHarris at 5:32 PM on March 20
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posted by Rhomboid at 4:15 AM on March 20 [4 favorites]