How To – Fonts

How To Create Your Own Font

Up until I took a Learn Font Making course in 2017, font design was entirely nebulous to me. I enjoyed handlettering, although I wasn’t very good at it then, and thought it would be badass to make fonts out of handwriting. I did so much research and tried to figure out the process to make my own font, but there were so many gaps in knowledge and information available. I’d all but given up on the idea, until I found the course I took that basically set me on the path that I’ve been on for five years. Font design is what I do full time now!

Since that time, technology and software has come a long way, and it’s made font design entirely accessible to pretty much anyone who wants to do it! I never thought I’d see the day that the process could be super simplified for anyone wanting to make their first font, but then I learned about Calligraphr.

Creating Fonts Just Got Easier

Calligraphr is a browser-based app that turns your own handwriting into a functional font in mere minutes. I’m not even lying about that – from the time I signed up to check this out to the time that I downloaded the .otf file, it was only a span of a few minutes.

It’s free to use. Yes, for real. Of course, there is a paid option that has more features, but you can literally start creating right after you sign up and confirm your email address.

It’s worth noting that you could probably use this to make your own sans serif and serif fonts, as well, but it seems like this app is mostly centered on using your own handwriting first & foremost.

How To Create Your Own Font

What Does Calligraphr Include?

Here’s the deal.

Calligraphr is free to use, but certain features are available only to paid accounts. You can create as many fonts as you like with free and paid accounts, but paid accounts have the ability to work on multiple fonts at once; free accounts can only work on one font at a time.

There are also limitations on the number of characters your font can have. Free accounts are allowed 75 characters. That’ll cover you for basics – uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and punctuation. Depending on what your font might be used for, you could include other symbols, such as less common punctuation marks, dingbats, and so on. You can choose what characters you’d like to include, or even the language. Clicking on the language for your own typeface will bring up the basic letters that you need to complete the font. For example, if you’re going to make an Arabic font, it’ll drop the Arabic letterforms in for you.

Paid accounts are allowed 480 characters. It’s a pretty large character set — or so you’d think — but a lot of professionally designed fonts (like what I offer) have far more glyphs included. It tends to spiral if you enjoy including a lot of extras and special characters like ligatures, alternates, and if you include language support with accented characters. I love including other characters in my fonts like swashes and various versions of letters. At any rate, 480 character spots will probably set you on the right path to a fairly robust font.

Free accounts do not allow for ligatures, nor do you have the option to adjust letter spacing for individual characters. You can, however, adjust the spacing for all characters, but you’re limited to all…or none.

Since Calligraphr is pretty much intended for handlettering, it’s smart to include the option for variations (alternates, stylistic sets) – free accounts allow for two variants per character; the pro accounts can have up to 15 variations.

Creating Your Own Font In a Snap

The process is simple. After you sign up, print the template. Draw your letters and symbols in the boxes. You can either scan the paper, or use your iPhone to take a picture of it. Upload it to Calligraphr.

This magical thing drops the letters into the appropriate boxes, you can make some adjustments, like where the character sits on the baseline and the size. You can adjust the size of individual letters, as well. Prior to “building” your font, you can adjust overall letter spacing, the font size (basically for display purposes in a preview) and you can also adjust word spacing (essentially the size of the space bar). You can edit individual glyphs, as well – the app gives you a few tools so that you can adjust your letters or clean them up a bit more.

Custom Font Files

When you click “Build Font,” the app generates two file types for you to download – .otf, and .ttf. The export options available don’t allow for other types, like webfonts. (But, let’s be honest, most people don’t need webfonts unless they’re a website developer.)

These files are totally normal files, all you need to do is double click to install on your computer. Doesn’t matter if you’re on a Mac or if you’re running Windows on your PC — it installs all the same, and you can access the font in any program that uses your system’s installed fonts.

How It Turned Out for Me

I mentioned the whole process took only a few minutes of time, and I’m not even joking about that. To be honest, I was completely surprised that it was as easy as it was. Calligraphr basically shields you from the complicated stuff that takes quite a bit of time to learn as far as the programming is concerned.

Depending on the font I’m working on, it can be a time consuming and long process adjusting all of the technical details within the font. With Calligraphr, it was a short, fast process, but that’s also because the option to make these adjustments simply doesn’t exist — either with the free account, or because the app doesn’t allow for a totally professional-grade, robust font. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you know what you’re working with.

So, check this out!

Here are is one of the sheets I printed (I wanted to try out the randomized variation option). I used my iPhone to take a fairly crummy picture, and it was uploaded right into the template. Easy peasy.

Here’s what it looks like after your letters are popped right into the boxes. They look a little pixelated, but when your font is generated into a downloadable file, the magical vectoring process happens so that your typography can be scaled to any size without the loss of quality.

I did test out some of the controls that were available to me – I only used the free version of Calligraphr so things like ligatures and being able to adjust kerning wasn’t available to me.

It would be silly for me to write all about this pretty cool thing without including an example of the font post-installation!  This is the result of less than five minutes of work on my part from start to finish.

And yes, I’m aware that my actual handwriting is complete crap.  No one would believe that I’m a handlettering artist.

How to Create Fonts Professionally – Calligraphr Limitations

My assessment? Calligraphr is fantastic if you want to create your own fonts for fun, or make a quick working font file, but it is by no means a substitute for professional software if you want to make a go of creating fonts professionally. The app offers you a way to create a basic font, but if you’re looking for a more powerful type of font creation, you need to turn to font creation software that the pros use.

I work with different software, depending on what stage of font creation I’m in. For all handlettering purposes, I use Procreate. After I’ve got my character set lettered, I transfer the lettering to Adobe Illustrator for vectoring and editing. Once I’ve got all of that set, I use Glyphs, which is professional font design software.

Glyphs offers a measure of control that every font design professional should have. There are other font programs that can be used (like Fontlab Studio) that offer the same type of control, but Glyphs is my personal preference.

I personally think that Calligraphr makes it easy to figure out if you’re actually interested in font design, and allows you to test the waters. If you’re new to handlettering and think you might want to dive into the world of digital resources by creating fonts, Calligraphr would give you a decent gauge on whether or not you want to continue practicing and honing your skills.

Be advised that professional software is more complex than Calligraphr. Calligraphr is a very stripped down type of thing, and all of the programming aspects are hidden from you and replaced with simple sliders or arrows to make an adjustment.

If you decide that it’s something you want to pursue, investing in professional software is crucial to creating powerful, feature-rich fonts. There is a pretty steep learning curve, but when you have a course that tells you everything you need to know about professional font creation, it makes it so much less daunting.

Enter the Learn Font Making course, where you can learn to create your own fonts professionally!

I will forever sing this course’s praises, because this is where I learned how to do what I do. Over the course of five years, I’ve got over 200 fonts created with almost as many in the works currently. (What the heck am I doing blogging right now, I’ve got so much work to do!!!)

Anyway, I’d also like to point out that the limitations with Calligraphr make it seem like a cursive or script font might be a smidge more difficult to make. In order to do this the right way, you would need a paid account so that you can adjust individual letter spacing to ensure that your exit stems connect properly with the next letters…but it doesn’t look like there’s any information available with regard to the kerning of individual letters with others. That feature alone will be crucial for a professional grade font. A handlettered font is great & all, but being able to dive into different styles easily does make a huge difference.

Can You Make Money From Font Design?

The short answer is yes. You can make money from font design.  Full disclosure – the post associated with that link was written at the very end of 2019 / early 2020, and in the years since, my income has only increased with font design. 

There are a lot of variables that should be considered. For example, the level of commitment you’re willing to have for things like social accounts, investing in ads, whether or not you want to have your own website or just use marketplaces to sell your fonts. Overall, though, yes, you can make money from fonts, but the amount is probably going to be based on how much time you’re willing to spend, and most importantly the caliber of font you’re trying to sell.

There are plenty of decent, well-made fonts out there that include only basics – upper and lowercase letters, numbers, basic punctuation. However, if you include language support (accented characters), you can command a higher price point. If you include extras – alternate glyphs, ligatures, swashes & flourishes – you can go even higher, if you wish.

While Calligraphr does allow for some alternates, and will allow you to have a nice number of characters in your font, it is not professional grade software, and it does not offer the measure of control that a professional font designer should have.

You can try to design fonts for sale with Calligraphr, but I would guarantee that you will hit a certain point with the app where you feel like you are incredibly limited with what you can do.

If you’re considering taking Teela’s Learn Font Making Course, you can try Glyphs out for free for 30 days, and experience the wonder of having full control programming your font. Since there is such a learning curve involved, here’s what I would recommend to keep your cost down as you decide how deeply you want to dive into this industry!

  1. Sign up for Teela’s course. At the time of writing this article, Teela’s next opening is August 2022. Work on your handlettering. Watch the course in full. This is an investment into something new, different, & interesting.

    Sidenote: I’ve had a few folks that I recommended Learn Font Making to make mention of the fact that they felt the course was costly. I have to disagree – I made back my investment quickly, including the investment in the full Glyphs software. If you have a gym membership that you pay for (investment in your health), or a Netflix account (investment in your entertainment), or you have a meal subscription like Hello Fresh (investment in your sanity if you work a lot, don’t have time to cook, or just suck at it), you should consider this an investment all the same. It’s an investment in education. People spend money all the time on things that they like to do, so if you like handlettering and you think it would be cool to make professional fonts and get paid for it, you should absolutely be signing up for this course. To this very day, I still say it was the single best investment I have ever made in myself & my creativity.

  2. Sign up for a free trial with Adobe Creative Cloud. You can get 7 days free, which should be sufficient to familiarize yourself with Adobe Illustrator, and get your font cleaned up appropriately.

  3. Sign up for the free trial of Glyphs. You can transfer your characters from Illustrator to Glyphs, and spend your free trial learning the programming aspect of fonts.

  4. If you decided to spring for Creative Cloud, create your branded font graphics there! You could also use a more simple program, like Canva, but you would need a pro account to upload your own font to create your branded images that show off your new font creation. A Canva Pro account has a free 30 day trial.

The TL;DR

Ok, the TL;DR usually comes first, but it seems so much more appropriate and chill than saying, “Conclusion” like a science project.

Calligraphr: Good for fun and experimenting with your own handwriting in font form.

Learn Font Making, and professional software like Illustrator and Glyphs: Good for a person who wants to do this professionally and earn some serious dough.

If you have questions about anything I’ve written here, or especially the Learn Font Making course, please drop me a line! I’d love to hear from you and tell you a little more about my experiences if you want to hear about them!

How to Add Flourishes to Fonts in Cricut Design Space

What are font flourishes?

The first definition of “font flourishes” that springs to mind is simply this: decorative letters or glyphs. They are mostly used in calligraphy or digital typography – logos, invitations, or posters, for example. You can work with all kinds of fonts and apply the flourishes to almost any place you want to, if the font includes them.

This font trend has been around for quite a while now, but it continues to be popular among designers who are looking to give their projects an extra little something-something. There are thousands of free fonts online containing these types of lettering elements that you can use!

Check out the beautiful flourished "y" and "e" using my font Grateful Season!

What is a glyph?

A glyph is a specific character in a font, such as an “a” or an “x”. A glyph can also be a decorative letter or symbol that is used in calligraphy or digital typography, such as a swash or flourish.

The term “font flourish” is often used interchangeably with the terms “swash” or “alternate glyph,” but they are not exactly the same. A glyph is a specific character in a font, while a font flourish is a type of glyph that is used for decoration. Font flourishes can be simple or elaborate, and they can be added to any lettering style.

How to Access Glyphs in Cricut Design Space

In order to know how to add flourishes to fonts in Cricut Design Space, you will first need to know how to access your glyphs. Unfortunately, Cricut Design Space doesn’t allow you to see all of the glyphs of your fonts, so you will need to use either Font Book (Mac) or the Character Map (Windows/PC).

(Hopefully this is a feature that Design Space makes available in the near future.)

Accessing the font glyphs in Design Space can be tricky, so the process for PC/Mac is important to note! Once you’ve figured this process out once, it will be much easier in the future!

In order to add swashes to your font, the swash will need to already exist within the font’s glyphs. If the font doesn’t include swashes or special font characters in its glyphs, you will not be able to add flourishes to your font.

While I have PC instructions included in this blog post, the screencaps I’m going to show you are for a Mac computer, since that’s what I use for my design work!  You can also see a video of me demonstrating these steps here.  I’ve also got a video where you can see what it’s like to access special characters on an iPad so you can use them in Design Space.

Accessing Glyphs on Mac

While using a Mac, open up Font Book. You can find this in your Launchpad or by searching for the application in Spotlight Search ( + Space). Navigate to View > Repertoire, allowing you to view all of the fonts’ glyphs, rather than the sample that Font Book typically shows.

Now, choose the font that you wish to use from your list of all the fonts installed on your device. You will now be able to scroll through the included glyphs of the font selected to find the special characters that you wish to use. Select the glyph, then navigate to Edit > Copy.

This is what FontBook looks like and where to access the Repertoire feature to display all characters.

Accessing Glyphs on Windows/PC

While using Windows, you will need to open your Character Map in order to access fonts installed and their extra font characters. You can find this in your Programs or search for it in the Search Bar.

To begin, choose your font within Character Map. After this, choose Advanced View and click the Group By dropdown menu. Here, you will select Unicode Subrange, and a popup window will open. Once the popup opens up, scroll to the bottom and select Private Use Characters.

Now, you can scroll through the alternate characters and choose the special characters that you’re looking for. Click Select > Copy for the font glyph that you want to use.

This is what Character Map on a PC looks like and what you need to select - you can also find this image in my blog post about accessing OpenType features.

Using Special Characters and Glyphs in Cricut Design Space

Step 01

Copy the glyph from your font using the steps previously described within FontBook or Character Map.

Step 02

Now that you’ve chosen your glyph, return to Cricut Design Space where your design file is open. Using the Text Tool, add a new text box to your design and type out all the letters of the design in the same font that you chose your glyph from.

Step 03

Move the cursor to where the special glyph is going and choose Edit > Paste in order to paste your alternate character into the design. Adjust the letter-spacing if needed in order to make the flourish flow with the rest of the font.

Keep in mind that once you use the special characters, if you change the font, the design will change drastically as the glyphs in each script font are different.

This is what FontBook looks like next to Cricut Design Space when you're trying to add special characters. Simply COPY the glyph from FontBook, and then jump over to Design Space, highlight the character you wish to replace, and then PASTE!

Step 04

Repeat the first step for as many glyphs as you need, pasting them into your design after they are copied each time. Add a new text box for more text or simply build onto the text that you have already typed!

Here's a close up comparison of the final changes. The top text shows standard characters typed out. The bottom text shows what it looks like when the "gr" ligature and flourished "n" were pasted in!

Pro Tip: If you’re using Design Space on your iPad or iPhone, you can download the paid app Unicode Character Viewer. The app is .99 cents, and will allow you to look up fonts installed on your device, copy the glyph you’d like to use, and then paste the glyph into Design Space.

Find Fonts to Use In Your Next Cricut Design Space Project

My font bundle includes a variety of fonts that have a hand-crafted look and feel to them, with most including extra font characters! You can purchase the bundle for personal use or license the fonts for commercial projects. Check it out today and find your new favorite fonts!

How to Download Fonts on iPad/iPhone – Installing Custom Fonts

Your iPad and/or iPhone will allow you to install .otf and .ttf font types for use in a variety of programs. You won’t be able to change the system default font, but that doesn’t mean you have no choice in fonts for different creative uses! You can use custom fonts in apps like Word, Excel, and KeyNote for starters – there are even more design or office programs out there that support using these installed fonts as well so it’s really easy to let your creativity flow and stop using generic fonts! If you access Cricut’s Design Space through your iPhone or iPad, you can install fonts for use in that app, as well!

IMPORTANT: Please be patient and aware of the fact that I, personally, do not make the rules + processes needed for font installation on your iPad or iPhone. I only create the font files, and have literally no control over the operating system, your device’s capabilities, or the rules the developers put in place for a process like this.

I will always recommend that the best experience with my fonts will be on a desktop or laptop machine.

That said, it is absolutely possible to use my fonts on an iPad or iPhone, but you must follow the process below, which includes downloading the files, extracting the files, and a few different steps using third party apps.

If you’re more of a watch-a-video kind of learner, I do have video demonstrations on how to download & install fonts on your iPad and iPhone.  You can find the iPad one here, and the iPhone one is here.

 

01. Download a Font Manager

Your new font(s) will need to be installed using the iOS configuration profile.

Using apps like AnyFont, Font Installer, iFont, and other font apps will allow you to download your font file and package it up so that it can easily be installed on your iPad or iPhone. You can install multiple fonts or choose one font to install!

For the purpose of this set of instructions, I’ve chosen to work with iFont on my iPad – it’s free to use! Below is a screencap of what the interface looks like!

02. Download Your Custom Font(s)

With some font apps, like the iFont app, you may be able to download Google fonts directly within the app from the font libraries. However, you can also download your Google fonts or custom third party fonts directly from your browser!

You would only need to follow the general download process as you would for any other downloadable file, unzip if necessary, and make sure you know where you saved the file!

iFont has an option to “Find Fonts to Install” — tap that, and then use “Open Files.” Navigate to where you downloaded the font file! Select the font you wish to install.

Important: Simply downloading the font does not install it. You need to follow the process, outlined below, to install the font so that it becomes available as a font option on your device.

I’ve chosen to work with my font Grateful Season for this blog post!

03. Install Fonts

After this, it’s smooth sailing! Next, install the font!

In iFont, you can do this by tapping “Installer” at the bottom left corner. It should have a little red bubble to indicate the notification – the red bubble will disappear when you tap.

When you tap Installer, you’ll see the font(s) you selected to install on the left side of your screen with a blue “Install” button. Tap install!

You’ll get a pop-up within the app after this. When prompted to open a configuration profile in your settings app, tap “allow”. Depending on your iPad settings, you may be prompted to enter your passcode.

After you do that, you’ll get a notice that says that the profile was downloaded, and it instructs you to review the profile in Settings if you wish to install the font. When you tap “Close” on the notice, you’ll find a set of instructions for what you need to do next.  Follow those instructions! (You can tap “Cancel” in the upper right corner of the pop-up to get rid of this before you go to your iPad Settings.)

You will receive a warning that the profile isn’t signed with a key – that’s normal, don’t worry! You can see for yourself by tapping “More Details” and viewing exactly what’s inside: simply the fonts installed by you! A screencap of what that looks like is below!

Continue tapping Install for any other windows that pop up.

Now, tap “Done” when you receive the notification that it was installed.

04. Use Your Own Fonts

Now that you’ve installed your custom fonts, they will appear beside the default system font list in your apps. Simply choose your font in the list and use it to your heart’s content!

You can use in any app that uses the fonts installed on your iPad! (Some apps may not allow for custom font usage, so it is important for you to double check that the app itself accesses your device’s installed fonts. You can do that by contacting the developer, or by reading through any help files provided by the app.) I’ve got a screencap below showing you Procreate, which is a design app that allows you to use custom fonts!

Pro Tip: If you’d like to easily access the special characters within some fonts, you can download the paid app Unicode Character Viewer. The app is .99 cents, and will allow you to look up fonts installed on your device, copy the glyph you’d like to use, and then paste the glyph into the program you’re working in, such as Design Space or Procreate.

An Important Note:

Although this set of instructions uses an iPad, you can also install the fonts on your iPhone to be used in the same manner. iFont is available for download for iPhones, and you would follow the same basic process described in this post for iPhone installation!

Uninstalling Fonts

If you’ve decided that you’ve had enough of a new font and want to remove it, you can navigate to Settings > General > Profiles. Here, you can select a font profile and tap “Remove Profile” to remove the font from your system.

How to Install Custom Procreate Fonts on Your iPad

First thing’s first, you’ll need to install fonts on your device! You are able to import fonts that are TrueType (.ttf) or OpenType (.otf) on your iPad.

To get started, if you purchased your font from Beck McCormick, you’ll need to download your purchase, and if necessary, unzip the folder. Most newer iPads have this capability built right in. If you’re working with older software, you may need to download a file extractor.

Install Fonts in Procreate Directly

It’s pretty easy to install fonts in Procreate itself (as opposed to your iPad as a whole where the fonts would be available in any app that accesses your system’s installed fonts).

Tap Actions > Add > Add Text. Once you’ve typed the text that you would like to use, tap Edit Style > Import Font. Navigate through the Files app on your device to the folder where you saved your custom font. Tap on the font file to import the font, and it will appear in the Fonts list in Procreate.

Bonus Tip: If you also have an iMac or MacBook, you can share an .otf or .ttf file with your iPad by Airdropping it. You can then select what you want to open the font with – if you choose Procreate from your list, it automatically installs it for you.

See what that looks like below!

If you choose not to take the easy route outlined above, you can install the fonts using another method!  This method below ensures that the fonts are installed directly on your device, rather than available only through Procreate. This method would be handy if you work in Procreate, as well as other apps, like Design Space, Illustrator App, etc.

IMPORTANT: Please be patient and aware of the fact that I, personally, do not make the rules + processes needed for font installation on your iPad or iPhone. I only create the font files, and have literally no control over the operating system, your device’s capabilities, or the rules the developers put in place for a process like this.

I will always recommend that the best experience with my fonts will be on a desktop or laptop machine.

That said, it is absolutely possible to use my fonts on an iPad or iPhone, but you must follow the process below, which includes downloading the files, extracting the files, and a few different steps using third party apps.

Import Your Font to Your Device

01. Download a Font Manager

Your new font(s) will need to be installed using the iOS configuration profile. While there are ways of doing this without an app, it’s easiest to do this by using a font app that configures/installs your new fonts for you.

Using apps like AnyFont, Font Installer, iFont, and other font apps will allow you to download your font file and package it up so that it can easily be installed on your iPad or iPhone. You can install multiple fonts or choose one font to install!

For the purpose of this set of instructions, I’ve chosen to work with iFont – it’s free to use!

This is what the interface looks like!

02. Download Your Custom Font(s)

With some font apps, like the iFont app, you may be able to download Google fonts directly within the app from the font libraries. However, you can also download your Google fonts or custom third party fonts directly from your browser!

You would only need to follow the general download process as you would for any other downloadable file, unzip if necessary, and make sure you know where you saved the file!

iFont has an option to “Find Fonts to Install” — tap that, and then use “Open Files.” Navigate to where you downloaded the font file! Select the font you wish to install.

I’ve chosen to work with my font Grateful Season for this blog post!

03. Install Fonts

After this, it’s smooth sailing! Next, install the font!

In iFont, you can do this by tapping “Installer” at the bottom left corner. It should have a little red bubble to indicate the notification – the red bubble will disappear when you tap.

When you tap Installer, you’ll see the font(s) you selected to install on the left side of your screen with a blue “Install” button. Tap install!

You’ll get a pop-up within the app after this. When prompted to open a configuration profile in your settings app, tap “allow”. Depending on your iPad settings, you may be prompted to enter your passcode.

After you do that, you’ll get a notice that says that the profile was downloaded, and it instructs you to review the profile in Settings if you wish to install the font. When you tap “Close” on the notice, you’ll find a set of instructions for what you need to do next.  Follow those instructions! (You can tap “Cancel” in the upper right corner of the pop-up to get rid of this before you go to your iPad Settings.)

You will receive a warning that the profile isn’t signed with a key because it was generated on your device. But don’t worry! You can see for yourself by tapping “More Details” and viewing exactly what’s inside: simply the fonts installed by you! A screencap of what that looks like is below!

Continue tapping Install for any other windows that pop up.

Now, tap “Done” when you receive the notification that it was installed.

04. Use Your Own Fonts in Procreate

Now that you’ve installed your custom fonts, they will appear beside the default fonts in Procreate in the font list. Simply choose your font in the list and use it to your heart’s content to enhance your illustrations and designs!

Pro Tip: If you’d like to use the alternate characters in the font, you can download the paid app Unicode Character Viewer. The app is .99 cents, and will allow you to look up fonts installed on your device, copy the glyph you’d like to use, and then paste the glyph into Procreate.

Uninstalling Fonts

If you’ve decided that you’ve had enough of a new font and want to remove it, you can navigate to Settings > General > Profiles. Here, you can select a font profile and tap “Remove Profile” to remove the font from your system.

If you think a video demonstration would be more helpful to you, I have a video of how to install fonts for Procreate here.  Additionally, if you’re interested in the process to use special characters in Procreate, you can find that demonstration here.

Upload Custom Fonts to Canva

Upload Custom Fonts to Canva

Let’s talk about Canva!

I don’t use Canva much…or at all…because I’m a total Adobe girl. (It’s basically necessary for me to create my fonts & SVG designs.) But if I wasn’t a designer, I’d totally be using Canva.

In short, Canva is a browser-based graphic design program that makes it easy for users to create their own designs. Canva comes stocked with various items — fonts, graphics, stock images — and it also allows you to upload your own items, as well, to create your designs!

 

One question that I get frequently is whether or not a Canva user can upload their own fonts.

The short answer is yes!

There are a few caveats, though. This feature is not available for free Canva account users. It is, however, available to Canva Pro, Canva for Enterprise, Canva for Education, and Canva for Nonprofit users. A user can also upload only up to 100 fonts. (If you’ve maxed that out, which is easy to do, you can remove some of your uploaded fonts to make a swap.)

Canva: Upload Font How-To

I created a video to show you how to upload a custom font to Canva! If you aren’t certain about whether or not a pro account is right for you, you can sign up for a free trial, which is what I did here in order to show you how to upload a font!

Here’s a breakdown of the instructions for a Canva Pro account:

  1. After you log in to your Canva account, click “Brand Kit” from the panel off to the side.
  2. Click “Upload a Font” which is found under the Brand Fonts section. You’re able to use multiple font file types: .otf, .ttf, or .woff formats are accepted!
  3. Navigate to the font you wish to upload, and click “Open.” You’ll be prompted to confirm that you’re licensed to use the font in this manner. (If you purchase my fonts, you’re allowed to upload the fonts to your Canva Pro account for your use only, whether personal use or commercial use!)
  4. Click upload after confirming!
  5. You’ll receive a message that lets you know if the upload was successful or not.
  6. That’s it! It’s so easy to upload fonts to Canva!

How to Access Your Uploaded Fonts

You’ll be able to find your uploaded fonts whenever you access the dropdown menu where the fonts are located. All custom fonts are found at the very top of the list, under the Uploaded Fonts section! I think it’s really nice and helpful that the uploaded fonts are separated from Canva’s font library.

Once you select one of the custom fonts, you’ll be able to type in it and create an awesome design!

Get Insane Amounts of Fonts

Check out my Handlettered Font Bundle!

You can definitely use these beauties in Canva to make your design that much more customized – premium fonts are great for giving your design that extra edge…not a knock against Google fonts or anything like that! There just aren’t a ton of handlettered fonts included in Canva’s font library.

This particular bundle is awesome because it includes so many fonts – more than 160 as of August 2021.

Don’t worry about licensing, either – it includes personal and commercial use, so you can sell the crafts you make using these fonts!

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Hi, I'm Beck!

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