FontCreator – FAQ

Before consulting the frequently asked questions below, please check to make sure you are running the latest version of our font editor. Please consult the FontCreator changelog to see the current version as available for download. To see the version within your software, do open the About box which is available through the Help menu item.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I share and sell fonts that I create with FontCreator or are there licensing implications?

If you have created a font yourself (without using anything from other fonts), it is your property. However be aware FontCreator Home Edition cannot be used for commercial purposes. You have to buy the Standard Edition or Professional Edition instead.

Is it legal to modify a commercial font?

Several font vendors do allow this, as long as the modified font is only used on machines for which you have licensed the original font. If you have questions about what can or can't be done with a font, you should contact the font's manufacturer.

Why don't quotation marks work in Microsoft Word?

Word-processors often use autocorrect to convert the straight apostrophe (') and straight quote or inches character (") to typographical quotation marks (“), (”), (‘) and (’), also known as smart or curly quotes. If your font doesn't have mappings to these characters, you will see rectangles instead. When the quotes aren't showing at all, you need to add outlines to the corresponding glyphs. Make sure that your font contains all of the recommended glyphs as explained in the user manual.

I want to change the font name, but I don't know how. What is the solution?

The font name is stored inside the font, so changing the file name won't work. To change the font name, go to Font Properties dialog. From there select the Identification tab, which allows you to change the font name. Then export the font.

Is FontCreator available for a Mac?

No, our font editor runs on Windows only. However fonts created with our software can be used on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and in all modern web browsers.

My font only looks good at large sizes, what can I do to improve the quality at small sizes?

The quality has a lot to do with hinting. The hints are what make a font look good at low resolutions. FontCreator can automatically add hinting information to your TrueType based fonts. Another solution is to enable smoothing which is available from the Font Properties dialog.

What is a Symbol font?

Symbol fonts are special fonts, that should only include symbols, signs, signatures, pictures, decorations, arrows and bullets. Symbol fonts do not form words so line breaks can occur after any character code. Most spell checkers don't check symbol font-formatted content. There are Symbol fonts on the market that contain (Latin) characters. Such fonts do cause problems as explained above (e.g. wrong line breaks and no spell checking). In such case you should contact the font vendor.

Can FontCreator be used to create fonts for languages like Hebrew, Syriac or Arabic?

Yes, FontCreator provides you with all the tools needed to create these fonts including a graphical designer to create even the most complex glyph positioning required for these languages.

Is the user manual available in other languages?

No, our user manuals are currently only available in English.

If your question isn't answered here, do visit our forum as it contains useful information and it allows you to post questions that are likely to be answered within a couple of hours.