You'll need: FontCreator (Windows and macOS), a scanned signature or company logo (PNG, JPG, or SVG), and a font project to draw into.

Trace a reference image into a font: three layer tools

To trace an image, signature or logo into a font, this font editor gives you three layer tools that work together. When you trace a reference image — a handwritten signature, a logo, a hand-lettered mark — you usually want three things at once: the original scan visible underneath you, a clean place to draw, and a way to keep an earlier attempt around for comparison. FontCreator gives you a dedicated tool for each:

• Reference Artwork holds the reference image (the scan itself).
• The background layer holds a dimmed, locked copy of geometry you're tracing against or setting aside.
• Helper Layers keep alternate or work-in-progress versions of a glyph beside the master.

All three live in the Masters and Layers panel, and everything below works the same way on Windows and macOS.

Step 1 — Import the scan as Reference Artwork

Reference Artwork is any number of raster or vector reference images attached to a master, managed in the Masters and Layers panel. Unlike the old flat backdrop image, you can keep several references per master and turn them on and off independently.

1. Open the glyph you'll draw into (for a signature, this is often a custom-mapped glyph or a single letter).
2. In the Masters and Layers panel, right-click the master row (or use the panel's Add dropdown) and choose Add Reference Artwork From File…. You can also pick Add Reference Artwork From Clipboard to paste an image you've already copied, or Add Reference Artwork From Glyph to reuse another glyph's outline as a reference.
3. Browse to your scanned signature or logo and confirm.
4. The new artwork appears as an entry under the master row. Use its visibility toggle to show or hide it.

Tip: Scan at high contrast and crop tightly before importing — a clean reference is far easier to trace than a noisy one.

Step 2 — Draw your contours over the reference

With the scan visible, draw straight over it using the standard contour tools. The Reference Artwork sits behind your work and is never part of the glyph outline, so you can trace freely without disturbing it.

Tip: Work in passes. Lay down rough contours first, then refine curves and node positions. Don't aim for perfect on the first try — that's exactly what the next two steps are for.

Step 3 — Park an earlier attempt on a Helper Layer

Helper layers are named auxiliary layers attached to a master. Each carries its own outline and anchors, plus a name, an opacity, and a color — ideal for alternate sketches, work-in-progress shapes, and comparison overlays. Like the background, a helper layer is read-only in the glyph editor; swap it onto the master to edit it.

To keep your first trace for comparison while you start a cleaner one:

1. In the Masters and Layers panel, add a helper layer to the master via the panel toolbar or right-click context menu.
2. Open the Helper Layer Properties dialog and give it a clear name (for example, "First trace"), a recognizable color, and an opacity that makes it easy to see beneath new work.
3. Move your current outline onto it — swap your master outline onto the helper, then continue refining on the master.

Note: Each helper layer can even have its own background layer, with its own outline and anchors — handy if you want a reference geometry that travels with a specific alternate.

Step 4 — Use the Background to trace against locked geometry

In FontCreator the Background is a full parallel layer that sits beside a master layer or a helper layer — not a flat image. Each master and each helper layer can have its own background. A background carries:

• An outline of contours and components — any of which can be flagged as a Mask.
• Metrics (sidebearings and advance width), independent of the master.
• Anchors, positioned independently.
• A color and a visibility flag.

It's drawn dimmed at 60% opacity and is read-only — to edit something on the background, swap it onto its host layer first.

Use these Glyph → Background commands:

• Set as Background (Ctrl+J) — replaces the background with the contours currently selected on the master. Great for "freezing" a reference shape.
• Add to Background (Ctrl+Alt+J) — adds the selected contours to the existing background, leaving previous content in place.
• Assign Background — pulls layers from another open font as the background, useful for tracing a reference design.
• Swap with Background (Ctrl+M) — exchanges master and background contents (outline, metrics, and anchors together). It is its own inverse: run it twice and you're back where you started. This is how you edit background geometry.
• Clear Background (Ctrl+Alt+M) — empties the background.

A practical flow: drop your "good enough" trace onto the background with Set as Background, then draw a final, refined version on the master — checking your nodes against the dimmed background as you go.

Step 5 — Control what you see

Three toggles in the View menu (also mirrored in Glyph → Background) control the display:

• Show Background — draws the background behind the main outline.
• Show Background Nodes — draws nodes on background contours (no effect when Show Background is off).
• Snap to Background — lets the editor's snapping pick up background geometry as a snap target.

Tip: Turn on Snap to Background when you want your new contour points to land exactly on your frozen trace.

Background vs Helper vs Reference Artwork

Troubleshooting

Watch out: Swap with Background moves outline, metrics, and anchors together. If you've set anchors on only one side, swapping will carry them along — double-check after a swap.

Frequently asked questions

How do I trace an image to make a font? Import your scan as Reference Artwork on the master, then draw your contours straight over it with the standard contour tools. The Reference Artwork sits behind your work and is never part of the glyph outline, so you can trace freely; use the Background and Helper Layers to freeze earlier attempts for comparison.

Can I import a reference image or scan? Yes. Reference Artwork accepts raster or vector reference images — PNG, JPG, or SVG — and you can attach any number of them to a master and toggle each on or off independently in the Masters and Layers panel.

How is this different from Scanahand? These layer tools let you hand-trace a reference image inside the FontCreator glyph editor, point by point, with full control over every contour. Scanahand is a separate, more automated tool for turning scanned handwriting into a font; here you draw the outlines yourself over the artwork.

What to read next

• Create a Font from an Image (Import Images) — preparing scans and vectors so they trace cleanly.
• Import Vector Artwork (SVG, EPS, AI) — import vector paths directly instead of tracing over a reference.
• Using Masks — make the most of mask-flagged elements on backgrounds and helper layers.
• How to Make a Variable Font — turn your masters into an interpolating, multi-axis font.