FontCreator Tutorials

Create a Font from an Image — Handwriting & Signatures

written by Erwin Denissen, published June 26, 2026

You'll need: FontCreator (Windows and macOS), and an image to import — a scanned signature, a logo, a hand-lettered character, or an icon.

To create a font from an image in this font editor, you let FontCreator auto-trace a picture into glyph outlines — the quickest route to turn your handwriting into a font or convert a signature into letterforms. The single biggest factor in how good the result looks is the source image — not the cleanup you do afterwards. Get the image right and the auto-trace is easy; start from a poor image and no amount of editing will recover the detail. This tutorial covers how to prepare the source and which import settings to choose.

Size matters most

The classic mistake is importing an image that's too small. Too small and the trace loses detail; too large (too much fine noise) and you get far more points than you need. Aim for a clean, high-resolution source:

Scan or photograph large, then let FontCreator scale it to the em — keep as much detail and size as possible through the whole input stage, and resize once it's inside FontCreator.
For scans, experiment with resolution (the classic comparison is 300 vs 600 vs 1200 dpi). Higher resolution preserves the small "ink" details and edge character; only drop resolution when you deliberately want to smooth a shape out.

Tip (from phone photos): shoot with even lighting, no perspective skew, high contrast, and crop tightly before importing.

Three traces of the same letter from a too-small, a too-large, and a well-sized source image, showing how source size affects the number of points.

the same letter imported from a too-small, a too-large, and a well-sized source, with the resulting point counts.

Prepare a clean source

Draw with a solid black marker / felt-tip on clean, non-bleeding paper for handwriting.
Prefer a grayscale scan and a lossless format (PNG, GIF, BMP) over JPEG, so the edges stay crisp rather than blurred by compression.
Remove stray specks before importing if you can.

Import the image

Open the glyph you want to draw into, then run Tools → Import Artwork… — the single command for both raster and vector sources. (The toolbar button still reads "Import Image" and the right-click entry "Import Image…", so look for either if you can't find the menu item.) For a raster file, this opens the Import Raster Image dialog: load the file, choose your settings, and confirm to drop the traced contours into the glyph. Inspect the result.

Key settings in the Import Raster Image dialog:

Threshold — the black/white cut-off that decides which pixels become ink. Raise or lower it to capture more or less of the shape.
Import Mode — leave it on Trace for normal outlines; switch to Pixels when you're making a pixel font (then even a very small image, e.g. 6×6, works — though it's best to clean up the scanned image manually first).
Smooth Filter — how much variation is smoothed away: None keeps every detail (best for elaborate, decorative or symbol sources), Smooth softens edges a little, and Super irons out small wobbles (good for simple text or handwriting where you don't want artefacts).
Erode - Dilate — thin (Erode) or thicken (Dilate) the captured shape slightly, with an amount to dial in.
Resize — scale the source before tracing with a zoom %, and click Use as default to reuse it. Use this when you can't re-scan at a higher resolution.
Inversion — tick Negative when your source is light-on-dark and you need to flip what counts as ink.

FontCreator's Import Raster Image dialog showing the Threshold, Import Mode, Smooth Filter, Erode - Dilate, Resize and Inversion options.

the Import Raster Image dialog with Threshold, Import Mode, Smooth Filter, Erode - Dilate, Resize and Inversion.

Before you trace, set yourself up for a clean result: start from a high-contrast source, avoid anti-aliased grey edges (they confuse the threshold — aim for crisp black and white), trace one glyph at a time, and clean up the nodes once the trace lands.

Two settings recipes, depending on the source

There's no single "best" setting — it depends on the artwork:

Simple sources (hand printing, text alphabets, small scans) where you want to smooth out stroke variation: use a smaller input size, a stronger smooth filter, and a medium threshold.
Detailed sources (elaborate initials, script and symbol fonts) where faithful reproduction matters more than point count: use the largest input size, the None filter, and a low threshold so the "ancient" edges and fine details survive.

After importing

Resize the contours to fit the em and your cap/x-height, and place them within sensible side-bearings.
Clean up points, but don't over-optimise — over-optimising handwriting removes the character that made it worth tracing. (Note: Optimize Contours doesn't behave well on open contours.)
Anything missing from the source can't be added back by FontCreator, so if detail is lost, fix the source and re-import rather than fighting it afterwards.

Import Artwork vs Reference Artwork

FontCreator also lets you attach Reference Artwork — raster or vector images kept as layers per master — for tracing by hand. Choose based on the job:

Import Artwork (auto-trace) for solid silhouettes you want converted to contours automatically — signatures, handwriting, simple logos.
Reference Artwork when you want to draw over a reference yourself for precise control — detailed logos, or matching exact proportions. See Trace Images & Layers (Background/Helper/Reference Artwork).

Batch handwriting? If you want to build a whole handwriting font from a filled-in template, that's what Scanahand is for — it's a faster route than importing each letter here.

New to FontCreator? You can try the free trial on Windows and macOS, then create a font from your own image.

Frequently asked questions

How do I turn my handwriting into a font? Write each character clearly with a solid black marker, scan it large, then open the target glyph and run Tools → Import Artwork… to auto-trace the shape into outlines. For a whole alphabet from a filled-in template, Scanahand is the faster route.

Can I convert a signature into a font? Yes — a signature is an ideal source for auto-trace because it's a solid silhouette. Scan or photograph it large and high-contrast, then Import Artwork converts it to a glyph outline; resize and tidy the points afterwards.

What image format and resolution work best? Use a lossless format (PNG, GIF or BMP) rather than JPEG so edges stay crisp, and scan as large and high-resolution as you can — 300, 600 or 1200 dpi, with higher resolution preserving more fine detail.