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Comparison of font editors

{{short description|None}}

This is a technical feature comparison of font editors.

General

Basic general information about font editors: creator, first release date, latest stable version, latest release date and license.

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
Software

! Creator

! First release date

! data-sort-type="number"|Latest stable version

! Latest release date

! License

style="text-align:left" | BirdFont {{cite web | url=http://www.linuxandubuntu.com/home/create-and-edit-fonts-in-linux-with-birdfont | title=Create and Edit Fonts in Linux with BirdFont | date=25 January 2016 }}

| Johan Mattsson

| {{dts|2012|08|24}}

|

|

| {{Proprietary}} or open source

style="text-align:left" | DTL FontMaster

| Dutch Type Library

|

| 3.0

|

| {{Proprietary}}

style="text-align:left" | DTL FontMaster Light

| Dutch Type Library

|

| 2.7

|

| {{free}}

style="text-align:left" | DTL OTMaster

|

|

| 6.3[http://www.fontmaster.nl/english/downloads_rdrct.html DTL FontTools - Downloads]. Retrieved 2016-08-31.

|

|{{Proprietary}}

style="text-align:left" | DTL OTMaster Light

|

|

| 3.7

|

| {{free}}

style="text-align:left" | FontArk (Web service)

|

|

|

|

| {{Proprietary}}

style="text-align:left" | FontCreator

| Erwin Denissen

| {{dts|1999|01|25}}

| 15.0.0.306

| {{dts|2024|October|14}}

| {{Proprietary}}

style="text-align:left" | FontDraw

| Alexander Kirichenko

| {{dts|2022|04|25}}

| 1.0

| {{dts|2022|04|25}}

| {{Proprietary}}

style="text-align:left" | FontForge

| George Williams

|

| 20230101

| {{dts|2023|January|1}}

| {{Free|GPL3}}

style="text-align:left" |FontLab

|Yuri Yarmola

| {{dts|1993

}

|8.4.2.8950

| {{dts|2024|September|25}}

| {{Proprietary}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | Fontographer

|Jim von Ehr

|

| 5.2

|

| {{Proprietary}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | Glyphr Studio {{cite web | url=https://www.techinasia.com/12-tools-modern-web-designer | title=Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem }}

| Matt LaGrandeur, Mateusz Zawartka, Troy Coutu, & Eric Newport

|

| 0.5.3

| October 2019

| {{Free|GPL3}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | Glyphs

| Georg Seifert

| 2011

| 3.2

| {{dts|2023|6|16}}

| {{Proprietary}}, file format and parts of the code open source

|-

! style="text-align:left" | Ikarus

|

|

|

|

| {{Proprietary}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | RoboFont

|

|

|

|

| {{Proprietary}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | Type

|

|

| 3.2

|

| {{Proprietary}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | Type light

|

|

| 3.2.038

|

| {{Proprietary}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | TypeTool

|

|

| 3.1

|

| {{Proprietary}}

|-

! style="text-align:left" | VOGG

|

|

|

|

| {{Free}}

|}

Operating system support

The table below lists the operating systems on which each font editor can run.

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
| Software

! Windows

! OS X

! Linux

! Android

! iOS

style="text-align:left" |[https://birdfont.org Birdfont]

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

style="text-align:left" |[http://www.pixelegg.me/crossfont Crossfont]

|

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | DTL FontMaster

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | DTL FontMaster Light

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | DTL OTMaster

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

style="text-align:left" | DTL OTMaster Light

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

style="text-align:left" | FontCreator

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | FontDraw

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | FontForge

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

style="text-align:left" | FontLab

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | Glyphs

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | Robofont

| {{no}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | Type

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | Type light

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | TypeTool

| {{yes}}

| {{yes}}

|

|

|

style="text-align:left" | VOGG

|

|

|

|

| {{yes}}

General features

Below is an overview of general features typical for font editors.

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: smaller; text-align: center"
Software

! Maximum number of glyphs supported

! Colored glyphs

! Windows Type 1 (.pfb) editor

! Mac Type 1 (LWFN) editor

! OpenType TT / TrueType (.ttf) editor

! Mac TrueType (sfnt/dfont) editor

! TrueType Collection (.ttc) editor

! OpenType PS (.otf) editor

! Macro / Script

style="text-align:left" | FontCreator

|unlimited in source file{{cite web|url=http://www.high-logic.com/font-editor/fontcreator/comparison.html|title=FontCreator Comparison Chart|accessdate=2017-06-26}}

| {{yes|COLR, CPAL, SVG}} {{cite web|title=FontCreator – Features and Benefits|publisher=High-Logic B.V.|quote=Create and edit scalable color fonts (supporting COLR, CPAL, and SVG tables)|url=https://www.high-logic.com/font-editor/fontcreator/features-and-benefits|accessdate=2022-10-13}}

|

|

| import and export

|

| import

| import and export

|OpenType PS (.otf) editor Macro / Script Transformations

style="text-align:left" | FontForge

|

| {{no}}{{cite web|title=Color font COLR/CPAL #677|date=2013-08-24|website=GitHub|url=https://github.com/fontforge/fontforge/issues/677|accessdate=2022-10-13}}

| import and export{{cite web|url=https://fontforge.org/docs/faq.html#faq-outline-conversion|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=2022-05-06}}

| import and export{{cite web|url=https://fontforge.org/docs/faq.html#faq-outline-conversion|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=2022-05-06}}

| import and export{{cite web|url=https://fontforge.org/docs/faq.html#faq-outline-conversion|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=2022-05-06}}

| import and export{{cite web|url=https://fontforge.org/docs/faq.html#faq-outline-conversion|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=2022-05-06}}

| import and export{{cite web|url=https://fontforge.org/docs/faq.html#faq-outline-conversion|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=2022-05-06}}

| import and export{{cite web|url=https://fontforge.org/docs/faq.html#faq-outline-conversion|title=Frequently Asked Questions|accessdate=2022-05-06}}

| {{yes}}{{cite web|url=https://fontforge.github.io/scripting-tutorial.html|title=FontForge Scripting Tutorial|accessdate=2016-08-31|archive-date=2016-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206002526/http://fontforge.github.io:80/scripting-tutorial.html}}

style="text-align:left" |FontLab

| unlimited in source file

| {{yes|COLR, CPAL, SBIX, SVG}} {{cite web|title=Color Font Formats

|publisher=Fontlab Ltd.|quote=FontLab will export all four formats|url=https://help.fontlab.com/fontlab-vi/Color-Font-Formats/|accessdate=2022-10-13}}

|import & export

|

|import & export

|import

|import

|import & export

|Python scripting

style="text-align:left" | Glyphs

| unlimited in source file

| {{yes|COLR, CPAL, SBIX, SVG}} {{cite web|title=Features|publisher=Glyphs GmbH|quote=Or tap into the possibilities of color font formats: SVG, CPAL/COLR, sbix and classic layer fonts.|url=https://glyphsapp.com/features#colors-and-contours|accessdate=2022-10-13}}

| import

| import

| import & export

| import

| import

| import & export

| Python script and plug-ins, Objective-C plug-ins, free SDK available

The OpenType cmap table can reference a maximum of 65536 glyphs.{{cite web | url=https://www.microsoft.com/typography/otspec/cmap.htm | title=Cmap - Character to Glyph Index Mapping Table (OpenType 1.9) - Typography | website=Microsoft | date=10 January 2023 }}

TrueType hinting

Font editors supporting TrueType hinting can do that either automatically or manually. The availability of these functions and the possibility to debug hinting is indicated in the following table.

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: smaller; text-align: center"
Software

! Automatic TrueType hinting

! Manual TrueType hinting

! TrueType hinting debugger

style="text-align:left" |FontCreator 12

|ttfAutohint

|

|

style="text-align:left" |FontDraw 1.0

|ttfAutohint

|

|

style="text-align:left" |FontLab

|ttfAutohint & FontLab

| GUI

| code preview and rendering previews, including Windows ClearType on macOS

style="text-align:left" |Glyphs

| ttfAutohint

| GUI

| live preview of 3 renderings

|

style="text-align:left" |FontForge

| yes (unknown type){{cite web | url=https://fontforge.org/docs/techref/hinting.html | title=Hinting | website=FontForge | access-date=22 March 2025}}

| yes

| ??

See also

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • [https://superdevresources.com/create-your-own-font/ Create your own font with these 14 best tools]. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  • [http://www.creativebloq.com/typography/best-font-editors-21619292 5 best font editors]. Retrieved 2016-08-31.

{{Font editors}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comparison Of Font Editors}}

Font editors

*Comparison