Top TypeTool Alternatives: Find Your Perfect Font Editor
TypeTool is a popular basic font editor for Mac OS and Windows, designed for students, hobby typographers, and creative professionals who occasionally need to create or customize fonts. It allows users to create new fonts, modify existing ones, and open and generate PostScript Type 1 and TrueType fonts. While TypeTool serves its purpose well, many users seek a typetool alternative for various reasons, including advanced features, different pricing models, or broader platform compatibility. This article explores some of the best alternatives available.
Top TypeTool Alternatives
Whether you're looking for a free, open-source solution, a powerful commercial editor, or something specific for your operating system, there's a TypeTool alternative out there for you. Let's dive into the top choices that offer robust font creation and editing capabilities.
FontForge
FontForge is a powerful and free open-source typeface editor available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It's an excellent typetool alternative for those seeking a no-cost solution with extensive features like font making, portability, and web font support, making it suitable for both beginners and advanced users.
BirdFont
BirdFont is a versatile free font editor that allows you to create vector graphics and export TTF, OTF, EOT, and SVG fonts. It offers free personal use, with paid options for commercial use, and is open-source. Available on Mac, Windows, Linux, and BSD, BirdFont is a solid typetool alternative with features like Color Fonts Support, OTF editing, TTF editing, and SVG Editors.
FontCreator
FontCreator is a professional commercial font editor for Windows that allows users to create and edit TrueType and OpenType fonts. With its powerful drawing tools and support for multiple font colors, it's a strong typetool alternative for typographers and graphic designers seeking an advanced Windows-specific solution.
FontStruct
FontStruct is a free web-based font-building tool that lets you quickly and easily create fonts using a modular, grid-based approach. Its drag-and-drop feature makes it incredibly user-friendly, providing a unique and accessible typetool alternative for those who prefer to design fonts directly in their browser.
FontLab
FontLab VI is a comprehensive commercial font editor for Mac and Windows. It's an all-around font editor that allows you to create, open, modify, draw, space, kern, hint, and export desktop, web, color, and variable fonts. Featuring Color Fonts Support, customization, and OpenType support, FontLab is an advanced typetool alternative for professional font designers.
Glyphs
Glyphs is a commercial font editor specifically designed for Mac users, offering a highly intuitive and Mac-like interface for creating everything from dingbat webfonts to full-fledged text typefaces. If you're a Mac user looking for a professional and streamlined typetool alternative, Glyphs is an excellent choice.
Fontself Maker for Illustrator & Photoshop
Fontself Maker is a commercial plugin for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop CC, offering the fastest and easiest way to create OpenType fonts directly within your design software. It's available for Mac and Windows and features Color Fonts Support, making it a unique and integrated typetool alternative for graphic designers already working in the Adobe ecosystem.
TruFont
TruFont is a free and open-source font-editing application available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Written with Python3, ufoLib, defcon, and PyQt5, it offers a robust environment for font creation and modification. TruFont is a great typetool alternative for users looking for a free, cross-platform, and open-source solution.
FontLab Studio
FontLab Studio 5 is a commercial professional font editor for Mac and Windows, widely used by major font foundries and tech companies. It's a comprehensive typetool alternative for serious font designers who need industry-standard tools and capabilities.
Type light
Type light is a free personal use version of the Type 3.2 font editor for Windows. It allows you to design, edit, and convert OpenType, TrueType, and PostScript fonts. Type light serves as an ideal basic typetool alternative for Windows users who need essential font editing functionalities without a commercial license.
Ultimately, the best typetool alternative depends on your specific needs, budget, and operating system. We encourage you to explore these options, try out their features, and find the perfect font editor that aligns with your design workflow.