Generate Real Fonts From Your Handwriting

draw-your-font is a free, open-source font maker that converts a photo of handwritten characters into installable TTF, WOFF, and WOFF2 files.

Its image-processing pipeline separates letters, converts each character into vector outlines, assigns font metrics, and assembles the result as a standard font file.

The Claude Code skill handles visual labeling and quality review, while the CLI performs the font construction.

This workflow is ideal for developers, designers, creators, and website owners who want a personal handwriting font with control over the files and conversion process.

Visit draw-your-font

Key Features

Converts handwriting photos into TTF, WOFF, and WOFF2 fonts.
Processes freeform writing and printable template pages.
Runs the conversion pipeline through a Node.js CLI.
Packages the workflow as an installable Claude Code skill.
Generates an A4 handwriting template from the terminal.
Adjusts stroke thickness with the --weight option.
Smooths rough character outlines with --smooth.
Creates a CSS file with an @font-face declaration.
Renders custom previews for visual and legibility checks.
Runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows with Node.js 18 or later.

draw-your-font vs Calligraphr

draw-your-font is designed as a free and open-source alternative to Calligraphr.

It is great for a local developer workflow and produces webfont files directly, while Calligraphr offers more powerful manual glyph editing and advanced handwriting features such as ligatures, spacing controls, and multiple character variants.

	draw-your-font	Calligraphr
UI	CLI, Claude Code skill, and browser demo	Browser-based font editor
Input method	Freeform photos or printable templates	Customizable printable templates
Local workflow	CLI process files locally	Free-plan font data stays in the browser
Output formats	TTF, WOFF, WOFF2, and CSS	TTF and OTF
Character editing	Rebuilds from detected crops and labels	Visual editor for individual characters
Stroke refinement	Weight and smoothing controls	Character editing, baseline, size, and spacing tools
Character variants	One glyph version per character	Up to two variants on Free and fifteen on Pro
Ligatures	Not included	Included with Pro
System requirement	Node.js 18+ for the full CLI	Modern web browser

How to Use draw-your-font with Claude Code

Install the agent skill from the terminal:

npx skills add danilo-znamerovszkij/draw-your-font

Open Claude Code and invoke the skill:

/draw-your-font "Create a font from this handwriting photo."

Drag the handwriting image into the terminal session. The skill segments the image, identifies the characters, creates the font, and renders previews.

Follow-up instructions control the output:

Make the letters slightly bolder.

Smooth the outlines.

Show me the crop used for the lowercase g.

Export TTF, WOFF, WOFF2, and CSS.

Check the font for confusing character pairs.

The skill stores the detected crops during the current build. Weight and smoothing changes reuse those crops, so most refinements do not require another photograph.

How to Use the Standalone CLI

Create a font from a freeform photo when the character order is known:

npx draw-your-font make handwriting.jpg \
  --chars "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" \
  --name "My Handwriting"

Generate a printable template:

npx draw-your-font template \
  -o handwriting-template.pdf \
  --charset minimal

Complete the template, photograph the pages, and build the font:

npx draw-your-font make page1.jpg page2.jpg \
  --charset minimal \
  --name "My Handwriting"

Export desktop and web formats:

npx draw-your-font make page1.jpg page2.jpg \
  --charset minimal \
  --name "My Handwriting" \
  --formats ttf,woff,woff2,css

Adjust the outlines:

npx draw-your-font build \
  -d work \
  --labels work/labels.json \
  --name "My Handwriting" \
  --smooth 1.5 \
  --weight 1

CLI Commands

Command	Purpose
`template`	Creates a printable A4 character grid
`segment`	Detects letters and produces crops, contact sheets, and blob data
`build`	Converts labeled character crops into font files
`make`	Runs segmentation and font construction in one command
`preview`	Renders custom text with the generated font

Output Refinement

The quality of the source writing controls the final character shapes. The project offers several adjustments after segmentation.

Use --weight 1 or --weight 2 for faint or thin strokes. Negative values create lighter outlines:

--weight=-1

Use --smooth 1.5 to reduce jagged edges:

--smooth 1.5

A misidentified letter requires an edit to labels.json followed by another build. A broken, filled, or incomplete shape usually requires a clearer source character.

The preview command renders custom text for inspection:

npx draw-your-font preview \
  -d work \
  --text "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"

A legibility preview should include pairs such as rn, m, cl, d, I, l, 1, O, and 0. These combinations reveal common handwriting ambiguities.

Pros

Free and open source
Accepts freeform handwriting photos
Produces installable font files
Exports website-ready WOFF2
Includes generated CSS
No system font tools required
Supports local non-AI processing
Conversational refinement

Cons

Full workflow requires Node.js
No kerning controls
No ligature generation
One variant per character
Touching letters cause detection problems
Freeform baselines need correction

Generate Real Fonts From Your Handwriting – draw-your-font