Computers are definitely not just a toy for the young generation. In fact, computers are a lot more useful for people who have problems with mobility and keeping in touch with the world in the first place.

At the same time, people with reduced eyesight may have severe difficulties using computers because technology is still created to be attractive for the young. For example screen resolutions have become enormous, providing more desktop space, and as a result smaller icons and text. Everything is smaller, faster, and more sensitive. A nightmare for a slow person with bad eyesight and stiff hands.

Fortunately, Windows provides a lot of options to revert these “features” and make computers accessible for the elderly. Windows also comes with tools that enhance visibility and accessibility. Let me show you some of them.

1. Screen Resolution

A high screen resolution is wonderful because more things find space on your desktop. However, a high resolution also reduces the size of everything and text becomes very hard to read. Hence, it may help to reduce the screen resolution. It’s not a very elegant solution, but it’s quite easy.

Right-click onto a blank area of the > desktop and select > Properties. The Display Properties window opens. Switch to the > Settings tab and reduce the screen resolution to 1024 x 768 or 800 x 600 pixel. If you’re using a flat screen, you’ll see that decreasing the screen resolution will also reduce the sharpness. You’ll simply have to find the right balance for yourself.

To retain sharpness and visibility, you can also increase the DPI (dots per inch). Note that this step may require rebooting or the Windows setup CD. Within the > Settings tab click the > Advanced button, switch to the > General tab and under > DPI setting select > Large size (120 DPI) from the pull-down menu.

2. Contrast

Besides larger text and icons (we will come to that), a good contrast enhances readability. Fortunately, there are some Windows default solutions.

We’re still in the Display Properties menu from the previous point. Switch to the > Appearance tab. Under > Windows and buttons select > Windows Classic style. Now you can select a > High Contrast > Color scheme from the respective pull-down menu.

3. Sizes

We already touched on that in the first point. Size matters. And while we’re in the Display Properties, let’s see what else we can do here. For example you can increase the > Font size.

Furthermore, you can click the > Effects button and check the > Use large icons option.

Finally, back in > Display Properties, click the > Advanced button and look at the > Items you can edit here. For example you could increase the font size in menus or the size of caption buttons or the text size in message boxes. Font styles and colors are also under your control.

Before we leave the Display Settings, let me give you one more piece of advice. You can save all these settings as a theme. This way you can easily restore or share them. Within the > Display Settings window, switch to the > Themes tab and click > Save As. I’m sure you can figure out the rest.

4. Start menu buttons

Through the start menu you can quickly navigate to frequently used or standard programs. You can customize the start menu to display large icons.

Right-click onto the > taskbar, select > Properties. Switch to the > Start Menu tab, click > Customize and select > Large icons for programs. Here you can also change your default Internet and E-Mail programs.

5. Magnifier

Windows comes with a tool that lets you magnify things you can’t see despite all your settings.

You will find the tool under > Start > All Programs > Accessories > Accessibility folder > Magnifier. In the same folder you might also find an Accessibility Wizard, a Narrator, and the On-Screen Keyboard.

The magnifier will reserve a bit of screen in the top and open a > Magnifier Settings window.

Through the settings you can increase the magnification level and change the tracking and presentation. Inverting colors can enhance contrast and readability.

The magnification window itself can be moved around the screen and you can change its size. Since it will push away your open windows when launched, you might want to select > Start Minimized for the next time you need it.

6. Keystrokes

Hitting the right keys or several keys at once may be a problem when fingers are stiff. Windows provides some relief.

Go to > Start > Control Panel (classic view) > Accessibility Options and switch to the > Keyboard tab. The options you see here are > StickyKeys, >FilterKeys, and >ToggleKeys.

When > Use StickyKeys is checked the keys [SHIFT], [CTRL], [ALT], and [WINDOWS] are stuck once pressed, which will allow you to press one key at a time. For example to produce a capital A you can press [SHIFT], release the key and then press [A].

Clicking > Use FilterKeys results in a less sensible keyboard. Brief or rapidly repeated keystrokes will simply be ignored. This should reduce the amount of mistakes. However, it’s a bad choice for touch typers.

Check > Use ToggleKeys to be notified of hitting the [CAPS LOCK], [NUM LOCK], and [SCROLL LOCK] keys with a sound.

The respective > Settings buttons provide even more options to fine-tune the behavior of your keyboard.

Within Accessibility Options you can alter many other settings, for example translating system sounds into visual warnings, increasing the display contrast and cursor blink rate and width, and more.

7. Mouse

The mouse another important item to be considered.

Open the > Mouse Properties through > Start > Control Panel (classic view) > Mouse and switch to the > Pointers tab. Changing the scheme and selecting a large pointer will increase its visibility. Within the > Pointer Options tab you can further adapt its visibility and speed. Don’t forget the adjust scrolling with the mouse > Wheel.

With these default Windows options you can do a lot to make computers accessible for elderly or handicapped people. What is the oldest person you know using a computer? Is your grandma online yet? I think it’s about time!

Image credits: Brybs

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Few of us have the skills to create our own fonts. Fortunately, there are tons of free text fonts available on sites like DaFont, FFonts, 1001 Free Fonts or Fontex. Once you have downloaded your favorites, you’ll need to figure out how to install those fonts. Here’s a basic guide on how to install fonts on Windows, Linux and Mac.

Please uncompress / unzip all fonts before trying to install them, preferably into a separate folder. If you select a manual installation process, you can unzip files right into the respective font folder. Make sure you delete eventually included text files, which don’t belong into this folder.

Windows

Supported fonts:

• TrueType
• OpenType
• PostScript type 1 (requires Adobe Type Manager (ATM) or ATM Deluxe; comes with Windows XP and up)
• Windows bit mapped FON

Installation process under XP:

• Close all applications.
• Select font files and copy them into C:\Windows\Fonts folder.

Alternative installation process under XP:

• Close all applications.
• Go to > Start Menu > Control Panel (> Appearance and Themes) > Fonts.
• From the > Fonts folder menu open > File > Install a new font…
• Browse for your fonts and click > OK to install.

Installation process under Vista and 7:

• Close all applications.
• Right-click font files to be installed.
• A menu will pop up, select > Install.

Alternative installation process under Vista and 7:

• Close all applications.
• Go to > Start Menu > Control Panel (> Appearance and Personalization) > Fonts.
• Right-click into the list of fonts and select > Install a new font… from the menu.
• Browse for your fonts and click > OK to install.

Ubuntu Linux

Supported fonts:

• TrueType
• OpenType

Installation process to install for single user:

• Close all applications.
• Open > /home folder.
• In the menu open > View and > Show Hidden Files.
• You will now see the > .fonts folder. If not, create that folder.
• Copy font files into the > .fonts folder.

Installation process to install for all users:

• Close all applications.
• Save fonts in a separate folder on > Desktop, e.g. > newfonts.
• Open > terminal and start command > sudo cp -R ~/Desktop/newfonts /usr/share/fonts
• Optional: rebuild font cache with command > sudo fc-cache -f -v

Damian has written a thorough post on How To Install Microsoft Text Fonts in Ubuntu Linux.

Mac OS X

Supported fonts:

• Multiple Master (OS 10.2+)
• TrueType
• data fork TrueType (DFont; OS X+)
• OpenType
• PostScript type 1 (requires ATM or ATM Deluxe; comes with OS X)

Installation process under Mac OS X:

• Close all applications.
• Open folder that contains fonts to install.
• Select fonts to be installed.
• Drag and drop the selected font files into the > Library’s Font folder.

Installation process under Mac OS 10.3+ using FontBook:

• Close all applications.
• Open folder that contains fonts to install.
• Double-click icon of font to be installed.
• FontBook opens and you can preview the font.
• To install only for you, click > Install Font button.
• To install for all users, select > Preferences and change > Default Install Location from > User to > Computer, then click > Install Font button.

Troubleshooting

I hope the above guide was thorough enough, but you may still run into problems. Just in case, here are possible solutions to some of the most common issues.

Fonts don’t show in program.

• Make sure you installed a supported font format.
• Exit all programs before installing new fonts.
• Restart programs after installing new fonts.
• If restarting the program fails, reboot operating system.
• Were the fonts installed into the correct folders?

Issues with displaying or printing text.

• Mac: To properly view and print PostScritp type 1 fonts, ATM is required.
• PostScript type 1 fonts consist of two files: PFB (printer font binary) and PFM (printer font metrics). Both need to be installed in order for these fonts to display correctly both on screen and in print.

Fonts not available to applications running in Classic mode (Mac).

• Install fonts in Macintosh TrueType or Macintosh PostScript into the fonts folder inside classic system folder.

Font only available to user who installed it (Mac, Linux).

• Mac: Make sure fonts were installed into the system library font folder, instead of /Users/username/Library/Fonts.
• Linux: Make sure fonts were installed into system folder. See instructions for details, eventually repeat the process.

Now that you know how to install new fonts, are you asking yourself where to find them? Mark has written a post about 5 Excellent Sources To Download Free Text Fonts. If you’re creative you can even create your own fonts. Saikat has a post about How To Create Your Own Fonts & Characters on Windows and Kabir wrote about 2 Free Tools To Make Your Own Text Fonts, which will also work for Linux and Mac.

What’s your favorite font or typeface?

Image credits: nookiez

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I’m sure there are others out there who would like to make a reasonably good looking logo for their website but they don’t have the time, patience or money for Photoshop or Gimp. So here’s how to make logos with MS Word.

Set the text

Open a new Word document (obviously!) and type in the text you would like to see in your logo.

For this example, I will use the words “Mark O’Neill’s Page” (not very original but enough to get my point across). Then make the writing fairly big (you can increase or decrease the size later – at this stage, you’re just putting in a placemarker text to work with) and choose a font.

The last thing to do here is to hit enter several times so the cursor is not flashing anywhere near the text. You don’t want an image of the cursor inside your finished logo.

The next thing to do is to put that text inside a box.   In Word, you need the menu bar called “Tables & Borders”. It looks like this (in Word 2003) :

If you don’t already have this small toolbar installed in Word, then it’s easy to find it. Just click on the little arrow at the end of an existing toolbar like so :

That then brings up a little tooltip called “Add Or Remove Buttons“. That leads to a few options – choose “customize“. When this box appears on the screen, scroll down until you find “Tables & Borders”, tick its box and press close.

A new toolbar should now have appeared on your screen. You can drag it up to the top next to all the other toolbars to make things neat and tidy.

OK, back to the logo.

Enclose the text inside the box

This is quite easy although you may need to fiddle around with the design until it’s to your satisfaction. If it doesn’t look right to you, you can do the key combination CTRL + Z which will reverse your last action.

First, highlight your text with the mouse (very important). Then go to this button and click it -

That then puts your text inside the box.

Now that looks a bit narrow so click your mouse inside the box and press enter at the top and bottom of the text to make that box look a bit more roomy (unless you want a narrow box that is).

So that is your basic logo. Now it’s time to tweak and it and customize it.

While you are increasing / decreasing the font, changing the font and generally trying out different looks, you can also add images to the box to give it that extra personalised touch. But before we get onto that, let’s take a look at changing the border size.

Changing the border size

Highlight all the text again in the box, including the two “enter” spaces you put in either side :

Now go to this drop-down menu in the “Tables & Borders” bar and choose which border you would like.

Then go back to this button and click it. This will apply your new border -

If you don’t like it, do the key combination CTRL + Z and it will be reversed. Then try another one.

Now our logo has a better looking border. As you can see, I have also changed the font type and size. Our logo is progressing.

Adding an image

A logo looks good with an image next to it. To add an image, first make sure the image is in your computer.

Right-click on the image and choose copy which will copy the image to the Windows Clipboard. Now go back to your logo and do the key combination CTRL + V. Your image will now appear on the Word document. For this example, I am using Mozart wearing a headset.

To position it properly, right-click on the image and choose Format Picture. When a box opens, go to the Layout sub-tab and choose In Front Of The Text and center. Hit enter and you should now be able to move the image around more easily.

Using your mouse, click on the image and then drag the image from the corners inwards until it resizes to the size you want. Then drag the image to the place you want to put it in the logo. This may take some time to get things in exactly the right position so play around with it.

Here’s my finished logo -

Lift the logo off the page to put on your webpage

Now all that’s left to do is to use a screen capture program to remove the logo from the page. I use the paid SnagIt (one of the few programs I am willing to pay for) but there are plenty of free alternatives such as Irfanview or the Firefox extension Aviary.

And that’s it. You can of course add whatever you like to your logo. Word is fairly flexible which is what I like about it. Granted, your end result is not the best that can be done when you compare it to Photoshop, but if you don’t have Photoshop and you just need a quick basic logo, then this is not bad.

Looking at my logo’s rather crappy font has made me realise though that I need to reinstall my favourite fonts!

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1. Get lightning fast and clever at the command line

You can use keyboard shortcuts and other command line tricks to make entering commands easier and faster. You might already know about the ‘tab’ key which completes partial commands and even file and directory names.

Here are some other keyboard shortcuts you can use within terminal:

Also don’t forget to check out 4 websites where you can learn cool command line tricks

2. Launch Ubuntu Linux Applications with keyboard

There are two ways you can achieve this:

• Use applications like Launchy or Gnome-Do that make it easier to launch applications by typing a few characters of the application’s name.
• Or you can summon gconf editor (Alt+F2 then type gconf-editor and hit enter), and navigate to apps > metacity > global_keybindings, double click on any of the run_command_N and type in the keyboard shortcut you want to assign to an application then make a mental note of the number N. Then go to apps > metacity > keybinding_commands and double click on command_N (N being the number you used above) and type in the command you want to run. As an example if you wanted to run Firefox you would type in firefox.

Also check out these Ubuntu keyboard shortcuts you might not know about.

3. Start from wherever you left off

You can make Ubuntu remember the applications you had open when you last logged out, so that when you log back in again you’ll find all those applications running and you can resume right from where you left off.

To achieve this go to System > Preferences > Startup Applications, then go to the options tab and check "Automatically remember running applications when logging out"

4. Create a Separate Ubuntu Linux Home Partition

New versions of Ubuntu arrive every 6 months. Although you can upgrade to the latest version via the update manager, sometimes the upgrade doesn’t work as expected so some users like to do a fresh clean install.

The disadvantage with that of course is that you lose data you had in your home directory. To overcome this you can create a separate Home partition when you are installing Ubuntu, size it according to your requirements and then when you decide to install Ubuntu the next time, simply specify this partition as the Home partition (by choosing /home as the mount point).

All your files and data on the Home partition will be preserved even after a fresh install.

5. Update and Install Ubuntu Linux Software Without Internet Connection

There are lots of way to do this, the easiest of all is to use APTonCD. APTonCD allows you to create CDs and DVD’s containing all the packages you want, which you can then use to install software on computers without an internet connection.

Note that APTonCD requires you to have an internet connection (or downloaded packages) to create the installed media. However once the media is ready you don’t need an internet connection for any of the machines you want to install the software on. Insert the appropriate CD/DVD and use apt-get as you would normally.

6. Install new fonts, Microsoft fonts and improve font rendering

Ubuntu doesn’t offer many choices when it comes to the fonts. However you can easily install new fonts including those from Microsoft like Arial, Verdana, impact and many more. You can use different sites to find the kind of font you are looking for.

7. Use PPAs, Install latest versions of software

There are a lot of steps that a software has to go through before it becomes part of Ubuntu or becomes available through the Ubuntu repositories. While all those steps lend additional stability, it generally means that you don’t get the latest versions of all the software as soon as they are released.

If you like to stay on the cutting edge, you can search for Personal Package Archives for your favorite software on Launchpad and add those to your installation’s software sources. I briefly touched on PPAs and how to use them here. If that seems like too much work, you can also download the latest deb packages and install them by double clicking (you won’t get automatic updates for the software if you install it this way).

Remember you might get into an occasional trouble or two with the latest versions, but mostly it wouldn’t be catastrophic. You can always hop over to the Ubuntu Forums to get quick help.

8. Be the root

The root account is disabled by default on Ubuntu installations, mainly to prevent you from doing something you didn’t intend to do. However if you "promise to be careful" you can enable root account as follows:

1. Type sudo passwd root and provide a root password.
2. Then head on over to System > Administration > Login Window, go to the Security tab and check "Enable local system administrator login"

You should now be able to login as root from the Login prompt. As an alternative you can use "sudo su" to provide your password and get root prompt.

9. Run Windows applications and games

Who wouldn’t like to play Counter Strike on Ubuntu (unless of course you are completely not into it) or perhaps even run Photoshop? Well it is very much possible and here is how to do it.

10. Shorten boot time with profiling

Ubuntu Linux devs have done a great job with the boot time, Jaunty is fast and Karmic is slotted to be even faster. There is however a bit more you can do by profiling your boot. Profiling lets Ubuntu make a list of all the files that are accessed during bootup, it then sorts the files according to how they are stored on your hard disk. So the next time the system is booted, the files would be read faster.

To profile boot you need to follow these steps

• At the grub menu highlight the kernel you boot most often.
• Press e for edit.
• Choose the line starting with kernel and press e again. Now add the word profile to the end of this line. Hit Enter and then press b to boot

Note that while profiling, the system will boot slower this one time, the next time however you should see an improvement. Also keep in mind that all this is machine-dependent and also depends on the arrangement of files on your hard disk, so the difference you see might not be huge, or even nil in some cases.

11. Try out different Ubuntu Linux Desktop Environments and Desktop Managers

If you are looking for something different than the default Gnome interface, you should check out alternative desktop managers that you can use. If it is a complete Desktop Environment you are looking for, KDE4 has come a long way and is now impressively usable and fun. You can do a "sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop" to get KDE.

12. Create a media center or a media server

It would be great if you could easily browse and manage your huge collection of music, videos and pictures. Mesmerized by Windows Media Center’s slick interface? Wait till you see what all cool options you have to turn your Ubuntu system into a media center. You can even access your media collection on your phone, PSP or a different computer if you set up a media server on your Ubuntu machine.

13. Share Firefox profile data with Windows

Many people use Windows and Linux on the same machine. If you are one of them, there would have been times you couldn’t find that bookmark you created or password you stored when you were using Firefox from within Windows. Check out how you can share Firefox profile data across operating systems without syncing it over the web (works best if you have the same version of Firefox in both OS’s). For different computers you can of course use Weave.

14. Customize Nautilus to your liking

Nautilus is the default file manager on Ubuntu. While you may be content with what it does, there is lots more you can make it do. You can use extensions to improve functionality and even add custom functionality to Nautilus

15. Compile your own Kernel

If you can’t find something to keep you busy for the weekend and you have your customization hat on, how about building a kernel to specifically meet your requirements? This is frankly more of a learning experience. Some might say that it enables you to use just the features and drivers you require, but if everything is working fine with the kernel supplied and you don’t have any interest in the Linux kernel, skip ahead this one is not for you.

If however you require some of the experimental features of the kernel, or need it to be compiled in some other special way we say you check out this guide within Ubuntu Documentation.

16. Change Usplash Screen and create a custom splash screen for GRUB

So you didn’t count the last one? Here is another one then. A Usplash screen is Ubuntu text and a logo with a progress bar that you see when you boot up Ubuntu.

If you would like to change that to something more interesting follow these steps. What better way to show your Linux fu than customizing the very first screen that appears? You can create a custom splash screen using one of your photos, GIMP and a little tweaking. Here is the how-to.

Know some more tips or great hacks for Ubuntu Linux users? Sure you do, go ahead let us know about them in the comments.

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No matter the job scape or your skill level, you will surely be able to find the following free applications useful and effective for the development and creation of websites with your Mac computer. Without further ado, here are 6 Excellent Mac Apps for Web and Graphic Design.

Linotype Explorer

Linotype Explorer is an incredible font management app created for Mac users. You can use this app to install and “test” out new fonts on your PC. The selection of appealing fonts for your site is vital; this art of text is called Typography.

FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer claims to be “The world’s most advanced online image editor”. It offers completely free access to numerous features such as photo effects, graphics, shapes, morphing, and the creation of collages. You can also integrate and share your art with social sites like MySpace, Flickr, Facebook, and more. This can be an important app if the site you are creating is going to use apps.

Colorate

With Colorate you can create harmonized color palettes along with color schemes. Generate these palettes for images, photographs and more.

Simple CSS

With Simple CSS you can create Cascading Style Sheets from scratch or edit them right from the comfort of your desktop. Update styles on multiple pages all at once and reduce the data transfer usage on your page for faster loads.

Blender

Blender, open source software that allows you to create 3D animation with interactive playback leaves you with the option to optimize the style of your site with a few graphics. You can create animations with shades of colors, glossy features, soft shadows, and advanced rendering features.

JAlbum

JAlbum is a very useful app that allows you to create stylish photo galleries to publish on the web. All you have to do is simply drag selected folders into a pane where any images contained within the folder will automatically be arranged into a photo gallery. You can add several different themes and templates to enhance the appearance of your gallery, later then gain the HTML code and publish the complete gallery onto the web.

Conclusion

When designing why not take comfort with the facilitation of apps for your Mac that will allow you to boost your productivity and create better looking graphics or sites? The above 6 applications empower you with features that can meet your designing needs and make designing fun.

Which of the above apps have you used or plan to? Please MakeUseOf the comment box below and share your thoughts with us!

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If you’ve ever fiddled with fonts before you’ll know that constructing them is not the simplest thing in the world. Truetype fonts are essentially vector representations of the characters within them, and creating them is a little….well, let’s say….laborious.

Kabir discussed how to make a text font just a few days ago, and has listed a few great tools to help out, and you can learn a whole lot more about fonts there. Go ahead and do that if you like. The rest us are going to cheat, and use YourFonts instead.

The process here is well laid out and fairly simple. You do need just a few things to help out though. If this was a cookery blog, this would be the list of ingredients. Please check your pantry first.

• A printer, able to print a Letter or A4 sheet
• A scanner, able to scan the above page at a reasonable resolution
• A fine marking pen in good condition, preferably black

So, jump in to YourFonts, and follow the steps to make a digital signature using your handwriting:

1. Print the template from the site, either as a PDF or an image. PDF is the preferred method.

2. Complete the template. Read the notes, and fill out all the boxes, taking care to stay within the lines. Take note of the little ticks on the side of each box, and work out where the tops and bottoms of the letters go.

There’s no need to fill out the second page unless you plan on being unusually thorough, or to use a language other than English.

At the end of the first page there is a large block for your signature. Take some care if you plan to use your official signature here.

I took the liberty of bullying persuading my daughter Sophie to provide me with handwriting samples. The good work is hers. The fault is mine.

3. Now a test of your versatility. You need to scan the resulting sheet, and save it as an image on your local machine. 300DPI is best, and further details are available on the web page. Note the suggestion not to upload a picture of your pet at this time. The resulting file needs to be a .jpg, .gif or .png.

4. Upload the image by clicking on the button on the web page.

Give the font a name, and complete the copyright information as you wish. Hit Upload.

Depending on the server load it might take a little while for YorFonts to create a digital signature. Progress will be shown on-screen as the template is uploaded and then the font generated.

5. Take a look at the result on-screen, and see if it resembles your handwriting. The only real problem we had was that the ‘p’ on Sophie’s signature wandered too close to the bottom of the box, and was accordingly chopped short.

If you have some issues, backtrack and if necessary reprint the template and work your way through it again. Don’t scan it upside down!

6. That’s the end of the complicated part. Click the download button to save the font to your computer, and copy it to the font folder, which is generally c:\windows\fonts, at least on a Windows machine.

Fire up your word processor, or something that uses/displays fonts, and ensure that it works correctly.

That’s the first part finished. Now to use the new font for an image…

I’m using Irfanview for this, but any application that allows you to place text in an image should do the trick. I guess it’s only fair that I use Sophie’s images for the demo.

It’s fairly obvious that you can use this process for more than just signatures on images. You can add titles, or descriptions, notes. Whatever.

First, find and open the image you want to decorate.

Use your mouse to draw a frame in the image where you want the text to appear.

Choose Edit – Insert text into selection from the menu, or press Ctrl+t, and add/edit the text to be inserted.

Click on Choose Font, and select the font you installed, along with appropriate size, style and colour for the image.

Click OK to add the text to the image. Be prepared to undo and redo this a few times until you have what you want. Remember to resave the image, probably with a different file name, just in case.

That’s it. Oh, except for a bonus treat. Because Irfanview is able to batch process these changes, as I described in my borders article, you can add signatures to a whole directory of images at the same time, on the proviso that you want them to be in the same position and colour. Also, if you have renamed the files, you can use the same process to automatically put titles of all the images in the images, picking them up automatically from the file names.

So, is that useful? Do you have a handwriting font? Are you aware of any easier way to add a signature to digital photos using your handwriting? Can you think of anything else to use it for? What software would you use to achieve this?

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To this extent, I’ve also tried my hand at creating my own fonts and I have to say that anyone with a little know-how can do it. So how to make a text font?

Here is a highlight of some of the more prominent (and free) tools you can use how to make a custom text font.

Fontstruct

Fonstruct is a web-based application that is an excellent place to create fonts, especially if you’re just starting out. Users have to register to create fonts, but the GUI is oh so user-friendly and you can get started in no time.

Fontstruct starts users off in an MS Paint-like environment where they can utilize “bricks” which are essentially stencils that help to create designs of your choosing. There are dozens of bricks to choose from and each can provide creators with a unique flair to add to your typeface.

Some additional basic tools include an eraser, line/rectangle creator and a panning utility to let you make your font accurately and professionally.

Each letter/symbol in whatever language you choose to make your font in, has a designated “slot” to help you keep track of what letters you’ve made and those that you may have forgotten.

One of the cooler features of Fontstruct is that the site contains character models for over 20 different languages, letting users create fonts for letters in a ton of different languages.

While you’re creating your masterpiece, Fontstruct also lets you type and test what you’ve made in a real-time environment, which is certainly a handy feature for newbie designers and pros alike.

Once you’ve completed your font, you have the option of downloading it (in TrueType format) and/or opening your font up to the public via the gallery. Here users can share, vote on and download each others’ fonts to create a hustling and bustling community of typography-lovers everywhere.

FontForge

If you prefer a software-based approach to creating your next font, then consider FontForge: an excellent freeware program that lets you produce custom fonts. The program is slightly more sophisticated when compared with Fontstruct, and it is also teeming with options and tools.

Users start off with bitmap “glyphs” of characters and symbols which can be molded and reworked in accordance to your desired design. FontForge is compatible with multiple font formats, including TrueType and Opentype.

I would also recommend reading this excellent tutorial provided by the creators of FontForge, which can guide you in starting your font creations. The program is available for Windows®, Mac and Linux, however Windows® users will have to also install Cygwin, which is a free Linux environment for Windows®, which FontForge needs to run.

Aside from this FontForge is certainly worth checking out, but you may want to consider trying out Fontstruct beforehand, to get used to the typography environment and flesh out some of your initial ideas.

Well there you go readers, two cool methods to creating your very own fonts, so go ahead and try ‘em out.  You might also want to take a look at another font creation program for Windows called the “Private Character Editor” which Saikat recently wrote about. Or if you’re looking for some design inspiration, check out best source to download free text fonts which Mark wrote about back in November. Finally, you can also use sites like YourFonts to create fonts from your own handwriting.

YourFonts: Creating Fonts Online From You Own Handwriting

Got a comment, question or perhaps a suggestion for another free font creation site? Then why not submit it to the comments section and share your thoughts with fellow MUO readers.

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An ‘out of sight’ program, it is used in conjunction with the ‘Character Map’. Through the PCE you can make your own characters (about 6,400 of them!) and insert them into documents using the ‘Character Map’. PCE provides basic drawing tools for creating and editing those characters, along some advanced options.

So let’s dig it out and understand its functions.

1. To start the Private Character Editor, click the Start menu, and then click Run (or the Windows Key & R). In the Open box, type C:\WINDOWS\system32\eudcedit.exe
2. PCE starts with a ‘Select Code Window’. This window associates the character you are about to create with a particular position in the Windows character library. The funny numbers are hexadecimal codes that will be allotted to your new character. Select any of the little grey boxes and click on OK.
   Note: By default, PCE uses the Unicode character set.



3. The interface is utilitarian with a grid drawing area and the drawing toolbar on the left. You can also access the drawing tools from the ‘Tools’ menu.



4. The grid represents the total area of a character measuring 50 x 50. Each character that you draw becomes a black and white bitmap (*.bmp).
5. The drawing area is simple enough for a third grader to understand but the actual drawing takes a calligraphist’s hand. The illustration below shows that I am certainly not one. It takes a lot to use the mouse as a brush. Use the left mouse button to draw in black and the right one for white. But I found the best thing to be the ability to copy and paste the bitmap selections between PCE and other bitmap drawing programs like Paint.



6. You can also use an existing character as a template to create a new character. Simply copy the existing character to the grid (Edit – Copy Character…) and then change it with the tools. The existing character can also be used as a visual guide in a Reference window next to the Edit Grid (Window – Reference).
7. When finished with the new character, you have two options – associate the new character with a particular font family or with all fonts installed in your computer. For a specific font family, your custom character will be available exclusively from there.
8. The final step is of course to save your hardwork! (Edit – Save Character or Save Character As…) The character gets saved into the position chosen in the ‘Select Code Window’. To save into a different position use ‘Save Character As…’

Use Your Characters

The process is the same as when using any other character. Open any application and access the Character Map through –

(For WinXP)

Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Character Map.

(For Vista)

Click Accessories, then System Tools folder to access the Character Map.

Alternatively, Click Start, then the Run dialog…type in charmap.exe; hit OK.

The new character can be found in the dropdown under ‘All Fonts (Private Characters)’ or under a specific font (private characters) depending upon the choice of association in Step 7. Select the character and hit copy. Now it can be pasted into any application.

A Footnote

All rules applicable to fonts also apply to the new created character. It goes for all font functions like size, bold, italic, etc. Similarly, custom characters will not be available on other computers unless they are installed there too.

Have you used this hidden tool to create a special character? Do you think that this tool will find more value if it is not treated as a hidden application?

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Ubuntu, by default, does not include the commonly used Microsoft core fonts in its installation. The set of fonts that it uses is not supported in Windows or Mac. This means that if you create a document and send to your partner for editing, he/she will not be able to view it in the way that it was originally formatted. Vice versa, you won’t be able to view the document that your friend sends you in the way that it was formatted, unless he/she is using the same fonts as you.

Luckily, installing the Microsoft core fonts package (and any other new fonts) in Ubuntu is easy. Here’s how you can do it on your own:

Installing Microsoft Core Fonts in Ubuntu Linux

The Microsoft core fonts package consists of the following fonts:

* Andale Mono
* Arial Black
* Arial (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
* Comic Sans MS (Bold)
* Courier New (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
* Georgia (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
* Impact
* Times New Roman (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
* Trebuchet (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
* Verdana (Bold, Italic, Bold Italic)
* Webdings

To install them, open up your Synaptic Package Manager (System -> Administration -> Synaptic Package Manager). Scroll down till you find msttcorefonts. Check the box beside it and select Mark for Installation. Click Apply at the menubar to install the fonts package.

Alternatively, if you prefer the terminal way, simply type the following command in your terminal.

sudo apt-get install msttcorefonts

Installing new fonts

Installing the Microsoft core fonts package is only the beginning. There will be many occasions where you need to install a new set of fonts for a specific project. Here is how you can do it :

If you are installing the new fonts for personal use and do not want others to have access to them, simply create a .fonts folder in your Home directory and paste all the fonts into it. Here’s the steps:

• 1. Download the fonts (it should be in zipped format)
• 2. Extract the fonts.
• 3. Open nautilus (Places -> Home). Press Ctrl + H to reveal all the hidden files and folders.
• 4. Check if the .fonts folder exist. If not, create the folder and name it .fonts.
• 5. Copy and paste the new font(s) into the .fonts folder.
• 6. Restart your application. The fonts should be available for your use now.

If you want to install system-wide and allow others to use it:

• 1. Create a new folder in your Desktop. Name it newfonts
• 2. Download the new font(s) and extract to the newfonts folder
• 3. Open a terminal
• 4. Key in the command: sudo cp -R ~/Desktop/newfonts /usr/share/fonts. This will copy your new font(s) to the system font folder.
• 5. Restart your application. The new fonts are now available for system-wide use.

If you are using KDE, there is a font installer application that allows you to install new fonts easily.The Font Installer application is found under System Settings.

Better Font Rendering

Now that you have installed your favorite fonts in your system, here’s a simple trick to improve the font rendering and make it look nicer.

Open up your Appearance configuration page (System -> Preferences -> Appearance)

Click on the Fonts tab. Under the Rendering section, check on the subpixel smoothing button.

You should notice the differences immediately.

If you are using Ubuntu 8.04 or an earlier version, this is what you need to do:

Type in the following command in the terminal

sudo ln -sf /etc/fonts/conf.avail/10-autohint.conf /etc/fonts/conf.d/

Logout and login again. You should see a noticeable difference in the font rendering.

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Even though I have learnt my lesson from that day, I still love fonts and I am always trying out new ones. Art and graphic design were my best subjects at school and calligraphy has always been a big interest of mine as well. So I am always collecting new free online sources for fonts.

Here are the five best ones in my opinion :

What The Font?!

Do you really like a particular poster design or a particular style of font and you would like to duplicate it?   “What The Font” allows you to upload a scanned image of a piece of writing or a font and it will identify the name of the font for you. Or instead of uploading, you can point it to a URL.

It seems to be very accurate and fast. I uploaded a scan of the title of a book I have called “To The Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf. ”What The Font” identified the font seconds later as “Baskerville Old Face”:

DDFont

Some nice fonts here. Not too many to choose from but the ones that ARE available are quite nice. Just click on the one you want, enter the activation code, and it will download to your computer.

Fonts 500

Claims to be the top 500 free fonts on the web.   Not sure if that is true but nevertheless the fonts on this site are REALLY good.    Each one is in a ZIP file so just click on the ones you want and they will immediately download to your computer.   Then just unzip them.   Some notable ones include Harry Potter, Yahoo, Scrabble letters, Star Wars, Godfather, Terminator, Bon Jovi and Pizza Hut.

TypeNow

Here, they have some movie and TV themed fonts. If you have a favourite movie or TV programme, check here to see if the font is available. TV show-wise, they have things like “Lost” and “Prison Break”, movie-wise, they have ones like Casino Royale and Kill Bill. In other ones, they have the Google font and Estee Lauder, among others. Worth checking out.

Search Free Fonts

This excellent site allows you to search through 13,000 free fonts, broken down into various categories.  When you click on a particular font, it then gives you a close up view of that font so you can see what it looks like. You can type in your own text, specify a size up to 72 and preview it in that font so you can decide which font will suit you best before downloading it :

To finish off, here’s a College Humor video on a “Font Conference” which I have always found very funny.

Where do you find your fonts?  What are your favourite sites for free fonts?

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