Comparison of font editors

Last updated

This is a technical feature comparison of font editors.

Contents

General

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

SoftwareCreatorFirst release dateLatest stable versionLatest release dateLicense
BirdFont [1] Johan MattssonAugust 24, 2012 Proprietary or open source
DTL FontMaster Dutch Type Library 3.0 Proprietary
DTL FontMaster Light Dutch Type Library 2.7 [2] Free
DTL OTMaster 6.3 [2] Proprietary
DTL OTMaster Light 3.7 [2] Free
FontArk (Web service) Proprietary
FontCreator Erwin DenissenJanuary 25, 199915.0.0.306October 14, 2024 Proprietary
FontDraw Alexander KirichenkoApril 25, 20221.0April 25, 2022 Proprietary
FontForge George Williams20230101January 1, 2023GPL3
FontLab Yuri Yarmola19938.4.2.8950September 25, 2024 Proprietary
Fontographer Jim von Ehr5.2 Proprietary
Glyphr Studio [3] Matt LaGrandeur, Mateusz Zawartka, Troy Coutu, & Eric Newport0.5.3October 2019GPL3
Glyphs Georg Seifert20113.2June 16, 2023 Proprietary, file format and parts of the code open source
Ikarus Proprietary
RoboFont Proprietary
Type3.2 Proprietary
Type light 3.2.038 Proprietary
TypeTool 3.1 Proprietary
VOGGFree

Operating system support

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

Software Windows OS X Linux Android iOS
Birdfont YesYesYes
Crossfont Yes
DTL FontMasterYes
DTL FontMaster LightYes
DTL OTMasterYesYesYes
DTL OTMaster LightYesYesYes
FontCreatorYesYes
FontDrawYes
FontForge YesYesYes
FontLab YesYes
Glyphs NoYes
Robofont NoYes
TypeYesYes
Type lightYesYes
TypeToolYesYes
VOGGYes

General features

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

SoftwareMaximum number of glyphs supportedColored glyphsWindows Type 1 (.pfb) editorMac Type 1 (LWFN) editorOpenType TT / TrueType (.ttf) editorMac TrueType (sfnt/dfont) editorTrueType Collection (.ttc) editorOpenType PS (.otf) editor Macro / Script
FontCreatorunlimited in source file [4] COLR, CPAL, SVG [5] import and exportimportimport and exportOpenType PS (.otf) editor Macro / Script Transformations
FontForge No [6] import and export [7] import and export [8] import and export [9] import and export [10] import and export [11] import and export [12] Yes [13]
FontLab unlimited in source fileCOLR, CPAL, SBIX, SVG [14] import & exportimport & exportimportimportimport & exportPython scripting
Glyphs unlimited in source fileCOLR, CPAL, SBIX, SVG [15] importimportimport & exportimportimportimport & exportPython script and plug-ins, Objective-C plug-ins, free SDK available

The OpenType cmap table can reference a maximum of 65536 glyphs. [16]

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.

SoftwareAutomatic TrueType hintingManual TrueType hintingTrueType hinting debugger
FontCreator 12ttfAutohint
FontDraw 1.0ttfAutohint
FontLab ttfAutohint & FontLabGUIcode preview and rendering previews, including Windows ClearType on macOS
Glyphs ttfAutohintGUIlive preview of 3 renderings
FontForge yes (unknown type) [17] yes ??

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Create and Edit Fonts in Linux with BirdFont". 25 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 DTL FontTools - Downloads. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
  3. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem".
  4. ↑ "FontCreator Comparison Chart" . Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  5. ↑ "FontCreator – Features and Benefits". High-Logic B.V. Retrieved 2022-10-13. Create and edit scalable color fonts (supporting COLR, CPAL, and SVG tables)
  6. ↑ "Color font COLR/CPAL #677". GitHub . 2013-08-24. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  7. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions" . Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  8. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions" . Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  9. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions" . Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  10. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions" . Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  11. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions" . Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  12. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions" . Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  13. ↑ "FontForge Scripting Tutorial" . Retrieved 2025-07-24.
  14. ↑ "Color Font Formats". Fontlab Ltd. Retrieved 2022-10-13. FontLab will export all four formats
  15. ↑ "Features". Glyphs GmbH. Retrieved 2022-10-13. Or tap into the possibilities of color font formats: SVG, CPAL/COLR, sbix and classic layer fonts.
  16. ↑ "Cmap - Character to Glyph Index Mapping Table (OpenType 1.9) - Typography". Microsoft . 10 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "Hinting". FontForge . Retrieved 22 March 2025.
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