The short version
- Fontself is a one-time extension for Adobe Illustrator ($39) or Illustrator plus Photoshop ($59) that turns artwork you already have into a font.
- It is a designer's tool: you letter in Illustrator or Photoshop, select the shapes, and Fontself builds the OpenType file, colour fonts included.
- SnapFont is for people who do not open Illustrator. Write a sheet, take a photo, done.
- They barely compete. If you own Illustrator and letter for a living, Fontself. If you own a pen, SnapFont.
What Fontself is
Fontself lives inside Adobe apps. You draw or letter your characters in Illustrator (vector) or Photoshop (bitmap, including full colour), drag the artwork into the Fontself panel, tell it which letter each shape is, and it writes an OpenType font. It handles kerning, ligatures, alternates, and colour fonts, and the result is a professional file you could sell. At the time of writing the store lists the Illustrator extension at $39 and the Illustrator plus Photoshop bundle at $59, one time, two devices, no trial.
It is genuinely good. It is also a tool for people who are already comfortable producing lettering in Adobe software, which is a small fraction of the people who want a font of their handwriting.
Side by side
| Feature | SnapFont | Fontself |
|---|---|---|
| Runs in | iPhone, Android app | Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop (Mac, Windows) |
| Needs Adobe subscription | No | Yes |
| Price | Free first font; Pro subscription for install/export | $39 or $59 one time |
| Source of letters | Photo of paper | Artwork you make in Adobe apps |
| Colour fonts | No | Yes (Photoshop) |
| Ligatures, kerning, alternates | No | Yes |
| Skill needed | Can hold a pen | Comfortable in Illustrator or Photoshop |
| Time to first font | About 20 minutes | Depends on the lettering; hours |
| Install on iPhone | Built in | Export, then a profile app |
Where they overlap
Only in the phrase "make your own font." A designer with Illustrator open who wants a brush-lettered display face with colour and alternates has no use for a phone app. A teacher who wants worksheet notes in their handwriting has no use for Illustrator. The rare person in the middle, a designer who wants their casual handwriting rather than their lettering, could use SnapFont to capture it and Fontself to refine it, since the TTF opens in Illustrator like any other.
What each workflow feels like
Fontself: open Illustrator, letter the alphabet with a brush or a pen tool, and tidy each glyph, which is where the hours go. Select the lettering, drag it into the Fontself panel, and it assigns characters from the order you drew them. Adjust spacing and kerning in the panel, add ligatures and alternates if you drew them, export the OTF. It is a professional pipeline and the result looks like one.
SnapFont: print a sheet, write 72 letters with a dark pen, take one photo. The app straightens the page, reads the boxes, sizes and spaces the letters from your own writing, and shows the font typing your name a few minutes later. There is no editing stage; you review the letters, redo any that need it, and install.
The difference is not quality of output so much as what the output is. Fontself produces a designed typeface that started as your lettering. SnapFont produces your handwriting, as it fell on the page, with the spacing worked out for you.
How to choose
- Fontself: you already letter in Adobe apps and want a real production font, colour and OpenType features included.
- SnapFont: you want your own handwriting on your phone this afternoon and you do not want to learn a design tool to get it.
For the tools between these two, Calligraphr and iFontMaker, see the free handwriting font generators comparison.