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I am not a graphic designer but a teacher. :) I created a font using my handwriting for some of my materials to use in my classroom so it was consistent. Because I do not have a bold option for my font (I have no clue how to create it), I have to use faux-bold in some programs that allow it.

I'm running into programs that will not allow it and I need for my materials to consistent so I'm looking for a way to create a bold option for my own custom font. Is this possible? Can someone help me or show me how?

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    What software did you use? In some, creating a faux bold is an option (well ... something to get you started anyway. I would not recommend leaving it at that). – Jongware Jul 18 '15 at 23:49
  • Since I'm not doing this for a profit or anything, I just created my handwriting using an iPad app. :( – Summer Jul 20 '15 at 1:03
  • Hi Summer, thanks for your question. Could you tell us what you tried that didn't work? Always good to show some effort, and your chances for a good answer increase. If you can't, we might need to close your question, for being too broad: the answer would be way too long for our Q&A format, it'd be more like a large article or even a book. If you have any questions, please see the help center or ping one of us in the Graphic Design Chat once your reputation is sufficient (20). Keep contributing and enjoy the site! – Vincent Jul 21 '15 at 12:08
  • I have tried using a different sized "pen" on the ipad but it doesn't line up correctly and looks messy. I have also downloaded FontForge and am working my way through figuring it out. I have found a way to increase the weight, although some of my letters look distorted. I am working through fixing that but still need to figure out how to save it as a bold font and attach it to my original. – Summer Jul 29 '15 at 19:33
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The best answer is to hire a font designer to work with you in developing a bold version of your font. This assumes you have the budget and time for such an endeavor. Otherwise, you can try your hand at it by using font development tools like Font Forge (open source), Glyphs (paid), or Font Lab (professional font development tool). Costs may be cheaper but it will take much more time. Assume a steep learning curve and lots of painstaking work to achieve a desirable "bold" version of your font with this approach.

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  • I will look into those and see what I can do. – Summer Jul 20 '15 at 1:03
  • Thank you so much for your help. I downloaded FontForge and have been working on my font... yes it is a learning curve! I am now just trying to figure out how to save it and attach it to my original font. – Summer Jul 29 '15 at 19:34
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Given that you created this font on an iPad, I'd suggest the easiest solution would be to just create a second font using your handwriting and use a thicker 'pen'. Save that font as "yourfontbold". You may then need to open your original font and this new font in a font editing tool such as FontForge to set the meta data so that they are seen as part of the same family so your software will know which font to use when using the bold feature.

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If you aren't looking for a long-term solution and this is the only font you are working with you could download a free trial of FontLab or Glyphs. Fontlab 6 beta 4 is out now for Mac, and completely free given the beta status. It is easy to adjust the weight of a font in modern font editors, but the results can vary greatly. However, given that this is a handwriting font, it would probably be fine for you needs. If it does look off after applying the faux-bold effect, manually tweaking that outcome is still quicker than doing the whole thing by hand or redrawing glyph by glyph digitally from scratch. Hope this helps!

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