Mac OS X | Design / Graphics | Font | ScanFont

ScanFont - 5.0

turn Photoshop & other images into fonts

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All Time:	(5.0)
This Version:	Not rated (0.0)
Current Version:	5.0
Release Date:	2007-11-13
License:	Commercial
Downloads (this version):	1,699
Downloads (all versions):	6,772
Price:	$99.00

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Product Description:

You can put any image into a font: clip art, logos, handwriting, names, dingbats, symbols,fingerprints, old type, etc - and have it available at a keystroke. ScanFont converts images to vector characters in fonts. It includes bitmap editor, tool to automatically detect character images, powerful autotracer and can communicate with FontLab for Mac or TypeTool for Mac to export both TrueType and Type 1 fonts.

What's new in this version:

The new version 5 of the software can now process color images, includes new filters, operations and effects. The shape detection and autotracing algorithms have been greatly improved, and ScanFont can now save .VFB files that can be later opened in a font editor.

Support for grayscale and color — from simple black-and-white to 32-bit color with smooth transparency
Direct import of EPS graphics — assists you in turning your Adobe Illustrator drawings into a font
Export of .vfb format fonts — for use in any font editor by Fontlab Ltd.
Transformations and filters — from Pencil to Gaussian blur
Advanced image-split algorithms — from Table to Book Smart
Direct import of most image formats, including EPS, GIF, JPG, TIF, BMP, PNG and (on Mac OS X) PDF

Operating System Requirements:

This product is designed to run on the following operating systems:

Mac OS X 10.4 PPC
Mac OS X 10.3.9

Additional Requirements:

ScanFont 5 works as a plugin for FontLab's outline font editors. You must have TypeTool 3, FontLab Studio 5.0.3 or AsiaFont Studio 5 (or newer) installed in order to create fonts.

Feedback Summary:

This Version:
Overall Rating:	Not rated (0.0)	Features:	Not rated (0.0)	Support:	Not rated (0.0)
Ease of Use:	Not rated (0.0)	Quality / Stability:	Not rated (0.0)	Price:	Not rated (0.0)

Key to Types of Feedback:

Reviews Reviews Troubleshooting Usage Tips Developer Notes Commentary Featured Reviews

Don't touch me there. - Version: 5.0, 11/14/2007 09:10AM PST

(1 of 2 users found this comment useful)

Ancient_Boii_Tribe

This application works great with AppZapper. This was too hard to use and there are other apps that do the same thing with ease that cost less and do much more. I'm not totally shooting it down, It may be OK, but who has the time to learn a new application by trial and error only to find out that it may be a piece of junk made by yet another wanta be software maker trying to get rich overnight so he can spend his life on parties and booty calls.. It's like trying to learn a new language. What do some of these things even mean in the menu. This might be OK for a spoiled teenager sitting in their room with nothing better to do other then plotting an attack on their school, but seniors like me and working people raising a family don't have time for it.

This comment was made using freedom of speech. If you comment against it to me personally or attack my words, then you are trying to deny me my freedom of speech and could be held liable.

You are free to leave your own comment with your own views on the product.

Excellent - Version: 4.0, 11/11/2003 07:26PM PST

Asta the Dog

Re the review below, not so! Using the fully functional demo, which watermarks half the glyphs, I was able to make a font from an 80s vintage typewriter/printer font, which is very thin and tall. My recommendation is to use a very high quality scan (1200 dpi) and fiddle with the scale once loaded into FontLab. These are simply the two best font creation apps out there for Mac, worth every penny, but wish they were cheaper nonetheless. $50 and I'm yours. A little crashy when exporting from huge (80MB) tiff files, and unable to scan from inside the app.

Nice But... - Version: 4.0, 7/31/2003 12:22PM PST

garyconditwasframed

This program creates algorithmic outlines of scanned font characters which can be imported into new font character sets, glyphs i guess they are called. But the way it "pixelates" the scanned characters (mapping them as a series of tiny squares on a grid) and then constructs the algorithm around the outside edges of these scanned characters means that the resulting font character is significantly fatter, bolder than the source material, particularly when the scanned original doesn't have perfectly smooth curves and edges...

I know this because I went to great lengths to try to scan a rare old courier font (from a reasonably high quality Xerox), hoping to duplicate it. Sadly, after many hours spent, the scanned font resembles the original only if you stand at a distance and squint, all the subtle distinctions were lost...

Perhaps I am asking too much. Anyway, Scanfont is a useful tool nonetheless, my sense is the program would do a fine job on handwriting and other less nitpicky font conversions...