FontForge beta for Windows

Used FontForge beta for Windows?

Beta or prerelease software is not intended for inexperienced users, as the software may contain bugs or may potentially damage your system. We strongly recommend that users exercise caution and save all mission-critical data before installing or using this software.

Editors’ Review

Download.com staffMarch 12, 2026

FontForge is a comprehensive outline font editor designed for creating, editing, and modifying various font formats. It supports a wide array of font types and facilitates efficient format conversion.

Pros
- Creates, edits, and modifies numerous outline font formats.
- Supports PostScript, TrueType, OpenType, CID-keyed, CFF, SVG.
- Handles various bitmap font formats including BDF, FON, NFNT.
- Converts between different font formats effectively.
- Edits existing font files and outlines.
Cons
No Cons available

FontForge beta for Windows

Used FontForge beta for Windows?

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Full Specifications

GENERAL

Release: January 3, 2013

Latest update: March 12, 2026

Version: 2012-7-31

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Platform: Windows

Operating System

Windows Vista
Windows NT
Windows 7
Windows 98
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows 10
Windows ME

Additional Requirements: None

POPULARITY

Total Downloads: 2,039

Downloads Last Week: 1

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Last Updated

User Reviews

2.5/5

2 User Votes

Not worth downloading :(
ganerdJanuary 16, 2015
Pros
none I can think of.
Cons
Unprofessional interface, does not integrate well with windows, does not allow editing of existing font, suspiciously requires access to firewall ?? Downloaded the final copy and not much difference. ALSO falsely advertised as free.
Summary
Said it in my title. Not worth downloading :(
Great program, but held back from being the best of all
tomysshadowSeptember 23, 2014
Pros
Concept is great. Sooo many features. The editing capabilities are humongous. Lots of formats, so it makes a great general font converter too. Can detect just about anything possibly wrong with a font and fix it, like a font fixing wizard. Can import SVGs and turn them into letters. If it crashes, you can restore your work, like the old WMM's feature. Can display every character of a font and you can double click on part of the glyph to analyze it in more detail. It's cool that this is free as I have yet to find a free alternative this good. Also it is cross platform because of Java.
Cons
The fonts will need to be vectored, not rasters. That may lose amateur users, but is not much of a con though, as that's just how fonts work. But if a bitmap tracer like Potrace was implemented, it might make the process easier for some users. My main issue is the crashes. It crashes too often. Furthermore, sometimes the much needed, aforementioned restore feature fails to work, causing another crash. This is because FontForge saves after the error takes place. If it were me, I would make it save every few minutes, rather than trying to save at the last minute resulting in a faulty restore file. Another big issue is the interface. It is ugly, old and gray. This is fixed in the 2014 version, but there is no official build of this yet. This brings me to another problem: it's never officially updated! The last official build was in 2012 despite the project being active. Thankfully some brainiac created another project on SourceForge with unofficial builds, updated more often.
Summary
The idea and concept are really good. If everything worked the way it was intended, it would be excellent. Unfortunately, there are two big problems and a few small ones holding it back: the crashes and the UI.

Developer’s Description

Create, edit, and modify postscript, truetype, bitmap, and opentype fonts.

FontForge is an outline font editor. With FontForge you can create your own postscript, truetype, opentype, cid-keyed, multi-master, cff, svg and bitmap (bdf, FON, NFNT) fonts, or edit existing ones. FontForge also lets you convert one format to another.