Does Fontself work in Affinity?
No. Fontself Maker is an extension for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop (plus a separate iPad app). It needs those Adobe apps, and with them a Creative Cloud subscription. Affinity uses a different system for extensions, so Fontself can’t be installed in it.
What Affont does in Affinity
Affont brings the same idea to Affinity 3.3 and later, using Affinity’s own Script Library:
- A script creates a template: one cell per character, with metric guides and spacing lines.
- You draw with Affinity’s tools, including the Pen, shapes, brushes and unexpanded strokes.
- You run “Send” and the Affont app compiles and installs the font. It shows up in your font list in seconds.
The app adds what an Illustrator extension can’t easily do: a glyph editor with nodes, a live preview of the compiled font, opening existing OTF/TTF files, and importing metrics and kerning from another font. The full walkthrough is in how to make a font in Affinity.
Side by side
| Affont | Fontself Maker | |
|---|---|---|
| Works in | Affinity 3.3+ | Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop |
| Operating systems | Windows 10/11, macOS 11+ | Windows, macOS (and a separate iPad app) |
| Design app cost | Affinity is free | Adobe Creative Cloud subscription |
| License | $19 one-time, 3 devices | One-time license per edition |
| OTF and TTF export | Yes, plus WOFF2 | Yes |
| Kerning, ligatures and alternates | Yes | Yes |
| Color fonts | Yes (OpenType-SVG + COLR) | Yes |
| Node editor in the app | Yes | You edit in Illustrator |
| Open existing OTF/TTF | Yes | No |
Based on each product’s public information in September 2026. Fontself is a trademark of its owners. Affont is not affiliated with Fontself or Adobe.
Moving from Illustrator: what changes
- Your letters live on a template, one cell per character, instead of being dragged onto a panel. It’s easier to keep a whole alphabet consistent and to resend it after changes.
- Spacing is visual in Affinity: two lines per cell that you drag. Kerning happens in the Affont app, by dragging letters on a sample text.
- Glyph names do the OpenType work: name a cell f_i for a ligature or a.alt1 for an alternate.
- Your Illustrator artwork still works: paste or import the SVGs into Affinity and place them on the cells.
When Fontself is still the better choice
If you design in Illustrator or Photoshop every day and already pay for Creative Cloud, Fontself fits your setup and there’s no reason to switch. If you want to make fonts on an iPad, Fontself has an app for that and Affont doesn’t.
If you work in Affinity, or you left Adobe to stop paying a subscription, Affont is the tool made for you.