Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed a subtle change in the way I letter Suburban Fairy Tales.  It’s no longer done by hand — starting with the December 18, 2013 strip, it’s now done using my own handwriting font.

So what took so long?  Well, I’ve been wanting to start doing my lettering on the computer for a while now, but I’ve never been a fan of how my fonts have come out.  Finally, I downloaded an app for my iPad called iFontMaker and fell in love with the results. My lettering now looks cleaner and can be done so much faster, especially when a particular strip uses a lot of dialogue.

So how does this magic work?  Well, all you have to do is write the alphabet directly on your iPad in iFontMaker using your finger or a stylus (if you have one).  The app then converts it to a TrueType font and gives you the ability to email it to yourself.  Then you simply open the email on your Windows or Mac computer, install the font and you’re ready to go.  What’s really great is how easy it all was.  The app only cost me seven bucks and was ready to go in ten minutes.

So if you’re a fellow cartoonist looking to make the switch to computer lettering, or if you simply want a cool app to make weird fonts with, iFontMaker is pretty awesome and easy to use. I recommend giving it a try!