How to Install New Fonts on Your Computer and use them with Artisan Software

I'm a Font Girl.  I love playing with fonts and getting just the right look on whatever I create.  Today I'm going to show you how to have a lot of fun with new fonts.

Because getting the right font makes whatever you're creating perfect!

First, let's look at how to download and install fonts to your computer, and then touch quickly on how to use the fonts in Artisan specifically, like I did with this Irish/Gaelic font when I made this gorgeous blanket from Forever using Artisan:

Times New Roman or Comic Sans would just not have been the same here.  Right?

Artisan by Forever is an amazing digital scrapbooking software program I've been in love with since 2021.  Of course, you can create more than "just" digital scrapbooks with Artisan (and have them professionally published by Forever)--like the blanket you just saw, plus mugs and ornaments and wall canvases and calendars and all sorts of things.

But let's start with fonts.

Where To Find Fonts 

Search the internet for a font on a reputable website.  You can certainly buy fonts to install on your computer, but I'm an enormous fan of 1001 Free Fonts.  Free is right up my alley, but I love the variety of fonts there, too, from Harry Potter and Disney fonts to lovely script and handwriting fonts.  

I found this cute Christmas one there when I wanted to make headings for my digital scrapbook pages about our anniversary trip to Christmas markets in Europe.

DaFont is another reputable free font website.

How to Download and Install Fonts 

I'll walk you through my process with 1001FreeFonts, and I use a PC.  Make any personal or Mac adjustments as needed.

STEP 1:  I peruse the fonts, either by theme or just by scrolling down to see what's new.  Once I find one I like, I click on the name of the font.  This opens all the letters, numbers, and characters that the font includes.  I like knowing, for example, if a font doesn't have an apostrophe or parenthesis or something.  Or sometimes one of the letters is designed in a way I don't like, in which case I keep searching.  There are so many to choose from--you can definitely be picky.

STEP 2:  Once I am satisfied with everything in the font, I click the black DOWNLOAD button.  I am downloading a .zip file.  I personally have set up a folder on my computer called Fonts, so all my new fonts go there.  Note, too, that there is information listed about the font--the free ones are for personal use only, and there is sometimes a donation option for the creator of the font.  

STEP 3:  Find the location of your download (for me it's the Fonts folder, but yours could be in Downloads).  Right-click the .zip folder and select "Extract All..."  You'll have the option of putting your extracted files in another location (if you want to do this, select "Browse"), or you can just click the "Extract" button.  This will create an extracted folder so you can access what's in it.

STEP 4:  Open the extracted folder by double-clicking on it.  The extracted folder will have the same name as your font.  As you can see above, my font was called Violet, so my extracted folder was called "violet".  Once you open the first folder, you may have another folder to open after that.  Different fonts are different--just keep opening folders until you see files.  You should eventually see a .ttf (or sometimes .ttc --both stand for True Type) file, but there will probably be other files as well (don't worry about them).  

STEP 5:  Right-click the .ttf file and select "Install."  (Be sure to read the note below about file types.)  The installation process will begin.

NOTE ON FILE TYPES:  True Type (.ttf or .ttc) files are easy to install and work on both Mac and Windows.  Open Type files (.otf) are similar.  If you come across a PostScript file (.pfb or .pfm), it is a more complicated process requiring two separate files to install.  The good news is that these are older file types, so they are not normally found at common font websites like  https://www.1001freefonts.com/ or https://www.dafont.com/ these days. 

And that's it!  Once your font is installed, you can use it in any program on your computer (Word, etc.), or in an Artisan project!

books in several sizes; hardbound or softbound

calendars in 4 sizes

cards and invitations; I used these cards to make recipe cards!

NOTE:  I am a Forever affiliate (a decision I made because I love it so much), so you will find affiliate links in this post, from which I earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.

About Fonts in Artisan 

The main thing to know here is that because Artisan is a computer-based program (like Word or any other program you download to your computer), you can access fonts installed on your computer from Artisan.  Artisan is made for a PC (Apple loves being special, if you haven't already heard), but can run on a Mac using a partitioning program.

It is so much fun to be able to pick just the right font for any Artisan project I'm working on, from western-style and typewriter-style fonts to Easter and Halloween fonts! 

New to Artisan?  Click here to see me make a basic page, then click here for a 30-day free trial.

Here's how you create text boxes and change fonts when creating in Artisan.  Watch in the video for the "insert symbol" link right below where I typed "Hello and welcome to Artisan Quick Tips with Jennifer."  That's where you can add symbols like the umlaut you see over the U in Zurich (above) or an ñ!!

Here's another really fun thing you can do with cool fonts in Artisan--you can fill them with digital papers!

Isn't that fun?!  The possibilities are endless.

What are you going to do with your new fonts?  Tell me in the comments below!

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