Tutorials

How to Make Script Fonts Look Truly Hand-Lettered

Ever notice how some "handwriting" fonts still look... typed? The giveaway is that every letter is identical, and real handwriting never repeats itself the exact same way twice. Here's how to fix that in about two minutes, using any script font from the Cute Handwriting Bundle.

Why "handwriting" fonts often look fake

When you type a word, a font places the exact same shape every time a letter appears. Two lowercase L's side by side look like perfect twins. Handwriting doesn't work that way. No one writes the same letter identically twice, and that tiny bit of variation is what your eye reads as "real." The trick below reintroduces it.

Step 1: Start with a font that has alternates

This only works if your font includes alternate characters and ligatures, which are extra versions of each letter built into the font file. Every font in the Cute Handwriting Bundle is made with these, so you have options for each letter. Type your word or phrase normally to start.

Step 2: Break up the repeats

Look for any letter that appears more than once close together: double L's, repeated E's, or a name with two of the same letter. Those repeats are what make a design read as "typed," and they're the letters you'll swap.

Step 3: Swap in the alternates

How you access alternates depends on your software:

Silhouette Studio (Business Edition): Open the Glyphs panel, highlight the letter, and choose a different version from the alternates shown.
Cricut Design Space: Use the ungroup-to-letters option, then substitute an alternate character.
Canva or Adobe Illustrator: Turn on Stylistic Alternates or open the Glyphs panel, then click the letter to cycle through options.

Step 4: Connect the letters

Nudge letters slightly closer so the connecting strokes overlap and flow like a continuous pen stroke. This single adjustment sells the whole hand-lettered look, especially for signs and shirts.

Step 5: Add a natural baseline wobble (optional)

For extra authenticity, move a couple of letters up or down by a hair. Handwriting doesn't sit perfectly on a line, and neither should yours. Keep it subtle.

That's it

Same font, but now it reads as genuinely hand-lettered instead of computer-generated. The key is starting with fonts built with the alternates that make this possible.

Love these fonts? They're all in one bundle

Every hand-lettered font pictured in this tutorial lives in one place: the Cute Handwriting Bundle. Instead of hunting them down one at a time, you get all of them plus dozens more in a single grab, each one built with the alternate characters and ligatures that make this whole technique work.

Get the Cute Handwriting Bundle, 124 hand-lettered fonts and 132 designs, all ready to hand-letter with.