Swooning over the gorgeous typographic posts and flourishes you see on Instagram and wondering how to create them yourself? We’ve got you. We’re going to introduce you to the secret world of ‘PUA Encoded Fonts’, and show you how they’re going to lift your designs up another notch, and also provide a list of 9 amazing free fonts that you can install, or are already available for you to use in Easil!
WHAT ARE PUA ENCODED FONTS?
Let’s get through the technical, slightly less exciting side first. So, what exactly is a PUA font?
PUA = Private Use Areas. It’s a secret, hidden area in some fonts where additional characters are stored that you can utilize without having specialized design software.
When you hit your A, B, C or any standard character using your keyboard, the default character will be displayed in your design application. Beyond that, however, in many fonts, there’s a whole other world that extends past the limitations of the characters on your keyboard, and what you can achieve with uppercase and lowercase alternatives. On occasion, a PUA encoded font will have 10-20 variations of a single character for you to use!
Here’s a sneak peek of what you can expect your designs to look like after you master these typography tips:
Excited? You should be! Read on to learn how to use these hidden goodies.
WHAT DO PUA ENCODED CHARACTERS LOOK LIKE?
PUA characters are fancy versions of standard characters, and sometimes even symbols, words, and illustrations. They can lift a standard word or sentence from this:
To this, with just a couple of extra clicks:
These special characters are common in script fonts, and specifically, those gorgeous hand-drawn fonts that are used by many designers to really step up the social media graphics that they create! You’ll also find them in many serif fonts, that can take those ‘feet’ and transform them into something stunning.
HOW TO FIND PUA ENCODED FONTS FOR STUNNING TYPOGRAPHY
When shopping around for fonts, keep an eye out for Character Maps. These give you a preview of all the hidden characters and are key to getting an insight into just how flexible your new font purchase will be.
versions of the upper case ‘M’!
If you can’t immediately find one from the font marketplace you are purchasing from, they’re generally easy enough to find on Google. If you cannot locate the character map, it would be safe to assume that the font does not contain any hidden characters that you would not be able to use from your standard keyboard. In this case we recommend asking the font creator if the font is PUA encoded.
It’s also worth noting that many free fonts are limited versions of full fonts, and may not contain PUA encoded characters.
HOW TO INSTALL PUA FONTS ON YOUR COMPUTER & EASIL
Once you’ve confirmed your font contains PUA characters, you can upload them to Easil either through the editor or via the Brand Kit. In this instance, we will assume you have a single user font licence, and require use within your personal account.
- Open your design, and navigate to the Text tab on the right sidebar.
- Click on the ‘Upload Fonts’ button.
- Select your font or drop onto the ‘Drop Font File Here’ box, and then check the box to confirm that you have the right to use your font for your intended purpose.
- Click ‘Upload’.
- Your font will be accessible via the Dropdown font selector, and also within the Text tab on the right side menu, where you can drag and drop new text boxes with the font automatically applied.
In addition to loading your new font into Easil, you’ll also need a tool to access the special characters. We’ll outline the process for both Mac and Windows computers here.
MAC – USE FONT BOOK
Font Book is the main application to manage your fonts on Apple Mac computers. It’s simple to use with a drag and drop upload of fonts onto the application window.
This will make the fonts accessible for use on all your desktop-based applications, but remember to also upload to Easil, which is a separate cloud-based application, so they’re not linked. After you’ve installed the font in both locations:
- Open the Font Book Application on your Mac.
- On the very top of your screen, click on the View menu, and then ‘Repertoire’ (or Command+2).
- All of the available characters within the font will be visible!
- Keep Font Book open, and also have Easil in your browser window.
- Create your design, and apply the font by typing in standard characters from your keyboard.
- Then, refer back to Font Book, and ‘Copy’ (or Command+C) a character that you’d like to use, and then ‘Paste’ (Command+V) into the text box in Easil.
- That’s it! Repeat with any other characters that you’d like to replace (and see our advice below on best practices for using swashes and flourishes in typography).
WINDOWS – USE WINDOWS CHARACTER MAP
Windows computers come with the Windows Character Map application pre-installed. Search ‘Character Map’ in the windows search bar, and open the application, and then:
- Choose the font you would like to inspect from the dropdown menu.
- Ensure the ‘Advanced View’ checkbox is enabled.
- Underneath that, click on the ‘Group by’ dropdown, and select the ‘Unicode Subrange’ option, and then when the next pop-up appears for ‘Group By’, select ‘Private Use Characters’.
- You’ll now be able to see all the available PUA options!
- Keep Windows Character Map open, and also have Easil in your browser window.
- Create your design, and apply the font by typing in standard characters from your keyboard.
- Then, refer back to Font Book, and ‘Copy’ (or Control+C) a character that you’d like to use, and then ‘Paste’ (Control+V) into the text box in Easil.
- That’s it! Repeat with any other characters that you would like to replace/enhance.
HOW TO USE THE FANCY CHARACTERS IN YOUR TYPOGRAPHY
Start with these basic principles:
- Start with adding a fancy character to the first letter in your graphic, and also the last letter.
- For your first letter or those that are closest to the left side of your message, select a character that has the embellishment facing further to the left. Likewise, for the right or last letter, choose a character with more detail or flourish detail moving towards the right of the design:
- If there are holes, or gaps within some words, experiment with adding a fancier flourished character in that space too. That could either be a descending swash from the text on the line above or an ascending swash from letter/s on the line below:
- Don’t overcrowd your flourishes. There IS such a thing as over-swashing your typography!
- Ensure your message is still legible.
Note that if you change the font from a PUA encoded option to another font, you will need to update the characters that you have pasted in from the character map.
9 FREE FONTS WITH PUA ENCODED CHARACTERS YOU CAN USE IN YOUR DESIGNS NOW!
We’re true type lovers and have combed through thousands of gorgeous fonts in our time. However, it would be impossible to list them all or to test each and every font for their PUA + Easil compatibility. We have put together some of our favorites to produce beautiful typography:
Love Rose Regular – Modern Calligraphy Font.
Included in Easil for Free Personal & Commercial Use:
Priscilla – Modern Calligraphy Typeface. Free for Personal & Commercial Use.
Download it here.
Shink – Beautiful Script Font. Free for Personal Use.
Download it here.
Bloom Winter – Modern Calligraphy Script.
Included in Easil for Free Personal & Commercial Use:
Ambarella – Modern Calligraphy Typeface. Free for Personal & Commercial Use.
Download it here.
Olivia James Regular –
Included in Easil for Free Personal & Commercial Use:
Birthday – Modern Calligraphy Font. Free for Personal Use.
Download it here.
Coklat Sunda Slant –
Included in Easil for Free Personal & Commercial Use:
HELLO PARIS SCRIPT –
Included in Easil for Free Personal & Commercial Use:
Hot tip: Team it with the matching ‘Hello Paris Sans’ caps font also included in Easil for absolutely stunning typography on your invitations & special event graphics!
OVER TO YOU
Are you excited about getting started with PUA characters in your typography? Check out some of the fonts we’ve listed above to get a head start – especially the ones we’ve licensed for your works in Easil!
What’s your favorite PUA encoded font? Let us know on our social channels, by Direct Message, or tag your designs with @madeineasil – we’d love to see them!
Disclaimer: Some fonts are totally free for you to utilize in your designs for both commercial and personal use, but we must state that it’s essential that you check each font’s website for its own license terms. Those terms may be updated from time to time, and it’s always best to check the source. If you’re buying fonts, you’re usually granted a license for a single user only, so if you intend to share with your team you must purchase the correct amount of additional seats or licenses. In addition to this, we can’t guarantee that the glyphs of every font will work in Easil. Different fonts are constructed in different ways, and on occasion may not be compatible. Free fonts often do not contain the glyphs at all.
