I imagine it's probably a bad idea to ask "Which software should I use?" so I'll talk about my experience (or lack thereof) a bit and some of you might have some recommendations.
I did my first (and so far only completed) font in Fontographer 3.5. I think I have a 4.1 license somewhere, but I think I've only ever used 3.5.
A few years ago, I bought TypeTool and ScanFont in a bundle. I'm not sure why I didn't get the Fontographer upgrade, but I think either it didn't have Adobe Illustrator import or it looked like it hadn't been updated in years. Maybe both. I don't remember for certain.
I have two fonts I am currently working on. I've been doing them in Adobe Illustrator. Shameful, I know, but I'm more accustomed to using Illustrator's drawing tools. I figured I would create them in Illustrator then import them into TypeTool when done. It'll probably be a pain, but my familiarity with Illustrator meant it would be more likely that the fonts would be completed if I did the work in TypeTool.
Anyway, while trying to troubleshooting a kerning issue (fine on Mac, screwy on Windows), I looked at software options again. TypeTool supports 65,535 glyphs. FontLab Studio supports 65,535. Fontographer 5.2 supports 20,000+. Do I need over 65k glyphs? Probably not but do I want to not have the option if I do? TypeTool and FontLab both generate OpenType TT fonts natively; Fontographer apparently needs to go through some conversion process. Is that bad? Fontographer 5.2 imports from Illustrator. Hmm.
I'm probably never going to be a huge foundry, so something like FontLab Studio (or Robofont or some of the other options) is probably overkill for me. TypeTool seems workable but it also feels like underkill. Maybe Fontographer is what I should be using. Then again, I could get FontLab for only $50 more. Maybe I should just stop worrying about the software and finish the two fonts I'm working on first.
I did my first (and so far only completed) font in Fontographer 3.5. I think I have a 4.1 license somewhere, but I think I've only ever used 3.5.
A few years ago, I bought TypeTool and ScanFont in a bundle. I'm not sure why I didn't get the Fontographer upgrade, but I think either it didn't have Adobe Illustrator import or it looked like it hadn't been updated in years. Maybe both. I don't remember for certain.
I have two fonts I am currently working on. I've been doing them in Adobe Illustrator. Shameful, I know, but I'm more accustomed to using Illustrator's drawing tools. I figured I would create them in Illustrator then import them into TypeTool when done. It'll probably be a pain, but my familiarity with Illustrator meant it would be more likely that the fonts would be completed if I did the work in TypeTool.
Anyway, while trying to troubleshooting a kerning issue (fine on Mac, screwy on Windows), I looked at software options again. TypeTool supports 65,535 glyphs. FontLab Studio supports 65,535. Fontographer 5.2 supports 20,000+. Do I need over 65k glyphs? Probably not but do I want to not have the option if I do? TypeTool and FontLab both generate OpenType TT fonts natively; Fontographer apparently needs to go through some conversion process. Is that bad? Fontographer 5.2 imports from Illustrator. Hmm.
I'm probably never going to be a huge foundry, so something like FontLab Studio (or Robofont or some of the other options) is probably overkill for me. TypeTool seems workable but it also feels like underkill. Maybe Fontographer is what I should be using. Then again, I could get FontLab for only $50 more. Maybe I should just stop worrying about the software and finish the two fonts I'm working on first.