12 free scrapbook fonts by style, and how to pair them
A scrapbook page wants one handwritten font for the title and one plain font for the captions. The 12 below are free on Google Fonts, sorted by style, with the job each one suits.
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A font on a scrapbook page has one of four jobs: a title, a caption, a date, or a long memory. A handwriting font that is lovely at 48 pt is unreadable at 10, so pick by the job, not the name.
Every font in the table was checked on Google Fonts on 21 October 2026. Each is free to download and to use in a book you print or sell. The last section names the fonts built into tbf scrapbook.
See also: scrapbook lettering ideas, the six free blank layouts, Canva scrapbook templates, and how to use one in a book.
Make a digital scrapbook
Add your photos and keepsakes in tbf scrapbook, then arrange them on the pages. Make a digital scrapbook online.
| Font | Style | Suits | Free |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caveat | Handwritten, quick pen | A title, a date, a short note | Yes |
| Patrick Hand | Handwritten, neat print | A caption, a label, a longer note | Yes |
| Kalam | Handwritten, felt pen | A title or a caption | Yes |
| Shadows Into Light | Handwritten, light pen | A caption or a date | Yes |
| Homemade Apple | Cursive | A name or a title, never a long memory | Yes |
| Permanent Marker | Marker | A loud title, a tab, one word | Yes |
| Special Elite | Typewriter, worn | A title, a journaling block, a date stamp | Yes |
| Courier Prime | Typewriter, clean | A long memory, a letter | Yes |
| Amatic SC | Tall condensed capitals | A title, a label, a tab | Yes |
| Playfair Display | High contrast serif | A title, a year | Yes |
| Lora | Calm serif | A caption, a long memory | Yes |
| Libre Baskerville | Book serif | A long memory, a letter | Yes |
Pick by the job
A title is read once and can be anything: Caveat, Kalam, Permanent Marker, Amatic SC, Playfair Display. A caption is read every time the page is opened, so it is a plain font at a plain size.
A date is a caption with fewer words. Give every date in the book the same font and size, and put it in the same corner, so a reader finds it without looking.
A long memory, a paragraph or a letter, is a book font: Lora, Libre Baskerville or Courier Prime. Handwriting fonts tire the eye after three lines.
- Title: handwritten, marker or display, 36 pt or more.
- Caption: Patrick Hand, Lora or Libre Baskerville, 10 to 12 pt.
- Date: the caption font, one size smaller.
- Long memory: Lora, Libre Baskerville or Courier Prime, 10 to 12 pt with the line spacing opened.
- Four more, also free on Google Fonts: Indie Flower, Reenie Beanie, Cutive Mono and Fredericka the Great. The second is thin and wants 14 pt; the last is for a cover.
Finding them in Canva
Canva's text panel has a font list with a search box. Type the name from the table and pick it if it appears.
Canva's own pages that list its fonts could not be read for this guide, so no font here is promised to be in Canva.
If a name is not in the list, download the font from Google Fonts and use it in an editor that takes your own fonts, or keep it for the pages you make outside Canva.
Pairing and sizes
One handwritten font and one plain font, and never two handwritten ones. Two scripts on a page fight; a script against a serif or a typewriter face reads as a title over a note.
Pairs that work: Caveat with Lora, Amatic SC with Libre Baskerville, Permanent Marker with Courier Prime, Special Elite with Patrick Hand, Playfair Display with Kalam.
For print at 300 ppi, a caption at 10 to 12 pt reads and a handwritten title wants 36 pt or more. Thin faces such as Shadows Into Light need 14 pt before the strokes hold on paper.
Print one page before you set the whole book. Thin strokes that look fine on a screen can fade on matt paper.
The fonts in tbf scrapbook
The text tool offers eight fonts: Caveat, Lora, Newsreader, Instrument Serif, Geist, Geist Mono, DM Sans and Atkinson Hyperlegible.
Each is bundled with the book, so the PDF and the download show the same face as the screen.
Caveat is the handwritten one. Pair it with Lora or Newsreader for captions and memories. Geist Mono stands in for a typewriter.
Atkinson Hyperlegible is the clearest at small sizes for a reader who struggles with print.
Hebrew and Arabic words take a Noto face on their own; you do not pick it. All eight fonts are open licence, so a printed book or a sold one needs no further permission.
Handwriting that is yours
No handwriting font matches the hand of the person the book is about. Write the title on paper, photograph or scan it, save it as a PNG and place it on the page like a photo.
The PNG can be moved, cropped and layered over the paper like any photo.
Keep the typed caption underneath in a plain font, so the words are still readable and searchable when the handwriting is not.
Steps
Choose the caption font first
It is on every page. Set Lora, Libre Baskerville or Patrick Hand at 11 pt and read a full caption at page size before you go on.
Choose one handwritten font for titles
Caveat, Kalam or Amatic SC at 40 pt. Type the longest title in the book and check it fits the page width.
Fix the date
Caption font, one size smaller, same corner on every page. Decide the form once: 4 July 2026 or July 4, 2026, and keep it.
Print one page
Order a proof or print one page at home at 300 ppi. Thin strokes that fade get a size up or a heavier face before the rest of the book is set.
Questions
What font is good for scrapbooking?
One handwritten face for the title, such as Caveat, and one plain face for captions, such as Patrick Hand or Lora. All twelve on this page are free on Google Fonts.
What is the 3 font rule?
No more than three typefaces in one book: a title face, a caption face and, if you need it, one for dates. Two is usually enough on a scrapbook page.
Are scrapbook fonts in Canva free?
Every font on this page is free on Google Fonts. In Canva, search the name in the text panel's font list; which of them Canva carries is not stated on the pages this guide read.