Posts Tagged fonts

Adobe® End Support of Postscript Type 1 fonts

On March 16, 2021   /   Branding - Marketing, Design Tips, Graphic Design and Web design, Uncategorized   /   Leave a comment
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Adobe® Ends Support of True Type fonts

Nothing is fixed and everything changes. 

With the creation of web fonts, responsive design, and apps in the Cloud, the way fonts are built has changed too. Our team started noticing the adverse effects of these updates when our trusted creative design apps started crashing frequently. We discovered it was often when using older fonts or some designed by certain foundries.  Plus some super fun free ones that maybe weren’t coded well, to begin with, may have played a role. We have come to accept that Adobe Creative Cloud applications (you know the ones all graphic designers live and breathe by) only play well with Adobe cloud fonts. In addition to this realization, Adobe has also announced that they will be ending support of Postscript Type 1 fonts in 2023. 

This all matters to brand owners because the Helvetica typeface your designer used in your business card design from 2017 may not render correctly in your next update. If your brand visuals and logo were designed with Postscript Type 1 fonts or are not developed by Adobe your designer may need to make adjustments.

Options available to ensure your brand fonts are up to date:

  • Change your font entirely if there is not a compatible version of the brand font (stab to the heart)
  • Show certificate of license – depending on how many years ago it was purchased this may be impossible  (the license is probably on some installation CD that was obsolete 5 years ago)
  • Purchase a new font license to continue use, update the font files and ensure they are not type Postscript Type 1 (cha-ching!)
  • Font license pricing is across the board. First, you have to know if your brand materials just incorporate Helvetica Bold or a combination of Helvetica Medium and Helvetica Light Condensed? One font style, like Helvetica Light, can be $9.99 to $99.99. If you need to purchase the whole Helvetica family of fonts (30+ styles) this can begin to break brand marketing budgets.

How can Adobe® dictate how fonts are supported and End Support of Postscript Type 1 fonts?

Connection Group has been using Adobe® Creative Suite since its invention. We started with installation CDs for each software product from Photoshop to InDesign and even Flash. Changing now would be reinventing the wheel – plus there aren’t other compatible options at this time. It’s also not just Adobe® making changes, it’s a digital revolution – nothing is fixed and everything changes.

Personally, I love that we don’t have to frantically locate a license key when a computer station needs a fresh install of Adobe® Creative Cloud.  Adobe® Cloud allows us to install fonts under the Creative Cloud platform at a whim – a font hoarder’s dream. As long as we maintain our Adobe Cloud membership we have the license to use the fonts. However, for fonts to function in all media and for font foundries to protect their licenses, changes had to be made. The font license (like the Adobe cloud license) covers a specific number of users or computers.

When we design brochures, sales sheets, print magazines, etc., the logo graphics and the brand fonts can be sent to the commercial printer or pre-press company. This is still a legal option. Sending fonts to others, such as a virtual assistant, or even your IT personnel may not be covered under the brand design firm’s license.

For new brands and others who have updated their brand visuals recently your need for Postscript Type 1 font support is not likely. Most software applications stopped supporting Postscript Type 1 font in early 2005. Adobe® is one of the last applications to phase them out. If you use Postscript Type 1 fonts in Adobe products and need help preparing for the final demise visit this article in Apple Insider for more information.

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Font Copyright Infringement – Protect Yourself and Your Brand

On January 13, 2021   /   Branding - Marketing, Design Tips, Graphic Design and Web design, Uncategorized   /   Leave a comment
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Font copyright infringement

What? What is that all about? Anyone who has designed social media graphics, posted photos to blogs and websites, etc. has encountered information about art and photo copyrights. But font copyright infringement may be new to many of you.

When you hired a graphic design and marketing firm to develop your brand and design your logo you also may have received a brand standards guide. In that brand standards guide, the graphic designer provided names of the fonts utilized for your visual brand. Intentional use of fonts and colors is key to establishing visual consistency in all communications and media promotions.

If you are designing images connected to your brand you will want to purchase licenses for the fonts. Fonts are designed by independent graphic designers and type foundries. Therefore, fonts hold copyrights and require licensing. Much like we do not own our domain names for our corporate websites, we do not ‘own’ fonts. These days with the cloud and digital marketing, discovering font copyright infringement is much easier than it has ever been.

Use of Fonts on Products and Apparel

This is also very important if you are selling products that use fonts. Whether you are designing and selling decorative signs, t-shirts with professional lettering, and any digital artwork for download and reproduction be sure to check the copyright of the fonts you use. Some sublimation printers come with software and fonts that may allow unlimited use, fonts you find online may not. Be sure to check the usage license on all fonts you use. If you are designing products or digital graphics for the mass market, learning to design your own original fonts may be fun. Another option is looking for font designers on Etsy and other marketplaces. Original font designs by freelance artists may be less costly and have more flexible licensing than the large foundries.

Keep in mind, even if you design a clever typographical design, font copyright is different from fine art or graphic design copyright. Just varying the fonts size, color or using a combination of bold, italic, small caps, etc. in a typography design is not enough to claim originality. Protect yourself, read all font licenses very carefully.

Font Copyright Infringement is a Honey Hole for Foundries

Font copyright infringement by individuals and corporations is often done by mistake because of an under licensed or unlicensed font. An innocent mistake doesn’t mean they get off with a warning though. Some foundries look for infringement and get as much revenue from enforcement as from normal licensing! There are now automated bots that can scan for font usage in web pages and posted PDFs. The public seldom learns of lawsuits for font copyright infringement because most are settled out of court.

Although there are some tricks like converting fonts to outlines or only using open-source fonts, etc. it is best to play it safe.  So when you need us to create a new team member business card and your brand font is not up to date or licensed please don’t blame your brand design team for adding a font license fee. It’s not revenue for us. It’s protection for your company and brand and it’s an homage to those clever coders and typeface designers who need to feed their families too.

For more information, we referenced this article on Communication Arts for this blog post. 

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