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Licenses for Font Embedding, Streaming and Web Servers
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What is Font Embedding?
Font embedding technologies provide content developers and publishers with the ability to include font data in their software documents or web sites. Font embedding ensures that all readers will see the text in its original font and will be able to print the file using the original fonts. This means publishers are able to control the content’s presentation – perhaps the most important aspect of a positive user experience – and avoid the use of default system fonts. Thus font embedding offers the highest degree of typographic control and ensures that readers see exactly what the designer intended. |
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Need to know more?
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What can I do with a typical font?
ITC, like most other font foundries, licenses fonts for use on a set number of workstations. The typical font can be used on five (5) workstations, while a font library provides for use on up to twenty (20) workstations. Our End User license does not permit redistribution of font data beyond the set number of workstations without an additional license. Because of the introduction of font embedding, font streaming and font server technologies, and the use of embedded fonts into commercial products, ITC is introducing reasonably-priced font licenses for designers and publishers.
New Font Licenses
ITC is introducing a range of affordable font licenses that cover a variety of applications beyond the scope of the standard End User License Agreement (EULA):
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Editable Embedding License
The standard EULA permits Font Software to be embedded into a document for the sole purpose of printing or viewing, and not for editing or altering such document. The Editable Embedding License allows for fonts to be embedded into advertisements, presentations, corporate templates, etc. and distributed to other users for altering or editing the document with the embedded font. Click here for a quote request. |
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Commercial Product Font Embedding License
(eBooks, eMagazines, etc.)
This license is for fonts embedded in an eBook, ePublication or other commercial products using view and print embedding where the product is sold to end-users. Examples include newsletters, reports, eBooks, eMagazines, etc. distributed commercially on CD ROM or the Internet. Click here for a quote request. |
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Internet Font License: Client-side editing
This license grants web designers the right to use ITC font software with CSS, font embedding and streaming technologies in applications where the content can be edited or modified. This is required when the font data is downloaded or streamed to the user for use with technologies such as Microsoft’s WEFT, Bitstream’s WebFontPlayer™, Flash® and Shockwave® applications that allow users to edit or modify content. Click here for a quote request. |
  
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Internet Font License: Server-side editing
This license is for web server-based applications that allow end users to create new documents or images, or edit content with font data that resides on the server. There are a variety of new techniques that can empower end users with creative tools, such as ASP, CGI and Java® applications. Examples of web server-side editing applications include creating or editing forms, greeting cards, business cards and signage using software and fonts residing on a server. Click here for a quote request. |
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Background Information on Font Embedding
Whether you create Microsoft Word and PowerPoint documents, Adobe Acrobat files or web sites, there are many problems associated with ensuring that the formatting remains intact when you share files among various users on different computers. Fortunately for document creators and web designers new techniques such as font embedding, font streaming and dynamic fonts bring increased typographic flexibility. Now it’s possible for designers to ensure that end users see their web site in the desired font, ensuring consistency with a design theme or a corporate brand.
The basic ITC font software End User License Agreement (EULA) provides the ability to embed fonts into documents in a preview and print environment only. Embedding fonts into any documents or web sites that allow editing or altering requires an additional license. Also, embedding fonts into any documents sold commercially, such as eBooks, eMagazines, eReports, etc. requires an additional license.
Font Embedding in documents
Font embedding is the ability to include font data with a document, thereby providing precise control over the appearance of text that the reader sees. Here is a summary of current font embedding solutions:
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Adobe Acrobat PDF files - Adobe Acrobat Reader and Adobe E-Book Reader’s PDF formats allow PostScript, TrueType and OpenType fonts to be embedded into a document. There are three font embedding options available: no embedding, embed the entire font and embed a subset of the font. Subsetting will only embed the characters used in the document and thus save disk space. |
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Microsoft Office files - Word, PowerPoint and Publisher software applications allow for TrueType and OpenType fonts to be embedded into documents. TrueType and OpenType fonts have a table that allows font developers to set the embedding level to one of four choices:
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Restricted License Embedding – No embedding allowed in a document. |
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Print & Preview Embedding – The font may be embedded in a read-only document, and must only be installed temporarily on the remote system. |
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Editable Embedding – The font may be embedded in a document, and must only be installed temporarily on the remote system. |
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Installable Embedding – The font may be embedded in a document, and may be permanently installed on the remote system. |
| In Microsoft Office a user can select to embed a font into a document and the program will inspect the font to determine what level of embedding is possible. |
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Macromedia Flash (SWF) files – Fonts can be embedded into the popular Flash (SWF) format used for web animations. There are many software programs that can generate the SWF format, including Macromedia’s design tools and Adobe’s LiveMotion software. |
Font Embedding for Web pages
The W3C’s Cascading Style Sheet ‘CSS’ standard gives Web site designers greater control over font specification and substitution. Support for the FONT FACE tag is common in most web browsers, including Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. The CSS tags require that the specified fonts are installed on the end user’s computer. Unfortunately there is no way to guarantee that the fonts used by the web page designer are pre-installed on the computer of their Web site visitors. To address this there are different tools available to web site designers that “embed” the fonts into their web site so visitors can also view the web pages with the same fonts.
Microsoft’s Web Embedding Fonts Tool “WEFT” – this tool allows web designers create ‘font objects’ that are linked to web pages they produce. When an end user views a web page with Internet Explorer the font objects are automatically transmitted to the end user’s computer so they see the web page in the desired font style. For more information on Microsoft WEFT visit: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/web/embedding/weft3/
For more information contact us at info@itcfonts.com. |