A Complete Guide to Font Licensing for Freelancers

Font licensing can be a daunting process to navigate. Here are a few tips to get you started in the right direction.

When building a successful website, fonts play an essential role. Choosing the wrong font can greatly affect your website's personality. If you are a freelancer and trying to find ways to use fonts, you are in the right place. Let's go ahead and dive right in.

What are Free Fonts?

Font licensing is a complicated process and is needed in order to use your required font in websites or projects. Additionally, if a font has been labeled as 'free,' it doesn't necessarily mean that you can use it on every level. Some fonts like, Gotham font, are free only for personal use. However, there are some fonts that are free both for personal and commercial use.

DaFont is a website that notes whether a particular font is free to use or requires a license. Sometimes designers only share a demo version of their font that you can later purchase from other websites. Let’s take an example of sans-serif fonts, which are mostly free for personal use, but when it comes to commercial use, require a license.

Types of Fonts

As mentioned above, there are two types of fonts—free and paid. The type of license depends on the font that you need for your website. If it is free, then you can use it without any purchase, but if it is a paid version, you are bound to buy the license.

Google Fonts & Free Fonts

Google fonts are those fonts that come under the category of open-source license, and such fonts are totally free to be used on every big and small level. You can use Google fonts on every website, whether it is commercial or non-commercial. You can find many sans-serif and serif fonts that are Google fonts and are being used everywhere because of free usage.

However, the term Google doesn't mean that these fonts are designed by Google. It means that they are originated by the designers who have contributed to Google. In order to use them in your websites, download the font from trustworthy sites, and once they are downloaded, start using them. However, the main thing to mention here is that Google fonts are not the highest quality, so be sure to use them carefully.

Paid Fonts

Now comes the paid fonts that may be a great fit to be used on your websites and for projects. Though they are required to be purchased, they have the potential to elevate your website and set it apart from others. If you are looking to use a font for a large website or brand, then there is no option other than using paid fonts. Paid fonts fall under two categories:

Simple License

A simple license includes different font types, the first being Adobe Fonts on Creative Cloud. You can utilize all fonts on Creative Cloud for any purpose. No credit is needed for Adobe. Once you cancel your Adobe Fonts subscription, you are no longer able to use these fonts.

Another simply licensing program is Mac System fonts that are mainly used for personal and commercial projects. Though you can use the font on a commercial and non-commercial level, you are not allowed to distribute the electronic typeface file.

Complicated License

Complicated licenses are being released under Type Foundry. The fonts that were made by metals come under Type foundry. If you go for a complicated license, you will witness a detailed licensing process.

They are not for small projects, so as a freelancer, if you reach this level, it is a big achievement for you. These are usually used by big companies and brands because they are specifically designed for them. You will come across many big players in this license, including Monotype, Linotype, Hoefler & Co., etc.

Being a designer, you should be aware of the term font licensing and how to use the licensing fonts in your website. Paid fonts are beneficial because they are unique and are made with perfection, while free fonts are full of faults and are already used by many websites around the globe.