embedding on the web
Embedding fonts is tricky these days. Browser makers and font makers are still trying to come up with a system that works for everyone. For general information on web embedding, visit Readable Web and subscribe to updates. Here are some current embedding options:
Raster Graphics
This isn’t technically embedding: the licensed font user creates bitmap graphics (gif, png, jpg) for headlines and titles. The rendered text is added to the site just like any other image. The standard license agreement covers this type of use. If the font resides on a server and software renders titles automatically, a custom license agreement from Ascender Corporation is required. See the section on FLIR below. Raster graphics are not scalable and the words within are not web searchable. They work on every web browser except some older mobile browsers which can only display text.
@font-face linking
Most browsers will let you assign @font-face linked fonts in a style sheet. When the page is displayed in a browser, the fonts are loaded on the user’s system. This way you can define any fonts you like on a website. It sounds perfect but it’s not. By @font-face linking, you’re placing a bare font on a web server with no attached license agreement. The font can be downloaded directly from a URL. My standard license agreement doesn’t allow bare @font-face linking. Typekit is a company that securely serves fonts for @font-face linking and provides a license which allows that type of use. Fontspring sells modified Typodermic fonts with a custom license agreement which allows @font-face linking.
the Larabie Fonts collection
Fonts from the Larabie Fonts Collection follow the same embedding rules as the main Typodermic Fonts collection with one exception: you can make your own @font-face embeddable version. Change the font’s filename to something difficult for potential remote linkers and other nasty people to guess (sort of like a password). Try to protect the fonts from direct downloading as much as you can. Fonts with the old license agreement are not allowed to be @font-face linked so make sure you get the latest versions.
WOFF embedding
Web Open Font Format. You can convert my fonts to WOFF and use them on a web site. It hasn’t been adopted by many browsers yet but they’ll catch up.
Embedded OpenType
Embedded OpenType has been in use for over a decade. Fonts are converted from TrueType format into an EOT (Embedded OpenType) font using a conversion tool called WEFT. The resulting font is subset; unused characters are removed. This makes the file smaller and a less useful to those who might try to extract them. The resulting font is restricted to a specific domain. Software compression makes EOT fonts load very quickly. The main disadvantage of EOT is that it currently only works in Internet Explorer for Windows. You don’t need a special license agreement to do EOT embedding, the standard license agreement is fine.
EOTFAST is a tool whuch allows you to convert your own compressed EOT Lite so they download even faster.
EOT Lite
It's essentially Embedded OpenType with the domain restrictions and compression removed. EOT Lite is backwards compatible with older versions of Internet Explorer for Windows, even versions from a decade ago. Most Typodermic Fonts are available as EOT Lite with a corresponding web use license from Ascender Corp, if not now, then soon. You don’t need a special license agreement to do EOT Lite embedding, the standard license agreement is fine.
sIFR
Scalable Inman Flash Replacement uses Flash to embed fonts on a site. It’s more useful for headings, not body text. If the user doesn’t have Flash installed, the text will appear as plain text according to style sheet rules. It’s not the ideal web embedding solution but it works right now. You don’t need a special license agreement to do sIFR embedding, the standard license agreement is fine.
Cufón embedding
Cufón uses JavaScript to embed fonts on a site. You don’t need a special license agreement to do Cufón embedding, the standard license agreement is fine. However, you must enable domain restriction and you can’t include all glyphs: use a subset.
FLIR embedding
FLIR embedding is supported but you must use the custom license for @font-face linking from FontSpring. When you embed the font, it must be the same version as it provided for @font-face use.
Other types of web embedding
If there’s a type of web embedding I haven’t covered, maybe I don’t know about it. Contact me.
embedding in PDF documents
The current license agreement allows embedding in PDF documents. If you have trouble embedding, make sure you have the latest version of the font.
other types of embedding
For embedding fonts in software, installing on web servers or any other type of use you’re not sure about. Contact Ascender Corporation. Explain which fonts you’d like to use and what your intentions are and they’ll be able to help you.