Basic Licensing
Frequently asked questions
Basic Licensing

I’m interested in a testing license. How do I arrange it?

Please use our contact form to request a testing license of any of our fonts. For a testing inquiry regarding Freight please address all questions to Phil’s Fonts.

I have reviewed your standard EULA and want to use the fonts in way that is not permitted under the license. How may I obtain additional rights?

Most additional uses are permissible with the purchase of an Addendum. Please write to us, via our contact form, and describe your additional use in order to request a quote.

My company uses a font server or virtual machines. How do I know what size license to purchase?

Simply count the number of computers that will be able to access the fonts and add one for each computer of the server. This is true even if your font server permits you to restrict the number of simultaneous users. For example: If you have a three CPU font server and eight computers that will be able to use the fonts from the server, you need an eleven CPU license.

I have an existing a la carte license; may I add more styles to it?

Yes, please contact us directly to modify your license.

I would like to use your fonts on a product I will offer for sale. Is that allowed?

Yes, with one notable exception, if your use is on printed material or a static image it is permitted by our standard license even if it is incorporated into a product or its packaging. We do not permit licensees to use our fonts to make letter-form products as defined by section 1.d. of the Basic License.

I would like to use your font to make a logo. Do I need to pay for additional licensing?

Yes, so long as the logo is rendered in a static form additional licensing is not required.

I love Birra! What sorts of usage am I permitted with it?

Birra is made available subject to the conditions that are contained in our standard EULA. Click here to view the EULA.

Legal documents confuse me. Are there a few easy rules for me to follow so I know what I can and can't do without purchasing additional rights?

Yes… and no. Here’s your cheat sheet: One, the Basic License permits only the named licensee to use the font files. Two, the named licensee is allowed to use the fonts in static format and to send static files to any unlicensed user (the exception is that use of the fonts – even statically – as a letter-form product is prohibited). Three, any live electronic use requires an Addendum. Four, no one is allowed to modify the font files without our specific permission. But our lawyer makes us add the “… and no” because a short list cannot replace a four-page document. When in doubt, ask us via the contact form or consult an attorney.

Does the basic license cover ePub?

Since the basic license permits non-editable PDF embedding, there’s a good chance an e-publication is covered. If your e-publication is made in a manner other than generating a read-only PDF, please contact us so we can determine if you need an addendum.

I don’t want to pay extra for a webfont, but want to use your fonts on my website: is there a “free” option that's permitted by my Basic License?

Yes, our Basic License permits the use of our fonts as static images on websites without any additional licensing.

Do I need to renew the basic license every year?

No. Basic licenses are perpetual.

When counting the CPUs for the license I need to buy, can I add the CPUs of my design agency onto my own license?

No. Basic licenses only cover installation on computers owned by a single entity. The easiest way for your agency to use the fonts is with their own separate license. Alternately, you can purchase a distribution addendum for four times the cost of a basic license.

Web and Application Embedding

What if my website is a single or multipage app?

In this case, we cannot price according to the Average Monthly Page Views. We instead use the Average Monthly Unique Visitors (AMUV). The pricing table is the same as the one posted for the application addendum. To calculate AMUV you must generate a report for each month separately before totaling and dividing by twelve. Please do not generate a report for the entire year, which will produce an artificially low number which we are unable to use.

We want to use webfonts for one subdomain of our website. Can we get a webfonts license limited to that?

Our standard webfonts pricing is based on the average page views for the entire website. Our experience is that limited uses often migrate to larger areas of a site, and it’s hard for us (and you) to keep tabs on limited uses. We are able to license part of a website only in a few exceptional situations where the area is by definition or design very separate from the rest of the website, giving us a high degree of confidence that the use will not migrate. For example, a daily publication that has a separately branded magazine which uses its own style guide and employs separate design staff is likely to qualify whereas a company which uses a font only for a blog associated with its primary brand is not. If you think your situation might qualify please contact us to start a conversation. Only licensees who obtain prior permission for an exception to the whole website pricing model will be eligible.

Do you have relationships with any third-party webhosting services?

Yes, all of our fonts are available via Adobe TypeKit.

My Web Embedding Addendum is about to expire and I’ve decided not to renew. What steps must I take to cease use?

We’re sad to see you go. In order to comply with the expiration of your addendum, you must remove all reference to the licensed font(s) in the website code. To be clear, “commenting out” the references to the font files, that is not removing them but simply adding an instruction in the code that keeps the fonts from rendering, is not sufficient. As always, you are still permitted to use static image files that make use of the typeface on your website, so long as the images were made on a licensed CPU. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Our “website” is actually made up of a bunch of URLs, some of which belong to third-party vendors. Will you let me license them? Do I need more than one addendum?

We completely understand. That’s why we license by brand! So long as all domains prominently display the brand and are clearly associated with it, you can use the webfonts on an unlimited number of sites. You can either provide the AMPV as a total or for each site. When we issue the license we will the display a total maximum based on the top of your pricing tier (which is based on adding together the AMPV from all your sites).

With regards to web embedding, what does AMPV stand for?

AMPV stands for “Average Monthly Page Views”. We will take the monthly average over a 12 year period for all sub-directories and sub-domains of all websites. Additionally, if your websites use technology which populates content without affecting the page view count, please provide the approximate percentage of end user interactions which are of that nature. If your site is new, we will accept your best guess and reconcile at the end of the year.

I’d like to know what it will cost to add web/application embedding… is that publicly posted?

For more information and a pricing table please refer to our “Exemplar EULA” page.

I’m about to request a quote for self-hosted webfonts, what information do you need?

We determine price from two data points: One, the Number of Styles. Two, the Average Monthly Page Views (AMPV).

What does AMAU stand for with regards to Application Embedding?

AMAU stands for “Average Monthly Active Users”. This refers to the users of your app and is a metric we will expect you to collect and report to us. We will take the monthly average over a 1 year period.

We’re making versions of our app for both iOS and Android. Do we need to get two addenda?

You only need one! We license by brand and permit the font to be embedded in an unlimited number of apps associated with the brand partly to be platform neutral. Also, this way existing app embedding licensees don’t have to tell us every time you add an app – just make sure to provide the average active monthly users for all apps in which the fonts are embedded at the end of the license year when you report actuals.

Can I embed your fonts in my application?

We license permission for embedding via an Addendum to our Basic License. The Addendum can only be issued to the owner of the brand associated with the application(s), so they must also be the holder of the Basic License. Licensing is platform neutral. Licensees who do not need to install the fonts for desktop use can be issued a zero user basic license. For more information and a pricing table please refer to the “application addendum”, “info” and “pricing” tabs of our “exemplar EULA” page. As with all addenda, application embedding must be licensed directly with us and can’t be done over our website. To get a quote please send a request using our contact form.

Pricing

My company has more than one location. Do I need to license each separately?

No. Our licenses are issued to a company. As long as the fonts are installed on computers owned by the named company, it does not matter where the computers are located.

My company owns other companies and/or multiple brand identities. Do I need to license each separately?

Yes. Our licenses are intended for the use of the named licensee only. If the entity named in the license is the parent company, then its use will be limited to the business of the named parent company and will not include the business of the subsidiaries.

How does your desktop pricing model work?

Our pricing model discounts the price per CPU whenever more than one CPU is licensed and/or more than one style is licensed. For Halyard and Omnes, we also apply discounts if a license contains more than one sub family.

Do you offer educational discounts?

Yes. All people with valid IDs from accredited educational institutions are eligible for a 50% discount (as are the institutions themselves). For a license covering fewer than 250 CPUs, please first apply for a discount code by filling out the application on our contact form. You will need to be ready to upload an image of your valid ID when you submit the form. Unfortunately, we are not able to issue discounts once a purchase is complete.

Do you offer discounts to charities?

We determine, on a case by case basis, if we are able to offer a 50% discount to a qualifying charity. Please use our contact form to request consideration.

Why can't I buy more than six styles a la carte?

You really don’t want to do that. In fact, in order to save you money, we programmed our shopping cart to prevent a la carte purchases of more than six styles (because after that point it actually costs more than buying the complete family).

Do you sell enterprise licenses?

We sell what we call a “Group License,” which permits the licensee to install the fonts on an unlimited number of computers that are owned by it, within a defined group. Any group of more than 120 users, that can be defined, can be licensed. As with all large licenses, we process purchases of Group Licenses manually. If you would like to arrange one, please use our contact form to initiate the purchase. If you would like to allow the font software to be used by an unlimited number of individuals who are not employees of the licensee, you may separately purchase an unlimited Distribution Addendum to your License.

Accounting Support

Can I get a VAT receipt?

In our experience, formal “VAT receipts,” contain (among other details) the VAT number of the seller. As a U.S. company, we do not collect or report VAT. It is therefore impossible for us to generate a VAT receipt. If a receipt on letterhead referencing your VAT number would suffice, you may request one using our contact form. Please be sure to provide your shop order number.

My company is tax-exempt in New York State. How do I arrange to pay for my license without being charged sales tax?

Any purchase on our website will automatically include sales tax to New York State entities. Therefore, please use our contact form to let us know what you would like to buy, and be sure to attach proof of your tax-exempt status. We will manually process your order.

I can see that the shopping cart asks for both “licensee” and “billing” information. What will happen if I enter different information in the two sections?

Entering different information in the licensee and billing sections at check-out will cause our website to send separate emails to the email addresses you provided: one to the licensee, which will contain the download link for the fonts and the End User License Agreement but no payment information; and one to the payee, which contains the receipt but no link to download the font.

Can I get an invoice for the order I already completed on the website?

Our system automatically sends an electronic receipt upon completion of online purchases. Invoices are not created during an online purchase and cannot be made retroactively.

Technical Support

Darden Studio provides OTF files with CPU licenses. What if I need a font in a format other than OpenType?

If you need a format that is not on our website, please do not make an online purchase. Instead, use the contact form to describe to us what you require. We can then let you know the time and cost (if applicable) to provide you with the alternate file format. In most cases, we can provide an alternately formatted font within a few business days at a modest or no cost.

Why can’t I buy a license on your website for more than 250 CPUs?

To protect your security, we take all orders for licenses of 251 and more CPUs manually. To complete your order, please use our contact form to let us know what you would like to buy.

I just licensed one of the new Omnes Widths. I have an old license for Omnes - is it compatible?

Strictly speaking, yes. However, it will look better if you update your Omnes Standard. We’ll give it to you for free, just use our contact form and provide your license number.

Is there a difference between “Omnes”, “Omnes Pro” and “Omnes Standard”?

This one is complicated. The short answer is that, in practical terms there is not. Here’s the long answer: It’s good to keep font file and menu names short, so no font file ever had the name Omnes Pro – it has always just been “Omnes.” When we released Omnes Widths in May of 2018 we dropped the “Pro” from our website and started referring to the original width as “Standard” just so it’s easier to talk about but, again, we have not changed the file name. Omnes Standard is an update with bug fixes and we recommend transitioning to it. Anyone with a license of Omnes that predates the release of widths can get a free update to the most recent build by using our contact form and providing their order hash.

I licensed and installed a bunch of styles, but I’m not seeing the Bold in the dropdown menu of my software. How do I access it?

The fonts were installed properly. However, some software only allows you to access Bold through a keystroke or button push, not the dropdown menu.

A while ago, I purchased a license with you. I need to install the fonts again on a licensed CPU, but I don’t have a copy of the files. What should I do?

Please use our contact form to ask that we refresh your download link. When you do, in order to quickly find your order, please be sure to include your Order Number or any other information you can provide about your purchase.

I have an existing license. May I add more users (CPUs)?

Yes. Our pricing model incorporates bulk discounts, so you will save money by paying the difference between your existing license and the new one (instead of purchasing a second license). We make this change manually, so please simply use our contact form to let us know the number of users you would like to add. Be sure to provide your Shop Order or License Number.

Working with Clients and Vendors

I'm a graphic designer, and I want to purchase a font on behalf of my client. May I do so on your website?

Yes. Just be sure to enter your information in the “payee” section and enter your client’s information in the “licensee” section. Our website will send two separate emails: one to the licensee, which will contain the download link for the fonts and an exemplar End User License Agreement but no payment information; and one to the payee, which contains the receipt but no link to download the font. Since all licenses are non-transferable and purchases made on our website cannot be refunded, please take special care to be sure that you enter the correct entity as the licensee. For licenses of more than 250 CPUs, you may still purchase on behalf of a client by using our contact form.

I'm a reseller. May I make a purchase for my client on your website?

Resellers must obtain permission from us before making a purchase on our website. In order to start the process, please write us using the contact form.

If I add some additional users to my license can I give the font files to my marketing, branding, graphic design or web-development vendor?

No, as the Basic License permits the font to be installed only on computers owned by the named licensee. In most cases, the best way to license third parties is for them to purchase an additional license. Clients who change vendors with some frequency will save money by purchasing a Distribution Addendum.

What is a Distribution Addendum?

A Distribution Addendum is a good option for companies who have a changing list of outside vendors. It permits a licensee to share the font files with outside individuals and organizations without separate licensing.

Does my printer need a License to print my materials?

No, the Basic License permits distribution to 2D printers on the condition that they delete the fonts on completion of the project.

Modifications and Custom Work

We've chosen one of your fonts because it's perfect... except that there are a few glyhphs we don't like. Can we get you to change them?

Yes. But first please check out the stylistic alternates already built into the font. There’s a very good chance we thought of that and already made it. If you still want us to modify the font (possibly to swap alternates for you) please use our contact form to let us know what you want and how many styles. We will provide you with a quote for labor and make a special renamed build for you.

Adobe Users

Does my Adobe Creative Cloud license permit self hosted web embedding?

No. Adobe can only license uses hosted by them. If you need a license for self-hosting please contact our office.

Does my Adobe Creative Cloud license permit application embedding?

No. Adobe can only license uses hosted by them. If you need a license for application embedding please contact our office.

I’m using one of your fonts via Adobe Creative Cloud Typekit embedding, so I also need a license from Darden Studio?

You do not need a license from us if all of your needs are covered by Adobe.

I'm making a logo (broadcast, social media, etc.) for my client with an Adobe Creative Cloud license, do they also need a license?

No. Any basic level use can be licensed either through us or Adobe and doesn’t need to be licensed twice. Both our basic level and the Adobe CC license permit you to make images that you deliver to clients. Your client will only need a license from us if they need to directly install the fonts on computers.

I have an Adobe Creative Cloud license and need to embed these fonts on my client's website, how do I do that?

If your client doesn’t also have an Adobe CC license, they will need to get a license from us to permit the embedding, which can only be obtained through our office.

I have an Adobe Creative Cloud license, is everything I need covered?

The licensing offered by Adobe duplicates our basic license. If the only thing you need to do is install the fonts on your computer to create graphics then you are covered. If you need web embedding and you are happy with hosted web embedding then Adobe offers that too. Adobe doesn’t give you the right to self host fonts, which is also not covered by our basic license, and requires a web embedding license from us. This is the same with app embedding. Here is a list of the most common (but not all) of the non-embedded uses that some foundries require additional licensing for but which are covered by both types of basic licensing (Adobe’s and ours): product packaging, broadcast, logo, social media images.

Miscellaneous

How do I license Freight?

All purchases of Freight should be made from Phil’s Fonts, Inc., www.garagefonts.com. They can be reached by email at info@philsfonts.com and by phone at 1-800-424-2977.

Can I intern with you?

Unfortunately, we are not taking on any interns.