Before you choose a license
Four facts usually decide the answer.
1. Exact style and source
Where did this exact font style come from, and what agreement came with it? One free style does not make every style in the family free.
2. Who uses the font
Count everyone authorized to install or use the working font—not how many use it at the same time. Contractors and outside agencies are not automatically covered.
3. What the recipient gets
A working font is an installable or embedded font file that software can use to generate new text. Outlined or rasterized lettering in a finished composition is not a working font.
4. What an AI service receives
Plain text such as “shorten this headline” is different from sending a font file, glyph outlines, spacing data, or pictures of the lettering to a model.
License finder
What are you making?
Answer two or three questions for a likely route. This tool gives guidance only; the agreement delivered with the exact font still controls.
License routes at a glance
Fixed artwork
Desktop license
Logos, print, packaging, merchandise, images, presentations, and rendered video when the delivered result contains no working font or reusable character set.
Live website text
Webfont license
A browser receives a font for live, selectable text. A fixed logo or banner image remains desktop use.
Commercial embedded documents
Electronic-document license
A sold or commercial PDF, e-book, or similar publication contains embedded font software.
Standard mobile software
Mobile-app license
A working font is embedded in an ordinary iOS or Android app. Authoring apps and PC or console games need custom handling.
HTML advertising
Digital-ad and email license
A font powers live text in an HTML advertisement or email campaign, usually measured by impressions.
Complex or font-powered products
Custom or enterprise license
Servers, SaaS, cloud design platforms such as Canva, editable templates, personalization, desktop software, games, devices, OEM distribution, and other non-standard uses.
Fixed graphics inside software or hardware: a complete pre-rendered graphic containing no font or reusable characters remains desktop use regardless of the platform displaying it.
Using a public-domain font? No license is required. You may use, modify, embed, redistribute, or sell it. Browse the CC0 collection.
What the current free Desktop EULA covers
The license is worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, and non-transferable. The Licensee may be an individual or an organization. Unless the Distribution Record states otherwise, the licensed-user count is one natural person. For an organization, a Licensed Desktop User must be an employee unless the Distribution Record or a separate signed agreement expressly permits another relationship.
A Licensed Desktop User may install the font on desktop or laptop workstations under that user’s control. The user count covers everyone authorized and able to use the font, not concurrent use. Unless the Distribution Record says otherwise, there is no reproduction-volume limit for permitted finished materials.
Paid licenses through MyFonts
Styles in the Typodermic free desktop collection remain free to download here under the included Desktop EULA. MyFonts now charges for those same styles and no longer offers free license tiers for them. A free desktop download does not include a free MyFonts webfont or other embedding license.
For additional users or rights beyond the free Desktop EULA, open the exact font style in the catalog and follow its MyFonts link. Choose the appropriate paid Desktop, Company Desktop, Webfont, App, Electronic Document, or Digital Ad/Email license. Check the current options, usage limits, license term, renewal conditions, and local checkout price; prices vary by region and may change. The agreement supplied by MyFonts controls that copy.
For server use or a workflow not expressly covered by a standard option, contact MyFonts or Monotype about the rights needed. If you already obtained a MyFonts license, refer to the agreement delivered with it, including its duration and any renewal requirements.
Need a free font for live website text? The separate CC0 public-domain collection includes free WOFF2 webfonts that may be embedded without buying a license. Confirm that the exact font is a CC0 release; fonts from the free desktop collection have different terms.
PDFs and e-books
The file format alone does not decide the license. Check whether the distributed document contains working font software.
- Outlined or rasterized commercial PDF: permitted as desktop output when the lettering is fixed artwork and the PDF contains no font software.
- Protected internal or incidental PDF (called a “Non-commercial PDF” in the EULA): the current free EULA may permit embedded font software when recipients cannot extract the font, edit text through it, or compose new text. The EULA’s definition can include an internal document or a document distributed only as an incidental explanation of another product or service.
- Commercial or sold publication with an embedded font: requires a separate electronic-document license when the PDF, e-book, or similar publication is sold, licensed, or distributed as the product itself.
- Static e-book artwork: covers, illustrations, and headings containing no font software remain desktop uses.
Embedding, modification, AI, and unusual uses
Embedding and font-powered products
A separate license is needed when a working font is delivered to browsers, embedded in a commercial publication or standard mobile app, or used as live text in HTML advertising. Cloud design platforms such as Canva, editable templates, server-side rendering, SaaS, automated document or image generation, product personalization, print-on-demand, user-generated content, authoring tools, desktop software, PC or console games, hardware, firmware, vehicles, kiosks, appliances, OEM distribution, open-source software, and usage beyond the standard MyFonts selector require explicit rights. Contact Monotype before proceeding; do not assume a suitable agreement is available unless written permission expressly covers the exact workflow.
Modification and reusable characters
You may edit letter shapes after converting them to ordinary vector outlines or raster artwork in a permitted finished design. That changes the artwork, not the font software. You may not edit the font file, add glyphs, change spacing, rename or convert it, or create a derivative font under the free Desktop EULA.
Do not distribute individual letters, digits, symbols, sprites, embroidery alphabets, cutting-machine alphabets, or other assets that recipients or software can select and recombine. A separately addressable character set is not one finished composition merely because it contains outlines or pixels instead of the original font file.
AI and machine learning
The current free EULA prohibits using the font software, tables, glyph outlines, spacing or kerning data, or rendered visual elements to develop, train, or fine-tune an AI or machine-learning model. Converting letters to outlines or bitmap images does not make training permissible.
Non-rendered descriptive metadata—such as a font name, classification, or tag—may be used for automated analysis or model training when it cannot reconstruct the font, its tables, or its outlines. Ordinary use of AI-enabled software is not prohibited when no font data, lettering sample, or derived training material is supplied to a model. For example, AI may rewrite plain headline text and the font can be applied locally afterward.
If an online service, font matcher, design file, or plug-in may upload lettering previews and you do not know how the vendor uses them, check its data-handling terms before proceeding.
Other sources and older agreements
- Current Typodermic free package: use the EULA included with the exact style. The current package is available from the free desktop download page.
- MyFonts: the agreement delivered at checkout controls the selected desktop, webfont, app, electronic-document, advertising, or other license.
- Font Bros and Fontspring: neither seller offers free desktop licenses for Typodermic fonts. Styles available free in the Typodermic desktop collection require a paid license when obtained from either seller. Each seller supplies its own agreement; check its current license options, local checkout price, and terms. Ask the seller about webfont, app, or other rights rather than assuming they are included in a desktop license.
- Another seller: use that seller’s supplied agreement and contact the seller first about its terms. This page does not replace those agreements.
- Public-domain collection: fonts listed in Typodermic’s CC0 collection may be used, modified, embedded, redistributed, or sold without licensing restrictions.
- Older download: a later EULA or website revision does not change an earlier license already accepted for a delivered font version unless the Licensee expressly accepts the change.
If documents conflict, a separate signed agreement controls first, followed by a Typodermic-issued or approved Distribution Record, followed by the Desktop EULA.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still get a free webfont license for a free desktop style?
MyFonts no longer offers free webfont tiers for Typodermic’s free desktop styles. For live website text using one of those styles, obtain a paid Webfont license through MyFonts. The free desktop downloads from Typodermic do not grant web embedding rights.
If you need a free option, choose a font from the separate CC0 public-domain collection and use its WOFF2 webfont files. A fixed logo or banner image created under the free Desktop EULA remains a permitted desktop use.
Can I upload a Typodermic font to Canva or another online design platform?
Not under the current free Typodermic Desktop EULA. Uploading a font to Canva or another cloud-based design service places the working font in a cloud service and may allow other people to create or edit text. Cloud font storage, editable templates, authoring tools, personalization systems, and client-accessible font use are not included.
MyFonts also states that none of its standard online license types permits uploading or using fonts within Canva. Do not assume that a Desktop, Company Desktop, Webfont, App, Electronic Document, Digital Ad/Email, or Server license covers this use.
Contact MyFonts customer support or Monotype before uploading the font. Proceed only if you receive a written agreement that expressly covers the platform, editable-template workflow, users or clients who will have access, and every font style involved. A suitable agreement may not always be available.
As an alternative, you may convert the lettering into complete fixed graphics before placing it in the template. The template must not contain the font software or reusable character assets, and the recipient must not be able to create new text in the typeface.
If Canva or another platform supplies a font through its own built-in font library, that use is governed by the platform’s licensing arrangements. That does not permit you to upload your own copy of the font.
Can my client, contractor, agency, or colleague use my copy?
Only if that person is covered by the applicable licensed-user count and relationship rules. Contractors, agencies, clients, affiliates, and other legal entities are not automatically covered by an organization’s license. Anyone not covered should obtain an authorized copy and license.
Can I edit the lettering after converting it to outlines or pixels?
Yes, in a permitted finished design. Editing ordinary vector or raster artwork is different from modifying the font software.
Is there a print-run or merchandise-quantity limit?
Not under the current free Desktop EULA for permitted finished materials unless the applicable Distribution Record expressly states a limit. Volume does not expand the kinds of use the license permits.
Can I trademark or copyright my design?
Yes. A valid font license does not restrict trademarking or copyrighting the original design you create with the font, subject to applicable law.
How do I obtain another type of license?
Open the font’s page in the catalog and follow its MyFonts link for standard options. Contact Monotype or Typodermic if the required use is not offered or the project needs custom handling.