Skip to main content
R
rileyh99465580
Participant
June 27, 2023
질문

Can I Modify Font for Personal Use in Children's Books?

  • June 27, 2023
  • 2 답변들
  • 1313 조회

I create children's books for self-publishing authors and there's a font a really like on Adobe Font (Chaloops) but I dislike the "a" since it's one of the stacked letters that's hard for children to read. If I make my own "a" based off the font, can I use that without any copyright issues with the rest of the font? I won't be selling it or giving it away to clients or anything, it'll only be used on my books. I'm just worried if I'm stumbling into any copyright issues. I don't think it should be an issue, but I'm worried enough that I thought it wouldn't hurt to double check. Thank you.

 

<Title renamed by moderator>

이 주제는 답변이 닫혔습니다.

2 답변

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 27, 2023

@rileyh99465580:

 

According to @Scott Falkner's screen shot, if you outline it, it's fine to modify the font. (Again, I'm an InDesign expert and not a lawyer). I did reach out to Adobe for you for an official response.

 

FWIW, outlining is discouraged these days except for two specfic reasons:

  1. You need to achieve some artistic effect with some limited text that cannot otherwise be achieved with other InDesign effects that work with text.
  2. You need vectors for purposes of sending artwork to sign cutting or similar systems that cannot handle text as realized via fonts.

 

Yours falls under the first but be aware that:

...when you “outline text” you end up with a terribly bloated PDF file that (1) takes longer to display or print, (2) may yield blotchy overly-bold looking text, (3) is not searchable, and (4) cannot be edited in Acrobat (for text touchup). Other than that, it is real dandy!

 

(Everything in italics is quoted from Dov Issacs, former Prinicple Scientist at Adobe and PDF Expert.)

 

I mentioned this yesterday, but didn't know if you understood it. If you have another font with a desirable lower case a, you can create a GREP style that will swap out one letter shape for another by assigning a character style. It's quick, automatic and you don't have to outline or worry about editing after outlining. If you have another font with an a that works, that's what I'd do. If  you additional information, of course just ask us.

 

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    R
    rileyh99465580작성자
    Participant
    June 27, 2023

    Hi Barb,

    Thanks again for your response and reaching out to Adobe. I've tried, but I'm having trouble finding someone who can answer me.
    I'll have to look into the GREP style, since that seems really handy.
    I'm going to switch the "a" and probably the "g" to a font I like, like you mentioned, but the font I'm going to change it to is one I created to mimic the look of Chaloops so it all fits together. I'm going to make a font with just an "a" and "g" so I can switch out those letters. Since I'm not doing anything to change the software of the font, since I'm making those two letters as a seperate font, I think I should be in the clear, but things like this make me anxious which is why I posted in the first place.

      HARSHIKA_VERMA
      Community Manager
      HARSHIKA_VERMACommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      July 5, 2023

      Hi @rileyh99465580,

       

      Thank you for getting in touch. I've consulted with our fonts team regarding your query, and they recommended that the best you can do is convert text to outlines and modify a character, but you can't modify or replicate the font software itself.

       

      Please let me know if this helps or if there's anything else I can assist you with.

       

      Thank you @Barb Binder, for sharing the post with me over a private message. I really appreciate your contribution to our InDesign Community. 

       

      Thanks,

      Harshika

      Barb Binder
      Community Expert
      Barb BinderCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 27, 2023

      Hi @rileyh99465580:

       

      Chaloops actually comes with two lower case a's but both are double-storey. It sounds like you want the simpler single-storey a. We aren't lawyers but I don't see any issue changing the a to a different font (I'd use a GREP style so that is automatic) as long as both fonts are licensed to you. 

       

      ~Barb

      ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
      R
      rileyh99465580작성자
      Participant
      June 27, 2023

      Hi Barb,
      Thanks for relying.
      I guess, what I'm concerned about is that I'm not changing it to a completely different font. I adjusted the Chaloops "a" and made it single story, and I'm just going to manually place it in my book. I've attached a picture to show you what I mean. People tweak fonts for logos and stuff, so I'm assuming it would be fine, since I have an Adobe subscription and downloaded the font, but I just wanted a second opinion. Thank you.

        Scott Falkner
        Community Expert
        Scott FalknerCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 27, 2023

        This might not be kosher.

        https://helpx.adobe.com/fonts/using/font-licensing.html#act-modifications

        약관 및 조건Accessibility statement
        Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices