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Participant
March 2, 2024
Question

Fonts for publishing to Amazon KDP

  • March 2, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 600 views

Can I use (embed) InDesign fonts to create a PDF file of a book for printing and selling via Amazon KDP?

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
March 2, 2024

With almost no exceptions, a font that will embed in a PDF is valid for print publication. This includes all MS and Adobe fonts.

 

ETA: the usual point of font licensing and restrictions is to limit their distribution in usable form, as an asset. Once committed to print, or the print-equivalent PDF, they are 'static' and no longer an asset or resource requiring control. For e-books, it can be an issue if the fonts are included in the e-book file and can potentially be extracted for separate use.

 

There are only a small number of truly restricted fonts for which a general license is not issued or available. One I'm familiar with is UCONN, a block-letter font designed for the University of Connecticut and licensed only for use by university agencies and vendors. They are moderately aggressive in issuing C&D notices to (mostly local area) unauthorized users.

Participant
March 2, 2024

When using Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial, etc., do I have to pay the companies that own these fonts? Or are Indesign fonts already licensed?