Convert fonts for dynamically created PDFs

Zion:

It sounds like what you want to do is have method to dynamically create new artwork and documents using fonts on a website server that isn’t the machine you have your Creative Cloud subscription activated on. Unfortunately, that’s not what the Adobe Fonts service is designed to support.

Adobe Fonts is meant to give designers the ability to create and publish static artwork and documents, using their own computer and personal work to do so. A webpage hosted on a third-party web server that dynamically creates new documents for other people on-demand requires a different form of font licensing. Most typefoundries call this form of licensing server-based or application-based licensing. And it typically mosts much more than standard font licensing.

Before subscription-based font licensing like Adobe Fonts became widely available, typefaces were sold using a form of permanent seat-based licensing. You’d typically pay a typefoundry a few hundred dollars for a license to use a typeface family on a set number of machines, normally starting at five devices. If you needed to use the typeface on more machines, you’d pay licence fees for more seats. Your licence would include detailed terms and conditions about how you could use the typeface, and how you could embed the font files into published documents like PDF files.

When it became possible to design and build websites that used specific typefaces, most typefoundries introduced various forms of website licensing. Most charged licensing fees based upon the number of times a website was viewed.

Around the same time, typefoundries introduced forms of application-based and dynamic font licensing. For example: if you built a smartphone application that used a specific typeface in its user interface, you’d pay a licensing fee to the typefoundry for the privilege. Application-based and dynamic font licences are typically much more expensive than website and desktop/print licences: they may cost anything from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you’d like to use a specific typeface for your server-based PDF document builder, I recommend directly contact the typefoundry in question. They’ll be able to explain what form of licensing you’d need to purchase, and how much it’ll cost on an ongoing basis.

If you’re not too concerned about the specific typeface you need to use – or are willing to switch your overall design system to a new typeface – you have another option. That would be to use one of the many open-source typeface families available today, which are free and typically have few licensing restrictions. Here are a few examples:

• Adobe’s Source Sans, Serif & Code
• Exljbris’ Museo Sans, Slab & Informal
• Google’s Open Sans
• Google’s Roboto
• Huerta Tipográfica’s Alegreya Sans & Serif
• Huerta Tipográfica’s Andada
• Mozilla’s Fira Sans, Mono & Code
• Paratype’s PT Sans, Serif, Root & Mono

These typefaces – and many others – are available from a variety of websites and services. Most are available directly from the typefoundry, and some from Adobe Fonts (https://fonts.adobe.com/). Another excellent website for open-source typefaces is Font Squirrel (https://www.fontsquirrel.com/).

Regarding your second question about whether your Adobe Fonts service stops working if you close your Creative Cloud account: that is correct.

If you stop your ongoing subscription to Creative Cloud, all related services stop too. That includes access to Adobe Fonts. Any websites you’ve built that rely on webfonts from the service will continue to work, but the fonts in question will no longer render as part of the design in your web browser. But any PDF files you’ve produced – and graphic files with live text that’s been converted to vector outlines – will continue to render accurately.

If there are any typefaces that you’re currently using on Adobe Fonts that you’d like to use after discontinuing a Creative Cloud subscription, you’ll need to directly approach the original typefoundries. They’ll offer a range of licences that you’ll need to purchase to continue using those typefaces.

I hope that answers your questions. If not, please let me know.

Best regards
Andrew

–30–

Thanks. One of the great things about Adobe Fonts is you get access to so many quality fonts. Less good, perhaps, is that you don't get the font files and couldn't share them anyway, but that's understandable as there are about $50,000 worth of font files in Adobe Fonts... 

Brother 1816 is a family of 32 styles. You can buy all 32 styles for $249-$2499 here, from the font makers: Brother 1816 – TipoType

Best to read the licenses carefully, you may need the server (highest price) license, since you are actually installing on a web server. Many apps and products cost enormously more for a server, because they can be used by so many people.

1. There are MILLIONS of fonts. Is this one of the fonts in the Adobe Fonts subscription? Which font specifically?

2. Do you mean - Fonts stop working on web page (having used Adobe Fonts to make the web page)? Yes.

Do you mean - fonts stop working in a PDF? No.