By uploading font files into your Brand Library, our tools are better able to generate within the boundaries of your distinctive brand world.
Font licensing
Before you upload a font, it is worth understanding how font licensing works for a cloud platform, because it is not the same as licensing a font for use on your own computer.
Most fonts are sold with a desktop licence. This covers a font installed on a single computer and used in applications such as Microsoft Word or Adobe InDesign. Pencil works differently. It is a cloud platform, so when you upload a font it is used on Pencil's servers to render text into the creatives you generate. This kind of use is usually covered by a separate type of licence, often called a server, application, or platform licence.
Owning a font is not the same as being licensed for this use. A font licence is about how and where a font is used, not whether it was paid for. A desktop licence you bought legitimately often does not extend to use on a cloud platform, so even fonts your organisation already owns may need a different or additional licence before they can be used in Pencil.
These licences are usually priced separately from desktop licences, and the cost can be significant, so it is worth confirming licensing and budgeting for it early rather than after a project is built around a particular typeface.
If you are uploading your own font files, make sure you have the rights to use them on a cloud platform like Pencil. Review the licence terms for each font, or speak to whoever manages font licensing in your organisation, to confirm they permit this kind of use.
Using Pencil's font integrations
The simplest way to use your brand fonts is through one of Pencil's font integrations. With these, licensing is handled through your existing agreement and there is no need to upload files manually:
Monotype. If your fonts are available through Monotype, connecting your Monotype subscription lets you use them in Pencil under your existing Monotype agreement. See the benefits of a Monotype integration for more.
Adobe Fonts. If you have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, you can access your Adobe Fonts library directly in Pencil, with licensing covered by your existing Adobe agreement.
Other providers. If your fonts come from a provider outside Monotype and Adobe, Pencil may be able to support a custom integration. Speak to your account team to discuss requirements and feasibility.
Uploading your fonts
When using font files you must ensure that the file is suitable for a given language, otherwise you may see missing or incorrect characters. You can check whether a font file is suitable for a given language using a tool such as FontDrop.
You can see which fonts you have uploaded, and upload new ones, by navigating to your Brand Library and scrolling to Fonts:
