Font licenses: common use case examples
Not sure which license covers your situation? Here are answers for the most common real-world scenarios. For a full breakdown of each license type, see Font Licenses Explained.
"I'm a freelance designer making a logo for a client"
License needed: Desktop
You buy the Desktop license. You design the logo, deliver the outlined or flattened files to your client, and you're covered. Your client does not need their own license, they're receiving a finished design, not the font files.
If your client wants to install the font themselves to use it, they'll need to purchase their own Desktop license.
What about when the client uses the logo? Once you hand over the finished files (PNG, flattened PDF, outlined SVG), your client can use that logo wherever they like, social media, their website, printed materials, ads, without needing any additional license. The license covers the act of creating the design, not how the final artwork is distributed.
"I'm designing album artwork and merch for a musician"
License needed: Desktop
Desktop covers this in full, streaming platform artwork (Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp), social media images, print, and physical merch like t-shirts, posters, and packaging.
It does not matter how widely the finished design is distributed or how many people see it. The license covers how the font was used to create the work, not the audience size. A design used by an artist with 500 followers and one used by an artist with 5 million followers require the same license.
You, the designer, buy the Desktop license. The musician does not need to purchase anything, they're receiving finished artwork files, not the font.
What if the artist gets bigger over time? Nothing changes. Desktop is a one-time purchase and covers the design permanently, regardless of how the artist grows. No upgrades needed as streams or followers increase.
What if the artist wants editable files? If the musician wants to open and edit the design themselves using the actual font (not just receive finished files), they would need to purchase their own Desktop license. Sending font files to a third party is not covered by your license.
"I want to use a font on my website"
License needed: Webfont
If the font appears as live, browser-rendered text on a website, meaning a visitor can highlight it, you need a Webfont license. This applies even if the site is brand new with no traffic yet.
Webfont licenses are tiered by monthly pageviews. Start with the lowest tier (10K/month) if your site is new or low-traffic. You can upgrade later if you grow past your limit.
If you already have a Desktop license and are using the font as an image (for example, a logo exported as a PNG), that's covered by Desktop. The Webfont license is only needed when the font file itself is being served to a browser to render live text.
"I designed a logo in Illustrator and I'm putting it on my website as an image"
License needed: Desktop only
If the font is baked into an image file, exported as a PNG, SVG with outlined paths, or flattened PDF, your Desktop license covers it. The font is not being rendered by the browser as live text, so no Webfont license is required.
"I need the font on my website and in my print materials"
License needed: Desktop + Webfont
These are different types of use, so they require separate licenses. Buy both at checkout, a Desktop license for your design work, and a Webfont license at the pageview tier that matches your site traffic.
"I'm building an app and want to use a font in the UI"
License needed: App
If the font is embedded in an app, game, or desktop software, as part of the UI, in-app text, or bundled with the application, you need an App license. Desktop does not cover this.
App licenses are tiered by monthly active users. Select the right tier at checkout.
"My whole studio needs to use the font, multiple designers"
License needed: Desktop, licensed to your studio
Desktop licenses are licensed to the company they're for, not to individual users. If your studio has 2-5 people, choose the Small team declaration at checkout and everyone at the studio is covered. At 6 or more people, you'll need a Company or agency license priced on headcount at help.studio2am.co/enterprise.
"I bought the font but my client wants the font files to make edits themselves"
License needed: Your client needs their own Desktop license
Sending font files to a client is not covered by your license. Your Desktop license covers you. If the client wants to install and use the font files, they need to purchase their own license from Studio 2am.
What is covered: delivering outlined vectors, exported PDFs, and flattened images where the font cannot be extracted.
"I want to create a template that other people can edit using this font"
License needed: This use case is not covered by standard licenses
Creating editable templates, where end users type in the font themselves, is not permitted under Desktop, Webfont, App, or ePub licenses. This would require a custom licensing arrangement. Get in touch to discuss.
"I'm not sure if my use case is covered"
If your situation is not listed here, the best starting point is Font Licenses Explained, which covers what each license type does and does not permit. If you're still unsure, contact support with a description of your project and we can point you to the right license.
Related articles
Was this helpful?