Licensing & Installation

Web fonts from Linotype.com

We offer two ways to license web fonts on Linotype.com: “Pay as you go” and “Pay once”.
All of our original libraries (Linotype Originals, Platinum Collection, FontFont, Monotype Library, ITC Library, Bitstream and Ascender) are available for purchase using the pay as you go model.
You can purchase many fonts from our partner foundries using the pay once model.

License model Pay as you go: only pay for what you actually use.

Licensing Web fonts from Linotype.com is straightforward and easy to understand. Simply pay for the number of pageviews you think you’ll need. If you use all of your pageviews, come back to add more.

For each font you want to use, you purchase a package of pageviews that you gradually use up over time. Your pageview package does not expire – you are only required to pay again when your pageview allowance is exhausted. Our concept differs from other licensing models that require monthly payments and specify a fixed number of pageviews per month; with our system you will never pay for unused pageviews!

Additionally, our Web fonts license is not tied to a particular domain, but applies to all domains that are registered for the license holder. Visit your account page for daily reporting on the number of pageviews you’ve used, broken down by domain. You will be automatically notified when your pageview package is nearing depletion so that you have plenty of time to renew your license.

We offer an assortment of pageview packages, so you can always find a solution that best fits your needs. For packages greater than 250,000 pageviews, you have the option to specify your exact package size. As an added benefit, the more pageviews you license at any one time, the better value you receive for each pageview.

For example, our smallest package – with a package of 250,000 pageviews – each 1,000 pageviews cost 0.116 USD/EUR. In contrast, a package with a package of 10,000,000 pageviews you pay only 0.037 USD/EUR per 1,000 pageviews.

To offer some perspective, this means our smallest package – costing 29 USD/EUR – should last a small to medium-sized company (with 10,000 pageviews per month) a good 2 years, with a monthly cost of only 1.16 USD/EUR.

Again, Web fonts are even more cost-effective for your company the more pageviews you license at one time!


Save 50% off corresponding desktop fonts

When you acquire a license for one of our Web fonts from Linotype.com, you also have the opportunity to purchase the corresponding desktop font at half price! (Valid for basic license up to five workstations.) You can purchase desktop versions of your Web font selections through the font’s family page or by using your shopping cart.


Payment and installation

In the webshop at Linotype.com, available Web fonts are indicated by the “Web Fonts” tab.


To select a license for your desired package of pageviews, go to your selection’s family or product page; you can also use the shopping cart as well.

License selection on the family page



License selection at the shopping cart


Once your payment has been submitted, you can download a “Web Font Kit” providing all the files you require. This will include not just the Web fonts for which you have acquired a license for, but also the tracking code used to count pageviews on your site and a CSS file that defines the fonts for use on webpages. You will then have everything you need to quickly and easily incorporate your Web fonts in your webpages.

The Web Font Kit contains the following files:
  • Fonts: these folders contain the fonts for all supported web browsers (EOT, TTF, WOFF).
  • demo.htm: an example HTML file that uses the @import method for page tracking.
  • demo.css: an example CSS file that corresponds to demo.htm and contains the font definitions.
  • demo-async.htm: an example HTML file that uses the asynchronous JavaScript method for page tracking. This file also contains the JavaScript code that you will need for your web pages.
  • demo-async.css: an example CSS file that corresponds to demo-async.htm and contains the font definitions.

An empty CSS file is accessed on the Linotype.com servers in order to track pageviews. There are two different technical options available to you:
1) @import method: demo.css and demo.htm The tracking CSS file is activated by the @import tag in the font CSS file. You need only link the demo.css file to your web pages.
In the case of this direct method, page display commences only when the tracking CSS file is itself loaded. If you are concerned that the Linotype.com servers will be unable to respond rapidly enough, use the alternative asynchronous method.
2) Asynchronous JavaScript method: demo-async.css and demo-async.htm
In this case, the tracking CSS file is activated by a brief JavaScript code. You will need to link to your pages not only the demo-async.css file but also the corresponding JavaScript code from demo-async.htm.
In this asynchronous system, the tracking CSS file is activated by JavaScript at the same time as the page is loading. There is thus no holdup when it comes to page display.

In order to use the fonts for which you have acquired a license on your web pages, proceed as follows:
1) Copy the “Fonts” folder to your web server.
2) Decide which version of pageview tracking you would like to use and link the corresponding CSS file (and JavaScript code if necessary) to your pages.
3) Assign the corresponding HTML tags to the fonts in your CSS file. You will find examples to help you in the relevant demo files.
4) Follow the instructions for the configuration of your web server.


Web server configuration and securing your fonts

Depending on environment, you may need to configure the server to send an “access-control-allow-origin” header. For more information, see Mozilla Developer Network and W3C Cross-Origin Resource Sharing.
In their standard configuration, some web servers, specifically the IIS, lack the necessary MIME type assignments for some or all Web fonts, meaning that it is necessary to supply these retroactively. We would recommend using the “application/octet stream” MIME attachment for all Web fonts. This will ensure the best level of compatibility with the various browsers.
Our licensing conditions require you to ensure that certain security measures are in place to prevent your Web fonts being misused. Among these security measures is the use of encrypted font names, which you are thus required to retain. See the example files, where the correct font names are referenced.
In addition, your web server must be configured to ensure that the Web fonts cannot be simply downloaded if a URL is entered into a browser or using a wget command (so-called “hotlink protection”). It must also be ensured that links to the Web fonts cannot be established from external websites.


License model Pay once: you pay one time and can use your web fonts as much as you want.

It couldn’t be simpler: Purchase a subscription and there are no additional costs. The one-time flat fee lets you use the acquired fonts for ever. You only pay for additional page views if your site gets more traffic than expected. For example: If you purchase a license that covers 10,000 monthly page views and you do not receive any more than 10,000 page views a month, that license is perfect for you. You don’t need to pay any more. If your site has more traffic than expected, you should again count the number of additional page views that you expect.

After getting your license, you can host fonts directly on your own server without needed an external server. Simply download a web font kit and adapt it to your individual needs. You can purchase many web fonts from our partner foundries using the pay once model.


How to find Web fonts on Linotype.com:

On the font family page and on the product page you’ll find a tab for web fonts next to the desktop fonts tab. You can select and purchase the desired web fonts here.


Webfonts-Tutorial: useful tips and hints on the topic of Web fonts

This series of articles covers the various topics related to the use of Web fonts.
Click here for the complete list of all content published so far.


For more detailed information, please see our Web Fonts FAQ section.