Managing Existing Fonts

As a type designer, you’re working to make sure your fonts are the best they can be for customers! Sometimes this means you’ll make bug fixes in your fonts, add additional characters, include additional OpenType features, or even expand the family to include new styles. You can update existing font files in Foundry Platform!

Not sure if you want to update fonts in an existing family or create a brand new family? This guide will help you to decide between creating a new family or updating an existing family. 

Log In to Foundry Platform

What you’ll need

To update existing font files, you’ll need the new font files and a customer-friendly description of what changed in the font files. 

1. Open the overview page

To update font files in an existing font family, simply click the row in the Released families section to open the overview page for the family. You’ll see a message history if there is one between you and foundry support. Below this you’ll see your family details. Click “read more” to expand the submission preview. If you are opening an older family, and see a button with a drop down indicating file type, view this guide to learn more. 

Updating older families

If you added the family before the self-service tools in Foundry Platform existed, you may need to fill in missing information or select the file type you want to keep. Read more about this here.

2. Click ‘Edit submission’

Once you’re on the overview page, click “Edit submission” to open the family editor. Below you’ll find step by step instructions for updating font files in this submission. For more information about editing details in your family page, please see this guide. While editing or updating your submission, you can cancel at any time to revert your family to its original state before you clicked "Edit submission".

3. Upload updated font files

To update font file or add new styles to the family, simply drag and drop the new font files into the upload section on the family page. A tip: if you have a large number of files you're updating, we recommend doing them in batches to make things go more quickly. Please wait a moment, then you will see a pop-up window where you’ll make selections to match the new font files with existing font files that you want to update. The names you see listed are the PostScript names in your font files. The system will attempt to automatically match the font files based on data in the name table. If you wish to create a new style, please select “Create new style”. Please only create a new style for an addition to the family. Please note that updating individual styles will also update the files in the family package(s).

After clicking “Upload”, you’ll be taken back to the main font family edit page. Any updated styles or new styles added will be highlighted in blue. The status will be indicated in green in the third column. 

⚠️  Deleting font styles

Deleting existing font styles requires support from our Foundry Team.  This is to ensure there is no disruption for current customers using the live font styles and that agreed upon grace periods are kept and communicated transparently to the customer.  If you require the removal of a font style or family, please reach out to our Foundry Team with the reason for the deletion and the style/family detail at foundrysupport@monotype.com.

4. Tell customers what changed

Next you’ll need to add your customer-friendly description of what changed about the font files. This description will be visible to previous customers in their order history page on MyFonts where they will be able to download the updated font files free of charge!

Finish making any changes to your font family page, and then click “submit” at the bottom of the page. You’re all done! A member of the foundry support team will double check your submission and then approve or send it back to you for corrections within 24 hours.

Foundry Platform allows you to submit new font families and manage existing ones. The platform includes two key sections:

• Released Families – This is where all of your existing families can be found.
• Submissions in Progress – This includes new submissions that are waiting for review, returned to you for corrections, or rejected.

Log in to Foundry Platform

Once logged in, you can begin managing your font families.

Open the Overview Page

To edit an existing font family:

1. Go to Released Families.
2. Click the row for the family you want to edit.
3. The overview page will open, showing any message history with foundry support.
4. Below this, you will see your family details. Click Read more to expand the submission preview.

Editing Older Families

If a family was added before self-service tools were introduced, you may need to complete missing information or choose which file type to keep. Read more about this here.

Steps to Edit an Existing Family

Once you’re on the overview page, click “Edit submission” to open the family editor. It’s very similar to the way you set up brand new families. Here are step by step instructions:

Step 1: Family Details and Font Files

1. You can change the family name or style names. If you do, URLs will remain the same.
2. Update font files by dragging and dropping them into the upload section. Read more about this here.
3. You may see warnings from our font validator. Select Show font test results to view all tests.
   1. These tests help prevent customer issues and ensure MyFonts quality standards.
   2. For new submissions, some errors prevent submission. Errors on older uploads will not block edits.
   3. We recommend resolving any warnings where possible.
4. Adjust the style order using the drag-and-drop arrows beside each style name.
5. Add or change designers. If a designer is missing from the list, email foundrysupport@monotype.com to have the listing created.
6. Change the default display style that represents the family. This is the style shown in search results and list pages such as What’s New, Hot New Fonts, and Bestsellers. Regular is usually recommended.
7. If you'd like to update individual font files, don't delete all the styles and drop in new fonts. Simply drop in the new files and you'll see the update module pop up. Read our guide about updating font files here. 

Step 2: Prices and Family Packs

1. Prices are shown in USD for both individual styles and the complete family pack.
2. Currency conversion happens automatically using the USD price. You can overwrite any converted price by typing directly into the fields.
3. For families with multiple styles:
   • Apply one price across all styles using the arrow icon next to the first price.
   • Create up to three sub-family packs by naming the pack, selecting styles, and adding a price.
4. Keep the 45-day pricing rule in mind:
   • Wait 45 days after changing a price before changing it again.
   • Wait 45 days after changing a price before starting a promotion.
   • After a promotion ends, wait 45 days before setting new prices.

Step 3: Description, Tags, and Category

1. Edit or add the description that appears on your family page.
   • Keep descriptions under 500 words.
   • Use thoughtful keywording to help customers discover your fonts via search.
   • Consider noting the inspiration, design intent, OpenType features, and what makes the family unique.
2. Select or update the category that best fits your family.
3. Add or delete tags. You can paste a comma-separated tag list or choose from the dropdown.

Step 4: Images

Images are essential for showcasing your fonts and appear in:

• The family page image carousel
• Pages like What’s New
• Search results

Uploading Images

Your uploaded images must follow these requirements:

• Size: 2:1 ratio
  • Recommended: 2000 × 1000 px
  • Minimum: 1440 × 720 px
• Format: PNG
• Avoid images containing racist, sexist, religious, political content, or expletives.
• Do not display prices or discounts on images.

Managing Images

• Delete images using the white x in the bottom-right corner.
• Reorder images by clicking and dragging.
• At least 5 images are required for new submissions.
• Older families may have incompatible images that do not appear in Foundry Platform. You may need to re-upload these.

As a type designer, you may need to update fonts you have already released. This might be to fix bugs, add characters or features, or refresh the design. There are two ways to update your work in Foundry Platform.

Updating an Existing Family

If your update is standard, such as fixing issues, adding characters, or adding a small number of styles, we recommend updating the existing font family in Foundry Platform.

Customers who previously purchased the fonts will see a link to download the updated files in their MyFonts order history, along with a note from you describing what has changed.

Updating an older family will not re-release it and will not make it eligible for What’s New or Hot New Fonts. However, updating families that are less than 50 days old will not affect their eligibility. They will continue to appear in What’s New and remain eligible for Hot New Fonts.

You can update existing font files in Foundry Platform. Refer to our guide for instructions on how to upload new files.

Setting Up a New Family

If your update is major, such as adding many new styles or making significant design changes, you may choose to create a brand-new family. You can submit a new family through Foundry Platform. Read this guide for detailed instructions about how to submit a brand new font.

If you choose this option, the new family must have a different family name and different URLs. Many foundries handle this by adding “Pro” to the name or selecting a completely new name.

Creating a new family makes it eligible for the What’s New page and for Hot New Fonts on MyFonts.

If you decide to fully replace the older fonts, email foundrysupport@monotype.com and our team can deactivate the existing versions. Keep in mind that customers who purchased the older fonts will not receive updates if you release the work as a new family.

Some families that were added to MyFonts prior to the Foundry Platform self-service tools may not meet our current data requirements. Editing an older family for the first time in Foundry Platform will get it up to the current family specifications. 

Why? 

We have simplified and standardized the setups on our family pages in order to create a better shopping experience for customers. Buying fonts is already tough, and most customers already struggle to understand font licensing. Imagine yourself as a customer, browsing the site and encountering wildly different buying choices across fonts from different foundries. We must do everything we can to create the best and smoothest shopping experience. We came to these decisions after much research, A/B testing, and user testing, and have seen positive impacts from standardizing our pages for customers. These standards were implemented around January 2019. 

All families should have one file type

Today we only sell one file type per submission. If your family previously contained multiple file types (OTF and TTF), you'll be able to select the file type you want to keep. In the top right corner of the family details modal, you’ll see a button indicating file type (like OTF or TTF). Today, we only sell one file type on MyFonts per family in order to create the best customer experience. 

The first time you go in to edit a family with multiple file types, you will see a drop down on this button where you can select the file type you’d like to sell. The family preview will populate with those files. Once you pick which file type you’d like to sell, then you can click “Edit submission”, which will take you to the family editor.

By clicking 'Submit' after making changes to your family, it will be saved and any products not in your submission will be deactivated. The next time you edit your submission, you won’t see this button or need to fill in any missing information.

All families must have a complete family pack

If you didn't previously have a complete family pack in your family, you'll be required to add a price for this package. This was implemented because customers expect to have the option to buy all the fonts in a family. Also, in the past, some foundries had created packages labeled "complete family pack" but did not actually contain all fonts in the family, thus causing customer confusion and refunds. Read more about pricing complete family packs. 

All fonts must be sold as singles

If some fonts were previously sold only in packs and not individually, you'll need to go in and add prices for single styles since these are now required. This is a common expectation for customers today. Learn more about pricing single fonts.

Families can have a maximum of five sub-family packs

If you previously had more than five sub-family packs in your family, please choose at most 5 to keep and delete the rest. We do not recommend having more than 5 sub-family packs as this is confusing for customers and creates a very chaotic buying experience. We recommend having one or two at most, as sub-family packs should be used as a strategic tool to encourage customers to buy more styles in your family. The ideal family layout should have one complete family pack, a set of fonts sold as singles, and a sub-family pack that is set up like a "variety pack" with the most commonly needed styles (regular, italic, bold, bold italic, etc). 

Images must be at least 1440x720pixels in PNG format

In rare cases for very old families, your images may be in an incompatible format or a smaller size and will not load, so you'll need to re-add updated images to meet our current size and format requirements to your family.

As a foundry, you can download your own font files directly in Foundry Platform. To do this, open the font family in the Released Families section and click the download icon on the right.

If you would like to deactivate a font family, please email us at foundrysupport@monotype.com with a brief explanation of the reason. Our team will be happy to help process the request.

In some cases, we may have existing commitments, such as marketing programs. When this happens, we will work with you to agree on a suitable timeline for deactivation.