Applying the OFL to fonts that you design

Why should I consider releasing my font under the OFL?

How do I apply the OFL to my font?

You need to make your copyright and the OFL license clear to users. To do that:

Place your copyright into the Copyright field in the font, and add any Reserved Font Names (RFNs) you wish to declare.
Place the OFL Text into the License field in the font. A link to the OFL text on the OFL website is an acceptable (but not recommended) alternative.
Add a link to the OFL website to the License URL field.
Add your copyright and a link to the OFL website to other files you include in your package (source files, build scripts, documentation, test files, etc.).
Copy the recommended OFL.txt file into your font release package, and modify the header at the top to add your copyright and any RFNs using the suggested placeholders.
(Optional but recommended) Copy the current OFL-FAQ.txt into your release package.
Add a new FONTLOG.txt file that briefly describes the project. Here is a recommended template.

You may then want to promote both your font and the OFL.

See the detailed OFL-FAQ entries below for more information. A good way to check if you’ve done everything correctly is to look at a well-established OFL font example, like Gentium, and see how that project has applied the OFL.

Can I apply the OFL to any font?

You can apply the OFL to a font only if you are the copyright holder.

For information on modifying existing fonts released under the OFL, see How to modify OFL fonts.

Should I declare any Reserved Font Names (RFNs)?

See Managing Reserved Font Names (RFNs).

How can I distribute my OFL-licensed font?

The easiest way for users to always get the most current version of the font is for you to distribute it through your own website. You can also distribute your own font source files, or host them on services such as GitHub or GitLab. You can use various channels, including social media, to promote and get attention to your project.

If you want someone else to distribute the font, consider some of the services and sites that already distribute OFL fonts. Contact them to find out how to submit fonts to them. Neither this website nor SIL will distribute your fonts for you. We also do not endorse any particular catalog or hosting service. It is your responsibility to determine if the service is right for you and if it treats authors with fairness.

Specific answers from the OFL-FAQ

The following questions and answers are color-coded to help make it easier to understand, but please do click on the question to reveal the answer and read through the details. This is only a small subset of the questions and answers available in the OFL-FAQ. Please read the full OFL-FAQ for in-depth information.

Green generally means yes. Red generally means no. Yellow means it depends on the situation. Blue means informational.

4.1 Can I use the SIL OFL for my own fonts?

Yes! We heartily encourage everyone to use the OFL to distribute their own original fonts. It is a carefully constructed license that allows great freedom along with enough artistic integrity protection for the work of the authors as well as clear rules for other contributors and those who redistribute the fonts. The licensing model is used successfully by various organisations, both for-profit and not-for-profit, to release fonts of varying levels of scope and complexity.

4.2 What do I have to do to apply the OFL to my font?

If you want to release your fonts under the OFL, we recommend you do the following:

4.2.1 Put your copyright and Reserved Font Names information at the beginning of the main OFL.txt file in place of the dedicated placeholders (marked with the <> characters). Include this file in your release package.

4.2.2 Put your copyright and the OFL text with your chosen Reserved Font Name(s) into your font files (the copyright and license fields). A link to the OFL text on the OFL website is an acceptable (but not recommended) alternative. Also add this information to any other components (build scripts, glyph databases, documentation, test files, etc). Accurate metadata in your font files is beneficial to you as an increasing number of applications are exposing this information to the user. For example, clickable links can bring users back to your website and let them know about other work you have done or services you provide. Depending on the format of your fonts and sources, you can use template human-readable headers or machine-readable metadata. You should also double-check that there is no conflicting metadata in the font itself contradicting the license, such as the fstype bits in the os2 table or fields in the name table.

4.2.3 Write an initial FONTLOG.txt for your font and include it in the release package (see Section 6 and Appendix A for details including a template).

4.2.4 Include the relevant practical documentation on the license by adding the current OFL-FAQ.txt file in your package.

4.2.5 If you wish you can use the OFL graphics on your website.

4.3 Will you make my font OFL for me?

We won’t do the work for you. We can, however, try to answer your questions. Unfortunately we do not have the resources to review and check your font packages for correct use of the OFL. We recommend you turn to designers, foundries or consulting companies with experience in doing open font design to provide this service to you.

4.4 Will you distribute my OFL font for me?

No. The easiest way for users to always get the most current version of the font is for you to distribute it through your own website. You can also distribute your own font source files, or host them on services such as GitHub or GitLab. You can use various channels, including social media, to promote and get attention to your project. If you want someone else to distribute the font, consider services and sites that already distribute OFL fonts. Some of those are listed on ofl-fonts. Contact them to find out how to submit fonts to them. We do not endorse any particular catalog or hosting service. It is your responsibility to determine if the service is right for you and if it treats authors with fairness.

4.5 Why should I use the OFL for my fonts?

Here are a few of the many good reasons:

to meet needs for fonts that can be modified to support lesser-known languages
to provide a legal and clear way for people to respect your work but still use it (and reduce piracy)
to involve others in your font project
to enable your fonts to be expanded with new weights and improved writing system/language support
to allow more technical font developers to add features to your design (such as OpenType, Graphite or AAT support)
to renew the life of an old font lying on your hard drive with no business model
to allow your font to be included in Libre Software operating systems like Ubuntu
to give your font world status and wide, unrestricted distribution
to educate students about quality typeface and font design
to expand your test base and get more useful feedback
to extend your reach to new markets when users see your metadata and go to your website
to get your font more easily into one of the webfont online services
to attract attention for your commercial fonts
to make money through webfont services
to make money by bundling fonts with applications
to make money adjusting and extending existing open fonts
to get a better chance that foundations, NGOs, charities, or companies who commission fonts will pick you
to be part of a sharing design and development community
to give back and contribute to a growing body of font sources

5.1 What are Reserved Font Names?

These are font names, or portions of font names, that the author has chosen to reserve for use only with the Original Version of the font, or for Modified Version(s) created by the original author.

5.5 So what should I, as an author, identify as Reserved Font Names?

Original authors are encouraged to name their fonts using clear, distinct names, and only declare the unique parts of the name as Reserved Font Names. For example, the author of a font called “Foobar Sans” would declare “Foobar” as a Reserved Font Name, but not “Sans”, as that is a common typographical term, and may be a useful word to use in a derivative font name. Reserved Font Names should also be single words for simplicity and legibility. A font called “Flowing River” should have Reserved Font Names “Flowing” and “River”, not “Flowing River”. You also need to be very careful about reserving font names which are already linked to trademarks (whether registered or not) which you do not own.

5.6 Do I, as an author, have to identify any Reserved Font Names?

No. RFNs are optional and not required, but we encourage you to use them. This is primarily to avoid confusion between your work and Modified Versions. As an author you can release a font under the OFL and not declare any Reserved Font Names. There may be situations where you find that using no RFNs and letting your font be changed and modified - including any kind of modification - without having to change the original name is desirable. However you need to be fully aware of the consequences. There will be no direct way for end-users and other designers to distinguish your Original Version from many Modified Versions that may be created. You have to trust whoever is making the changes and the optimizations to not introduce problematic changes. The RFNs you choose for your own creation have value to you as an author because they allow you to maintain artistic integrity and keep some control over the distribution channel to your end-users. For discussion of RFNs and webfonts see section 2.

6.1 What is this FONTLOG thing exactly?

It has three purposes: 1) to provide basic information on the font to users and other designers and developers, 2) to document changes that have been made to the font or accompanying files, either by the original authors or others, and 3) to provide a place to acknowledge authors and other contributors. Please use it!

6.2 Is the FONTLOG required?

It is not a requirement of the license, but we strongly recommend you have one.

Last updated on 24 January 2024