Font Use and Licensing within the Template Designer
Fonts are software and are subject to license terms. A font licensed for use in a desktop document, logo, or printed marketing piece is not necessarily licensed for installation in a cloud-based application, server-side image generation, browser display, file conversion, or use by a third-party production provider.
Index
Overview
To support consistent badge production and responsible software-license practices, the eXpress badging® team maintains a controlled Font Registry that contains approved, under review, and customer-specific fonts for editable text and variable data used within the Veonics® Portal.
This policy applies to fonts used for:
- Names
- Titles
- Departments
- Identification numbers
- Expiration dates
- Other information generated from badge-record data
- Editable fixed text created within a badge template
Is a Standard Font Appropriate for Variable Badge Data?
In most cases, yes.
Photo ID badges and cards are organizational tools used first and foremost for secure identification. Names, photographs, titles, identification numbers, expiration dates, and other variable information must be clear, readable, and produced consistently.
Because badges are displayed throughout an organization’s facilities and campuses, they also receive significant public visibility and can contribute to brand recognition. Logos, colors, background graphics, layout, and other static design elements commonly provide the strongest brand presentation.
The exact font used for variable information is usually less noticeable. Most viewers will not distinguish among similar professional fonts used for names, titles, departments, or identification numbers. An approved standard font can therefore provide a professional appearance without introducing unnecessary licensing, configuration, testing, and maintenance costs.
Approved Veonics® Portal fonts also help provide:
- Clear and consistent variable information
- Predictable character spacing and line wrapping
- Reliable automatic font-size reduction for long names and titles
- Support for required characters and language sets
- Consistent browser previews, image rendering, PDF output, and badge printing
- Reduced software licensing and template maintenance requirements
For most organizations, an approved Veonics® Portal standard font is more than adequate for variable badge data.
When a Corporate Font May Be Appropriate?
Using a specific corporate font for variable badge data may be justified when an organization maintains a formal typography standard that applies consistently across its communications and physical environment.
Examples may include required font use across:
- Electronic documents
- Presentations and slideshow materials
- Placards
- Facility signage
- Websites and digital applications
- Employee credentials
- Other branded communications
When this level of font governance is required, the organization should plan for the costs of licensing, implementation, testing, and maintenance associated with extending the corporate font across its badge-management and production processes.
The applicable license must permit the font to be provided to and used by an authorized third-party service provider. Depending on the production process, the license may also need to permit server or software-as-a-service use, browser display, webfont deployment, server-side image or PDF generation, commercial badge production, and file-format conversion.
A desktop, Microsoft Office, graphic-design, or marketing license may not include these additional rights.
Veonics® Portal Font Availability and Approval Status
The Veonics® Portal Font Registry contains approved fonts, fonts undergoing licensing and technical review, and customer-specific fonts that may be subject to separate licensing requirements. The presence of a font in the Font Registry does not, by itself, mean that the font has completed the current approval process.
- Open Sans is the interim standard font for new badge templates while the formal font review is underway.
- Arimo is the proposed preferred default and Arial replacement. Arimo is undergoing an expedited licensing, file-verification, and technical-compatibility review before final approval.
- Arimo has character widths and spacing similar to Arial, which is expected to reduce changes in text placement, line wrapping, and automatic font-size reduction.
- Other font families shown on this page are candidate options under review and should not be considered approved unless confirmed by the eXpress badging® team.
- Availability through Google Fonts or another font library does not automatically place a font on the approved list. Each font family, version, style, file format, source, and license must be reviewed and tested.
Font approval includes testing appropriate styles and production requirements, including:
- Regular, bold, italic, and bold italic styles, when supported
- Long names and automatic font-size reduction
- Accented characters and required language support
- Browser previews
- Image and PDF generation
- Badge printing
- Consistency among production, staging, backup, and recovery environments
Existing badge templates do not need to be changed solely because a font is currently under review. The eXpress badging® team will provide guidance when a template requires review, testing, or conversion.
After Arimo completes the approval process, the eXpress badging® team will confirm whether it will become the standard font for new templates and the preferred replacement for Arial.
Customer-Requested Fonts
If your organization requests a font that is not on the approved list, the eXpress badging® team must review the applicable licensing and technical compatibility before the font can be installed or used for editable or variable badge data.
Please provide:
- The complete font family name, style, weight, and version
- The original font file obtained from an authorized source
- The name of the font owner, foundry, or authorized distributor
- A copy of the applicable license, purchase record, or other written authorization
- An approved example showing the intended appearance and formatting
- Written confirmation that the license permits the proposed use
The licensing documentation may need to authorize:
- Use by a third-party service provider
- Server or software-as-a-service installation and use
- Browser display or webfont deployment
- Server-side image or PDF generation
- Commercial variable-data and badge production
- Font embedding, conversion, or modification when applicable
By submitting a font or requesting its use, your organization confirms that it possesses the rights necessary to provide the font and authorize its intended use.
This policy supplements and does not replace the intellectual-property requirements contained in the applicable customer agreement.
The eXpress badging® team may decline a requested font when:
- Sufficient licensing documentation is unavailable
- The license does not permit the intended use
- The licensing terms cannot be independently verified
- The font was obtained from an unauthorized source
- The font is incompatible with the applicable software or production systems
Additional licensing, configuration, testing, design, or professional-service charges will be disclosed for approval before billable work begins.
Static Artwork and Variable Data
A corporate or proprietary font may often be used in static badge artwork without installing the font in the Veonics® Portal.
Your organization or authorized design provider may:
- Convert the static text to outlines in vector artwork; or
- Include the approved static text within a flattened, print-ready background image.
This approach allows corporate typography to appear in logos, slogans, department names, or other fixed design elements without requiring the underlying font software to be installed for variable-data production.
Outlined or flattened text cannot be edited as live text and cannot be used for names, titles, identification numbers, or other information that changes with each badge record.
Variable badge data must use either:
- An approved Veonics® Portal font; or
- A customer-specific font with licensing that permits the required use.
If a Requested Font Cannot Be Approved
If a requested font cannot be approved, your organization may:
- Use the current approved or interim standard identified by the eXpress badging® team
- Provide additional licensing documentation for review
- Obtain the required license from the font owner or an authorized distributor
- Supply properly licensed static text as outlined or flattened artwork
- Authorize the eXpress badging® Production team to substitute an approved font
The eXpress badging® team will work with your organization to select an alternative that preserves readability, professional appearance, and the overall badge design whenever possible.
Existing Badge Templates
Some legacy badge templates may contain fonts that are currently under review under the current Font Governance Standard.
The eXpress badging® team may contact your organization to:
- Confirm existing font-licensing rights
- Select an approved replacement font
- Review a revised badge proof
- Approve the migration of an existing template
- Establish a transition date
Existing printed badges remain valid. A font transition affects future template rendering and badge production; it does not, by itself, require previously issued badges to be replaced.
For additional information, refer to Legacy Font Transition for Badge Templates.
Questions or Assistance
Contact your eXpress badging® ID Specialist or Primary Point of Contact for assistance:
- Selecting an approved font
- Determining whether a corporate font is necessary
- Preparing licensing documentation
- Using corporate typography within static artwork
- Evaluating the effect of a font change on an existing badge design