CompuServe offers around-the-clock font buying

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March 1, 1994

For The Newsletter Factory, an Atlanta-based custom publisher of newsletters and magazines, the need for a new font can come at the worst times. "We'll be near deadline, the client will want a certain font we don't have--and suddenly we're in scramble mode," says owner Thom Hartmann. But Hartmann believes that because of DTP Online, a service he oversees on the CompuServe online network, those panic-filled moments are over for desktop publishers like him. Begun in late December, the service allows CompuServe members to view on screen, purchase and download commercial quality, fully licensed type fonts. Currently, FontHaus Inc., of Fairfield, Connecticut, provides about 525 ITC font faces from German foundry Elsner and Flake. The purchase price is $29, which is added to a member's CompuServe bill, and the font family is licensed to two output devices. Ordering the same font by mail costs $39 plus a shipping fee. FontHaus also charges a $12 modem fee if the customer wants the font downloaded before the master disk arrives. (Downloading a 20K to 30K font using a 2,400 to 14,400-baud modem can take anywhere from two to 10 minutes.) CompuServe expects to add more vendors shortly. Chicago-based Monotype Typography Inc. and West Haven, Connecticut-based TreacyFaces, a font company specializing in European designs, are about to sign contracts. Santa Clara, California-based Adobe Systems Inc. has expressed interest in the service. DTP Online will initially offer Macintosh PostScript fonts, but fonts in Windows and Macintosh TrueType and Windows PostScript will be placed online by the end of March. FontHaus will also be selling clip art in several weeks, and DTP Online is talking to stock photo vendors and plans to offer software utilities programs such as Adobe TypeManager.

"This is the future direction for electronic software delivery. You'll be able to get it when you want, how you want it," says Scott Cress, senior marketing manager for CompuServe.

The vendors view this online outlet as "a new means of distribution" that complements their other services, says Andrew Schwartz, general manager of FontHaus. While many font houses have CD-ROM products that allow publishers to preview a font before deciding to buy it, those electronic products have some limitations. Not every publisher owns a CD-ROM drive or wants to shell out a hefty amount of money for a library. FontHaus, for example, sells a CD-ROM with 850 font types for $4,995.

Other companies, such as Monotype, place their font libraries on a "locked" CD-ROM. Publishers call in for the code, pay by credit card, and "unlock" the CD-ROM. But the font houses may not be open when publishers find themselves in dire need of a new font. Monotype, which charges $22.50 to unlock a single font licensed to one printer, expects to charge a "competitive" price for the 250 or so fonts it will put on DTP Online from its Monotype Classic Font Library, says Paul Pegnato, channel manager for professional markets.

One drawback of the CD-ROM is that it may not hold the most current fonts. "The biggest advantage of DTP Online is that you know you're getting the most recent version," says Hartmann.