Adobe Edge Web Fonts

September 24, 2012 3:42 PM

Adobe is getting in on Google's act, offering 500 font familes of Typekit fonts for you to use for free on your website.
posted by crunchland (42 comments total)

Comic Sans
Comic Sans Bold
Comic Sans Italic
Comic Sans Bold Italic
Comic Sans Sans
posted by blue_beetle at 3:46 PM on September 24, 2012 [8 favorites]

Is it bad that I went to the list for those, blue_beetle?
posted by deezil at 3:48 PM on September 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also released by Adobe today: Source Code Pro, a free, open source, monospace sans font for coding. Looks pretty good in my first run through it. Unlike the other fonts above, this one includes ttf files for installation.
posted by jenkinsEar at 3:49 PM on September 24, 2012 [13 favorites]

For these to be worthwhile over Google Web Fonts, I need everyone to start using these so that they'll be cached in my visitor's browsers. Thanks.

...why are you still here? Get to coding!
posted by thanotopsis at 3:51 PM on September 24, 2012

It doesn't seem like Adobe is getting in on Google's act at all. Google outright released the fonts under open source licenses so you can download them, use them offline and in print, redistribute them, and generally modify them (most look like they are Apache Licensed as far as I can tell). If you want, you're free to serve them yourself instead of having Google do it, though you can lose some caching advantages that way.

Instead, Adobe seems to have these fonts under highly restrictive terms that forbid any offline use and prohibit you from downloading the actual fonts. Thus, the only way to use them is to have Adobe serve them on your behalf, which means they can turn them off or ban you at anytime. You couldn't even bundle them into a mobile app, though you could have a mobile app display them in an HTML web view. Indeed, the 500 font families Adobe is offering includes all the ones Google has as part of their WebFonts offering.

I'm not a massive "free as in freedom" zealot, but having all these fonts disappear from your website in an instant if/when Adobe decides to turn the servers off isn't so great for web designers.
posted by zachlipton at 4:07 PM on September 24, 2012 [23 favorites]

> Also released by Adobe today: Source Code Pro, a free, open source, monospace sans font for coding. Looks pretty good in my first run through it.

Oh, hello, new Terminal typeface.
posted by NordyneDefenceDynamics at 4:09 PM on September 24, 2012

jenkinsEar: "Also released by Adobe today: Source Code Pro, a free, open source, monospace sans font for coding"

This font is totally acceptable.
posted by boo_radley at 4:09 PM on September 24, 2012

That's a good distinction, zachlipton. Thanks for pointing it out.
posted by crunchland at 4:17 PM on September 24, 2012

Also released by Adobe today: Source Code Pro, a free, open source, monospace sans font for coding.

This is really nice for coding. I liked Source Sans Pro, but it wasn't monospaced — good on Adobe to do a fixed-width version. I was using Menlo in Terminal, but the lighter weight of Source Code Pro is an excellent replacement, so far.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:17 PM on September 24, 2012

This is funny to me, because I just switched from TypePad to Google, yesterday!
posted by cell divide at 4:23 PM on September 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

I meant TypeKit, obv, but adding this comment so I don't get MovableType related snark!
posted by cell divide at 4:23 PM on September 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Apparently Adobe is intent on making these fonts as difficult to use as possible, since there is no catalog of the fonts, and no way to see a bunch of them at once. You have to click on them one by one to get a sample. Adobe could learn a lot from FontFont.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:24 PM on September 24, 2012 [3 favorites]

So, anyone got any recommendations for the most-readable-on-the-screen font to use as one's default font for browsing the web?
posted by straight at 4:37 PM on September 24, 2012

So, anyone got any recommendations for the most-readable-on-the-screen font to use as one's default font for browsing the web?

You like Fords or Chevvys?
posted by Jimbob at 4:41 PM on September 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

By having to provide a link to Adobe's JavaScript file, Adobe also gets a wealth of information on the browser clicking on the page where the scripts are embedded, as well as the web site itself. Info collected includes counts of clicks by web site, IP Addresses, and browser header information. Browser header information shows what browser is being used, what plug-ins they have installed, and what operating system and/or device is being used. This kind of information can be mined in a number of different ways, particularly building a profile of web sites that particular IP addresses follow, which might later be used to deliver targeted ads, even on sites not related to any that the fonts are on.

They aren't giving those fonts away, they are trading it in exchange for information about the web sites and users.
posted by Xoc at 4:45 PM on September 24, 2012 [14 favorites]

In true Adobe-ian fashion, I expect laggy browser syndrome to occur when utilizing it. But I will try it out.. soon.. really, must just.. aaaaargh
posted by xcasex at 4:59 PM on September 24, 2012

The licence restrictions will keep me away from the adobe edge fonts, but source code pro is definitely likely to replace meslo medium and Ubuntu mono as my go to coding font. Very nice indeed.

(Meslo is Menlo with added vertical space, I find vanilla Menlo a touch cramped).
posted by ArkhanJG at 5:05 PM on September 24, 2012

Why mess with a service? Just take a font you like, go to Font Squirrel, and follow the directions to make your own @font-face font. Takes 2 or 3 minutes. Download the files and serve them yourself.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 5:17 PM on September 24, 2012

I wonder if the fonts request an update every three days, and then the download never actually starts.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:24 PM on September 24, 2012 [7 favorites]

prohibit you from downloading the actual fonts.

My understanding of the word "free" as in "a free thing," says that the possession of the free thing is the defining feature for the recipient of the free thing.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:33 PM on September 24, 2012

well that's nice i guess, but if i can't use it in a mockup, then most likely i won't use it on a live project.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 5:33 PM on September 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

jenkinsEar: "Also released by Adobe today: Source Code Pro, a free, open source, monospace sans font for coding"

Unfortunately there are no italic fonts. That might make it slightly less convenient for coding, unless you're not into commenting your code. :)
posted by hambone at 5:45 PM on September 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

My understanding of the word "free" as in "a free thing," says that the possession of the free thing is the defining feature for the recipient of the free thing.

You must be new at this whole internet thing, eh?
posted by zachlipton at 6:00 PM on September 24, 2012

Eh, I use sublime text which changes the colour of comments instead of italicising them. Could be irritating though. Hope they fix that!
posted by ArkhanJG at 6:03 PM on September 24, 2012

You couldn't even bundle them into a mobile app, though you could have a mobile app display them in an HTML web view

Precisely my thoughts.
posted by the cydonian at 6:04 PM on September 24, 2012

Unfortunately there are no italic fonts. That might make it slightly less convenient for coding, unless you're not into commenting your code. :)

My emacs modes are configured to color comments differently from keywords, class and variable names, etc. so the lack of italics doesn't affect my work too much.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:19 PM on September 24, 2012

Still no Gotham.
posted by scamper at 6:37 PM on September 24, 2012

Hmmm. So I looked at the list of Adobe Edge Fonts and saw Google Web Fonts looking back at me in a mirror. I mean, aside from Adobe Source Code Pro (which will probably wind up on Google Web Fonts, just like Adobe Source Sans has), what is new and different about Adobe Edge Fonts, anyway? Meet the new open-source webfonts, same as the old open-source webfonts?

Plus ça change and all that...
posted by kentk at 6:38 PM on September 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Why didn't they just release these as part of a free TypeKit account? Why the need for a whole different service with a different name?
posted by punkrockrat at 6:41 PM on September 24, 2012

Unfortunately there are no italic fonts. That might make it slightly less convenient for coding, unless you're not into commenting your code. :)

System italicizing on this font doesn't look too bad to me.
posted by Jimbob at 7:01 PM on September 24, 2012

Still using Profont for its utility rather than beauty.
posted by benzenedream at 10:52 PM on September 24, 2012

I started using the Proggy fonts years ago and they've followed me to each new computer. They're pretty good.
posted by barnacles at 10:58 PM on September 24, 2012

Turns out, sublime text 2 now supports font-style in colour schemes (i.e. tmtheme files) - which means you can do italic comments, or bold functions, or... Had no idea that was a thing. It's done by default in several of the default themes too.

So I've added


<key>fontStyle</key>
<string>italic</string>


to my theme where it styles comments, and voila - source code pro, with auto-generated oblique styling on the comment section. Doesn't look bad at all, even not having a proper italic version.
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:48 AM on September 25, 2012

This product comes just about a year after the Typekit acquisition. It seems like good news all around: free fonts, competition for Google, more users of Typekit. But has anyone worked out why Adobe is providing this valuable service for free? What's the advantage to them? Hoping to upsell to non-free fonts?

(Typekit was founded by Metafilter's own Jeff Veen, user #960.)
posted by Nelson at 7:50 AM on September 25, 2012

I think they're offering the fonts for free because they may think that there's no way to compete with google webfonts for free with a product they offer for fee. That, and they're rolling out a whole suite of software and maybe doing this has gained them a lot of attention.
posted by crunchland at 9:41 AM on September 25, 2012

Nelson: What's the advantage to them? Hoping to upsell to non-free fonts?

This news actually, finally, got me to take a serious look at Typekit. I've always heard good things about them, but had somehow assumed their font licenses were per font or otherwise expensive. I signed up for a payed plan this morning after learning how reasonable the pricing and terms are, and also just how many excellent fonts are in their collection.

So, that alone may be one reason.
posted by gilrain at 10:11 AM on September 25, 2012 [1 favorite]

I found a list of Web Font samples courtesy of designer Peter Chon. I don't know if it's the full list, doesn't look like 500 fonts to me, unless they're counting variants like italic and bold.

Why do people have to do Adobe's job for them?
posted by charlie don't surf at 7:29 PM on September 25, 2012

Not the whole list, because I tried out one of these fonts on my blog today, "Actor", and it's not on that page.
posted by Jimbob at 8:07 PM on September 25, 2012

Why do people have to do Adobe's job for them?

Because they're Adobe.
posted by benzenedream at 8:46 PM on September 25, 2012

Source Code Pro looks good at small sizes, but at the size I usually pick it seems too squarish. Like usual, it's back to DejaVu Sans Mono for me.
posted by Zed at 9:07 AM on September 26, 2012

Because they're Adobe. -- It's true that Adobe has made a few missteps along the way, but they're still the creators of Photoshop. So I'm willing to cut them some slack.
posted by crunchland at 10:02 AM on September 26, 2012

Having nothing to do with Adobe, OpenDyslexia is a font for mobile devices that tries to be more readable for people with dyslexia. (Seemed thin for a FPP but just right for a comment on an open font thread.)
posted by Zed at 12:49 PM on October 1, 2012