Installation and Setup

Installing FontLab places the application on your computer. Activation enables the use covered by your license. If you are evaluating FontLab, the trial lets you work with the application before purchasing a license. The same setup also gives you access to update checks and help resources.

System Requirements

FontLab is available for macOS and Windows. Before downloading, check the requirements for the release you intend to install and choose the installer for your operating system. Check the minimum operating-system version, supported processor architecture, required memory, and free disk space for installation and working files. These are separate requirements: an installer for the right operating system may still require a newer system version or more memory than the computer provides. Use the FontLab release requirements supplied with the installer; requirements published for an earlier major version are not a substitute.

On Windows, drawing acceleration can cause missing, black, or incorrectly refreshed windows when the graphics driver is incompatible. If these symptoms begin after you enable it, turn off Drawing acceleration under Preferences > General > Other. The application can render without OpenGL acceleration.

Installation

Download the FontLab installer for your operating system from the source supplied with your purchase or trial. Keep it available until installation is complete.

macOS

  1. Open the downloaded disk image.
  2. Drag the FontLab application into your Applications folder.
  3. Open FontLab from Applications.

macOS may ask you to confirm that you want to open an application downloaded from the internet, including after an update. If macOS reports that the application cannot be verified, check that you have the official FontLab installer and contact support with the exact message.

Windows

  1. Run the downloaded FontLab installer.
  2. Follow the installer through its setup steps.
  3. When installation is complete, launch FontLab.

The Welcome Dialog appears at startup and provides access to documentation and support resources. See Creating and Opening Fonts.

You can choose the interface language in the Language setting in Preferences’ Appearance section, or follow the system language. Restart FontLab after changing it.

Trial, Licensing, and Activation

Trial and demo mode

FontLab provides a time-limited trial, beginning when the application first initializes it on your computer. Use the duration and remaining time shown for your trial rather than a duration quoted for another release or offer. The countdown uses elapsed calendar days, not the amount of time you spend working in FontLab. The activation dialog shows the remaining days.

During the trial, you can open, edit, save, and export fonts. This lets you evaluate the work you intend to do, including producing font files, before activating a purchased license.

If you launch FontLab after the trial has expired without an active license, it runs in demo mode: you can open and inspect fonts, but saving, export, printing, and copying contours to other applications are restricted. Activate a license to resume production work.

If access expires during a session that began with a valid trial or license, FontLab retains native saving and autosave so you can preserve open work. Font export still requires current trial or license access. Save the source before closing that session.

License scope

A single-user license is for one person. Permission to install on more than one computer does not make it a shared license for several people. The number of available activations is set for your particular license. Check the terms supplied with your purchase for its device allowance and any time limit on use. Activating another computer can be refused when that license’s available activations are already in use.

Activation

For a standard serial-number license, activation associates this installation with your license. Have the FontLab serial number available, then:

  1. Start the unregistered application. The Activation dialog opens.
  2. Enter your name and serial number.
  3. Click Activate and wait for the result.

On success, the dialog closes and FontLab enables the licensed access. If activation fails, read the displayed message before retrying. Keep that exact message for a support request.

Floating or multi-seat licenses use a separate setup supplied with the license. If your organization manages such a license, follow those instructions instead of assuming that the standard serial-number flow applies.

Updates and Upgrades

An update is a release within the same major version. Updates provide fixes and improvements and are free within that version. An upgrade moves to a new major version and normally requires a separate purchase. Keeping these terms distinct helps when an update notification and an upgrade offer appear at different times.

Update checks

To check for an update, choose FontLab > Check for Updates... on macOS or Help > Check for Updates... on Windows. The Windows command is in a different menu; it performs the same check for an available application update.

In Preferences > General > Updates, Check on startup controls whether FontLab checks when you launch it. Turn the setting off if you prefer to check manually. Turning off startup checks does not remove the manual command.

If an update is available, read its release notes to see which changes affect your work, then follow the update prompts. Updating within the same major version does not require you to activate the license again.

Stable and beta releases

With Get beta versions off in Preferences > General > Updates, update checks look for stable releases. This is the usual choice for day-to-day work.

Turn Get beta versions on if you want access to beta releases. These may include early fixes and experimental functionality that has not received the same level of testing as a stable release. A beta can address a problem you have encountered and introduce a different one, so the choice concerns both the changes you need and your willingness to test them.

Warning: Before using a beta release with active projects, back up the project files and keep the stable installer available. Beta releases may introduce unexpected behavior.

Major-version upgrades

Check the terms of your existing license and the current upgrade offer before moving to a new major version. Eligibility, included versions, and any recent-purchase exceptions belong to that offer; an update notification does not by itself establish upgrade entitlement.

Running Multiple Versions

Keeping an earlier FontLab installation can help you continue existing work while assessing a newer release. Different installed versions can coexist. On macOS, Keep Both, when offered during installation, preserves both application copies.

Separate application copies do not necessarily mean separate settings. Releases within the same major-version family share preferences, so changing a setting in one can affect the other. Keep that relationship in mind when comparing releases or maintaining a familiar working setup.