Frequently Asked Questions
PAYMENT & DOWNLOADS
Q: Can I make a purchase without a PayPal account?
A: Yes, though PayPal is the only method for making a purchase on the MLC website, you can choose to proceed without an account and checkout as a guest using PayPal’s secure payment processing system as you would with any other online payment. Simply click the “Pay with Debit or Credit Card” button below the login section on PayPal’s website. Next, you’ll be asked to type in your email address to proceed. On the following screen, you’ll add in your payment information, and at the bottom of the page below the zip code entry window, uncheck the “Save info & create your PayPal account” and you’ll be able to check out as a guest.
Q: When/How do I receive my fonts after paying for a license?
A: Immediately after making the payment through PayPal you should be redirected to a page on the MLC website containing the download link(s). However, if for some reason this doesn’t happen or you miss it, you should also receive an email from the MLC website containing the download links to any fonts you purchased licenses for. If for some reason you do not see the email within a few minutes, please check your junk mail folder in case the email ends up there for some reason. If you still do not see the email, use the contact form on the website and request it be resent.
If you choose to create an account during the checkout process, once your account has been approved you will also be able to log in to the website at any time to view your past purchases and re-download any fonts in case of a hard drive crash, or if updates to the fonts are released. If you create an account at a later date you can request that your past purchases are associated with your new account. As long as you are logged in while checking out, your purchases will be attached to your user account. Your past purchases and available downloads can be viewed by clicking on the user account link at the footer menu at the bottom of the website, or by visiting https://www.monumentletteringcenter.com/my-account/.
SOFTWARE
Q: Will MLC fonts work in my design software?
A: MLC Fonts are available in both the standard OpenType (OTF) and TrueType (TTF) font formats. It is recommended that PC users install the TTF versions and Mac users install the OTF versions. For specific information, it is best to reach out to your software’s customer support team. Most software applications will allow the user to use OpenType or TrueType fonts in some form or another. OpenType fonts specifically are supported in SignLab 7.1+, FlexiSign LXi 7+, CorelDraw 9+, Illustrator 9+, Photoshop 5.5+, Freehand 10+, and Gerber Omega 2.51+ (via importing) though only Adobe Illustrator and CorelDRAW/MemorialDESIGNER fully utilize the OpenType features available in MLC fonts. Monu-Cad will also allow for the importing of TTF fonts, and Cochran’s Monumental Designer will allow users to use TTF fonts via the Simple Notes feature.
Q: I’m thinking about upgrading my software or new to the industry, what software do you recommend?
A: Everyone has their own preference for software, but the MemorialDESIGNER software is recommended to all MLC font customers. From a typography standpoint, MemorialDESIGNER is the only memorial industry-specific software that natively supports both TrueType and OpenType fonts, so you aren’t locked into a specific software like you are with many other software applications that use their own proprietary font filetypes. It is also the only industry design software capable of utilizing OpenType features like the alternate characters and ligatures available in MLC fonts. One of the other benefits is that MemorialDESIGNER tends to be more forward-thinking, regularly developing new useful features for modern memorial designing, including designing in real-time with granite color swatches, and MemorialDESIGNER customers appreciate the great customer service, which is often lacking in this industry. Because it is built on top of CorelDRAW which is a standard design industry software, there tend to be more regular updates for stability on newer operating systems, and the added benefit of potential applicants for a graphic artist/designer position at your shop who may already have some experience with the software. Also, the user interface doesn’t feel like you are entering a time machine back to the 1980s or 90s.
MOST COMMON FONTS
Q: I’m starting a cemetery engraving business, what fonts do you think I need?
A: This will vary largely by location, but there are a few fonts that tend to be much more common than others all over the United States and Canada. You’ll likely need at least one or two versions of Modified Roman, a version of Condensed Roman, and a Vermarco (the Spacerite or ScotchKut versions of these fonts are most common). You can also see the Most Popular fonts list in the font shop which contains 15 of the most purchased MLC fonts, which are also some of the most commonly used fonts on cemetery memorials and you are less likely to find good quality versions available in existing memorial design software. Because MLC fonts are typically based directly on old physical letter sets, you may also need to purchase whatever software is most commonly used in your area to have access to the specific digital versions of the fonts which often do not match any of the pre-digital physical plastic and metal letter sets.
ACCESSING ALTERNATE CHARACTERS
Q: How can I access the dashes with serifs I see in the font product images?
A: This largely depends on your operating system and the software you are using. There are 3 standard dashes in TrueType and OpenType fonts: the hyphen and the two long dashes (the en-dash and the em-dash). The MLC has kept the hyphen as a straight dash, and in fonts that would have historically had serifed dashes, these two long dashes will contain serifs. On a Mac, the two long dashes can be accessed by typing option+hyphen or option+shift+hyphen. Simple. On a PC it’s slightly more complicated. You hold down one of the Alt keys and type on the numeric keypad: 0150 for an en-dash or 0151 for an em-dash. Many design applications will also allow you to look through a character map containing all of the characters in the font and let you insert a character by copying and pasting or double-clicking on the character. For your specific software consult the user manual for the software or reach out to the software’s customer support. There are also several other dash lengths available as OpenType alternates in the MLC fonts. For more information on accessing alternate characters, see below.
Q: How can I access the alternate characters I see in the font product images?
A: Many historic plastic and metal monument alphabets contain several versions of a given character, which are available in MLC fonts as OpenType features in both the OpenType (OTF) and TrueType (TTF) versions of the fonts. Additionally, many MLC fonts contain ligatures (two or more combined characters), as well as several extra long dashes available by typing <->, <–>, etc. with up to 5 hyphens for additional lengths. Accessing these alternate characters and other special OpenType features depends largely on the software you use, and unfortunately, even though OpenType features have been the standard in design for over 15 years, many memorial design applications still do not support them.
If you are using standard design software such as Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW/MemorialDESIGNER, you can access the alternate characters simply by highlighting the character you’d like to change, and you’ll be given a selection of alternate characters. In some other software or older versions of Adobe and Corel, or in other software such as SignLab you’ll need to navigate to the font’s character map to access them. Unfortunately, some software such as Gerber and Monu-Cad do not natively support standard font formats. Instead, they rely on an import process that breaks the font files and does not bring in alternate characters or other special features.
If you are using software that does not support standard font formats and have purchased a license to a font containing alternate characters or ligatures, upon special request these special characters can be emailed to you in EPS, PDF, AI, CDR, or DXF file formats and you can manually place them into a design.