A new typeface usually goes on sale with specimens and a launch post, and from then on anyone can download the trial or buy a licence. Timestamping your font sources, first builds and sketches before release gives you verifiable evidence that they existed no later than launch day. Here is how to do it.
Disclosure: I’m Inna Hall, co-founder of TimeBinder, the file timestamping tool this guide uses. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Table of Contents
Why type designers should date their sources
Fonts get cloned. Outlines are traced, renamed and resold, and AI tools can now produce lookalike scripts and “inspired by” families quickly. Legal protection for typefaces is patchy and varies by country. In the US, the shapes of a typeface generally can’t be registered for copyright, while font software can. In the EU and UK, a registered design may protect the letterforms.
Whatever the law offers, it helps to show when your work existed. Source files, early builds and hand sketches are things a cloner doesn’t have, and a dated record of them supports a takedown request or a conversation with a lawyer.
Which files to TimeBind
- The source files: .glyphs, .ufo folders (zip them) or your editor’s format.
- The first OTF, TTF and variable builds, exactly as released.
- Scans or photos of sketches and lettering that the design grew from.
- The specimen PDF.
For a large family, zip the build folder and TimeBind the zip. Timestamp the sources again at major milestones, such as when you add a new weight or script.
Step by step: TimeBinding the original files
Collect the exact files. A zip of sources, a zip of builds, the sketches and the specimen fit in one TimeBind.
Stop editing them. A timestamp covers the exact bytes of a file. Renaming a file is fine, but re-saving, re-exporting or letting an app write metadata into it gives it a new fingerprint. Keep a copy that nothing touches, and work on duplicates.
Bundle if you have more than 10 files. One TimeBind covers up to 10 files. For a big folder, make a zip of it and TimeBind the zip. Then keep that exact zip, because the record matches the zip, not a re-zipped copy.
Open the app and select the files. Sign in at app.timebinder.io (Google or an email link), start a TimeBind and drag the files in. Each file is hashed locally in your browser. The files are never uploaded.
Add a short Reference. For example: Typeface v1.000 sources and release builds. The Reference and Details text are hashed into the record too, so keep them factual and leave out anything private.
Choose Pooled or ASAP. Pooled costs 1 Token and is batched with other users’ fingerprints, usually within 24 to 48 hours, and often sooner, depending on Bitcoin network activity. ASAP costs 3 Tokens and gets its own transaction, which can be checked without relying on TimeBinder. ASAP vs Pooled explains the difference.
Download the Proof of Time Certificate once the TimeBind is confirmed, and store it next to the untouched files and in a second place, such as cloud storage or a backup drive.
Anyone you choose can check it later: open the TimeBind, click Verify File and select the file. It is re-hashed in their browser and compared. Verification explained walks through it. If you want to see a file’s fingerprint first, our free SHA-256 file hash checker shows it without uploading anything.
Which plan fits
The free plan gives you 1 Token a month, which is one Pooled TimeBind of up to 10 files. That covers one family release if you zip the sources and builds.
If you want to date each milestone of a long project or several releases a month, a paid plan gives you more TimeBinds. Essential is US$20 a month for 5 Tokens (5 Pooled, or 1 ASAP plus 2 Pooled). Expert is US$50 a month for 15 Tokens (15 Pooled or 5 ASAP), and unused Tokens roll over. Verification is free. See pricing.
What a timestamp does and doesn’t do
TimeBinder anchors each file’s SHA-256 fingerprint to Bitcoin and gives you a Proof of Time Certificate. That is verifiable evidence of when a file existed: it shows the file existed no later than the anchor date, and it makes later changes detectable. An ASAP TimeBind can be checked directly on the Bitcoin blockchain without relying on TimeBinder; a Pooled TimeBind is verified through TimeBinder.
It doesn’t show who made the work, it doesn’t stop anyone copying it, and it isn’t a registration. It doesn’t replace a design registration where one is available, or your licence terms. Our design file timestamping page covers other design work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a timestamp stop someone cloning my font?
No. It gives you dated evidence that your files existed first, which supports a takedown request or a legal claim.
Do my font files get uploaded?
No. They are hashed locally in your browser. Only the fingerprint leaves your device.
Glyphs saves my file every time I open it. Is that a problem?
Yes, for the record. TimeBind a copy you won’t open again, and keep working in another copy.
Should I timestamp variable and static builds separately?
Put them in the same TimeBind if they fit in 10 files, or zip them together.
Plan details were checked against timebinder.io/pricing on 28 October 2026.
