Editing Monotype Imaging

{{short description|American typesetting and typeface design company}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Monotype Imaging
| logo = Monotype Imaging 2019 logo.svg
| logo_size = 100px
| logo_caption = 
| former_name = Lanston Monotype Machine Company (1887&ndash;1936)<br>Monotype Corporation (1936&ndash;1999)<br>Agfa Monotype Corporation (1999&ndash;2004)
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| traded_as = {{NASDAQ was|TYPE}}
| parent = [[HGGC]]
| key_people = Ninan Chacko ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])
| products = [[Font]]s
| subsid = {{plainlist|
* [[Linotype GmbH]]
* [[International Typeface Corporation]]
* [[Ascender Corporation]]
* [[Bitstream Inc.]]
* [[FontShop]]
* Fontsmith
* [[Hoefler & Co.]]
* [[URW Type Foundry]]
* Fontworks
* Colophon Foundry
}}
| foundation = {{start date and age|1887}} (as Lanston Monotype Machine Company)<br>[[Philadelphia]], Pennsylvania, U.S.
| location_city = [[Woburn, Massachusetts]]
| location_country = U.S.
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.monotype.com/}}
| footnotes = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1385292/000119312519049831/0001193125-19-049831.txt|title=FORM 10-K}}</ref>
}}

'''Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc.''', founded as '''Lanston Monotype Machine Company''' in 1887 in [[Philadelphia]] by [[Tolbert Lanston]], is an American (historically Anglo-American) company that specializes in digital [[typesetting]] and [[typeface]] design for use with [[consumer electronics]] devices.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220608183334/https://secfilings.nasdaq.com/edgar_conv_html/2009/03/13/0001193125-09-052407.html#D10K_HTM_TOC97084_1 2008 SEC Annual Report:].</ref> Based in [[Woburn, Massachusetts]], the company has been responsible for many developments in [[printing]] technology—in particular the Monotype machine, which was a fully mechanical [[Hot metal typesetting|hot metal typesetter]], that produced texts automatically, all single type. Monotype was involved in the design and production of many typefaces in the 20th century. Monotype developed many of the most widely used [[typeface design]]s, including [[Times New Roman]], [[Gill Sans]], [[Arial]].

Via acquisitions including [[Linotype GmbH]], [[International Typeface Corporation]], [[Bitstream Inc.|Bitstream]], [[FontShop]], [[URW Type Foundry|URW]], [[Hoefler & Co.]], Fontsmith, {{interlanguage link|Fontworks|ja}} and Colophon Foundry, the company has gained the rights to major font families including [[Helvetica]], [[Franklin Gothic#ITC Franklin Gothic|ITC Franklin Gothic]], [[Optima]], [[ITC Avant Garde]], [[Palatino]], [[FF DIN]] and [[Gotham (typeface)|Gotham]]. It also owns [[MyFonts]], used by many independent font design studios.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Friedman |first1=Sara |title=Where do fonts come from? This one business, mostly |url=https://thehustle.co/where-do-fonts-come-from/ |website=The Hustle |access-date=8 September 2023 |date=25 August 2023}}</ref> The company is owned by [[HGGC]], a [[private equity firm]].<ref name="Quito">{{cite web |last1=Quito |first1=Anne |title=A famous type foundry's sale to a PE-backed giant has rattled the font industry |url=https://qz.com/2068310/what-monotypes-purchase-of-hoeflerco-means-to-font-designers/ |website=Quartz |date=23 October 2021 |access-date=24 October 2021}}</ref>

==History==

===Monotype System===
{{Main article|Monotype System}}
[[File:Monotype-machine.jpg|thumb|right|Monotype caster]]
The Lanston Monotype Machine Company was founded by [[Tolbert Lanston]] in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], in 1887. Lanston had a patented mechanical method of punching out metal types from cold strips of metal which were set (hence ''typesetting'') into a [[Matrix (printing)|matrix]] for the [[printing press]]. In 1896, Lanston patented the first [[hot metal typesetting]] machine and Monotype issued Modern Condensed, its first [[typeface]]. The licenses for the Lanston type library have been acquired by [[P22 type foundry|P22]], a digital [[type foundry]] based in [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], New York.

In a search for funding, the company set up a branch in [[London]] around 1897 under the name Lanston Monotype Corporation Ltd, generally known as the Monotype Corporation.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Iron Age |year=1899 |publisher=Chilton Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6lr118EH7RYC&q=%22Lanston+Monotype+Company%22&pg=RA27-PA31 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=United States Investor |year=1922 |publisher=F.P.Bennett |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r6tLAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Lanston+Monotype+Company%22 |language=en}}</ref> In 1899, a new factory was built in [[Salfords]] near [[Redhill, Surrey|Redhill]] in [[Surrey]] where it has been located for over a century. The company was of sufficient size to justify the construction of its own [[Salfords railway station]].

The Monotype machine worked by casting letters from "hot metal" (molten metal) as pieces of type. Thus spelling mistakes could be corrected by adding or removing individual letters. This was particularly useful for "quality" printing - such as books. In contrast, the [[Linotype machine]]—a direct competitor<ref>{{cite book |last1=Office (U.S.) |first1=Government Printing |title=Keeping America Informed: The United States Government Printing Office 150 Years of Service to the Nation: The United States Government Printing Office 150 Years of Service to the Nation |date=29 July 2011 |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=978-0-16-089118-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWn8AwAAQBAJ&q=%22Lanston+Monotype+Company%22&pg=PT88 |language=en}}</ref>—formed a complete line of type in one bar. Editing these required replacing an entire line (and if the replacement ran onto another line, the rest of the paragraph). But Linotype slugs were easier to handle if moving a complete section of text around a page. This was more useful for "quick" printing - such as newspapers.

The typesetting machines were continually improved in the early years of the 20th century, with a [[typewriter]] style [[Alphanumeric keyboard|keyboard]] for entering the type being introduced in 1906. This arrangement addressed the need to vary the space between words so that all lines were the same length.

The keyboard operator types the copy, each key punching holes in a roll of paper tape that will control the separate caster. A drum on the keyboard indicates to the operator the space required for each line. This information is also punched in the paper. Before fitting the tape to the caster it is turned over so that the first holes read on each line set the width of the variable space. The subsequent holes determine the position of a frame, or die case, that holds the set of matrices for the face being used. Each matrix is a rectangle of bronze recessed with the shape of the letter. Once the matrix is positioned over the mould that forms the body of the type being cast, molten type metal is injected.

To promote its image, the company ran a magazine, the ''Monotype Recorder'', over most of the twentieth century, and also ran a [[Compositor (typesetting)|compositor]] (typesetter operator) training school in London.<ref>{{cite web|title=Monotype Recorder back issues|url=http://www.metaltype.co.uk/monotype_recorder.shtml|website=Metal Type Library collection|access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref><ref name="Duffy2017" /> In 1936, the company was floated on the [[London Stock Exchange]] and became the Monotype Corporation Ltd. Board members of the company included future Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]], Vice-Chairman, and other businessmen connected to publishing.<ref name="Duffy2017">{{cite book|author=Patrick Duffy|title=The Skilled Compositor, 1850–1914: An Aristocrat Among Working Men|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qd9ADgAAQBAJ&pg=PT111|date=2 March 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-88183-8|pages=111–121}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Menu & Programme of Arrangements at The Dinner on December 17–1937 on the completion of the 40th year of the Lanston Monotype Corporation Limited, Founded in London 13 December 1897 |url=http://www.metaltype.co.uk/downloads/menu189.pdf|website=Metal Type|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref>

===Typefounding===
[[File:Monotype font samples.png|thumb|A sample of various Monotype designs in digital format.]]
Monotype's role in design history is not merely due to their supply of printing equipment but due to their commissioning of many of the most important typefaces of the twentieth century.

The company's first face, issued in 1896, was a rather generic design, now named ''Modern'', influenced by [[Bodoni]] and [[Scotch Roman]] designs. However, by the 1920s, the company's British branch was well known for commissioning popular, historically influenced designs that revived some of the best typefaces of the past, with particular attention to the early period of printing from the Renaissance to the late eighteenth century.<ref>{{cite book| last1=McKitterick|first1=David| title=A history of Cambridge University Press. |date=2004|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521308038|edition=1. publ.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Modern|url=https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/mti/monotype-modern/|website=MyFonts|publisher=Monotype |access-date=1 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Shinn |first1=Nick |title=Lacunæ |url=http://shinntype.com/wp-content/uploads/Lacun%C3%A6.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308065125/http://shinntype.com/wp-content/uploads/Lacun%C3%A6.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2021 |access-date=1 July 2015 |website=Codex}}</ref><ref name=Badaracco>{{cite journal|last1=Badaracco| first1=Claire|title=Innovative Industrial Design and Modern Public Culture: The Monotype Corporation, 1922–1932|journal=Business & Economic History |date=1991|volume=20 (second series)|pages=226–233|url=http://www.thebhc.org/sites/default/files/beh/BEHprint/v020/p0226-p0233.pdf |access-date=19 December 2015|publisher=Business History Conference}}</ref> This series of releases was a major part of the typographic renaissance of the period, an expansion of the [[Arts and Crafts movement]] interest in printing into the more workaday world of general-purpose printing. Key executives of the company in this period included historian and adviser [[Stanley Morison]], publicity manager [[Beatrice Warde]], engineering expert [[Frank Hinman Pierpont]] and draughtsman Fritz Stelzer (the latter two both recruited from the German printing industry, although Pierpont was American), under managing director William Isaac Burch, who led the company from 1924 to 1942.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Badaracco |first1=Claire| title=Rational Language and Print Design in Communication Management| journal=Design Issues|date=1996 |volume=12|issue=1|pages=26–37 | doi=10.2307/1511743|jstor=1511743}}</ref> Despite tensions within the company, particularly between the historically minded faction of Morison and Warde and Pierpont in Salfords, notable typefaces commissioned included [[Gill Sans]], [[Times New Roman]] and [[Perpetua (typeface)|Perpetua]], and the company maintained high standards of development allowing it to produce designs with good spacing, careful adaptation of the same basic design to different sizes and even color on the page, essential qualities for balanced body text.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fonts designed by Monotype Staff |url=http://www.identifont.com/show?16V+1|website=Identifont|access-date=1 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mosley |first1=James|author-link=James Mosley|title=Review: A Tally of Types|journal=Journal of the Printing History Society|date=2001|volume=3, new series|pages=63–67
|quote=The surviving records of the progress of some of the classic typefaces demonstrate that their exemplary final quality was due to a relentless willingness on the part of 'the works' to make and remake the punches over and over again until the result was satisfactory. The progression of series 270 from the weak Poliphilus Modernised to the familiar Bembo is an object lesson in the success of this technique. That it was [engineering manager Frank] Pierpont himself who was central to this drive for quality is made abundantly clear by the abrupt changes that are seen after his retirement in 1937. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PUPhAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rhatigan|first1=Daniel|title=Gill Sans after Gill|journal=Forum|date=September 2014|issue=28|pages=3–7|url=http://image.linotype.com/files/pdf/GillSansArticle.pdf|access-date=26 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Rhatigan|first1=Dan|title=Time and Times again |url=http://ultrasparky.org/archives/2011/09/time_and_times_.html|publisher=Monotype|access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref>

Historian [[James Mosley]], who worked closely with Monotype in the 1950s and onwards, has commented:<blockquote>The English Monotype Corporation of the interwar years looks in retrospect rather like one of the great public bodies of the period, for example the [[BBC|British Broadcasting Corporation]] or [[London Transport (brand)|London Transport]]... benevolent monopolies ruled by autocrats who revelled in the role of patron of the arts on a scale exceeding that of Italian Renaissance princes.<br><br>Monotype enjoyed, in Britain at least, something approaching a monopoly in book and better-quality magazine typesetting.. .Monotype exploited the glamor of its new typefaces... with brilliant publicity, for which Morison and his devoted young American recruit Beatrice Warde were partly responsible.<ref name="Fine Print">{{cite journal|last1=Mosley|first1=James|author-link=James Mosley|title=Eric Gill's Perpetua Type|journal=Fine Print}}</ref></blockquote>

The American branch lagged behind the British in artistic reputation. Their designs are now often rather obscure, since (unlike products from the British branch) few have been made widely available through bundling with [[Microsoft]] products. The company employed [[Frederic Goudy]] on [[List of typefaces designed by Frederic Goudy|several serif font projects]] which were well received at the time, and on staff type designer [[Sol Hess]], who created the geometric sans-serif [[Twentieth Century (typeface)|Twentieth Century]] as a competitor to the German [[Futura (typeface)|Futura]].<ref name="Goudy autobiog">{{cite book| last1=Goudy|first1=Frederic|title=A half-century of type design and typography, vol 1|date=1946 |publisher=The Typophiles| location=New York| pages=121–124| url=https://archive.org/details/GoudyHalfCentury1946V1|access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| last1=Shaw |first1=Paul |title=An appreciation of Frederic W. Goudy as a type designer| url=http://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2014/03/an-appreciation-of-frederic-w-goudy-as-a-type-designer/|access-date=12 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| last1=Rogers| first1=Bruce|title=Printer's Note|journal=Monotype: A Journal of Composing Room Efficiency|date=January 1923|page=[https://archive.org/details/MonotypeJournalVol09No06JanFeb1923/page/n26 23] |url=https://archive.org/details/MonotypeJournalVol09No06JanFeb1923|quote=This issue of Monotype is set in a trial font of a new version of Garamond's design&nbsp;... the type ornaments, modelled on 16th century ones, will also be available.}}</ref><ref name="LTC Garamont">{{cite web |title=LTC Garamont | url=http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/lanston/ltc-garamont/|website=MyFonts|publisher=LTC|access-date=3 December 2015}}</ref>

===Decline===
[[File:Monotype - o (236151617).jpg|thumb|The founding-stone of the former Monotype House in London, now in the collection of the [[Type Archive]], [[London]].]]
[[File:PencilToPixel - 24 (8713318395).jpg|thumb|An index of typefaces issued by Monotype.]]
Monotype entered a decline from the 1960s onwards. This was caused by the reduction in use of hot metal typesetting and replacement with [[phototypesetting]] and [[lithography]] in mass-market printing.<ref>{{cite book| title=Third Tripartite Technical Meeting for the Printing and Allied Trades, Geneva, 1990|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1W0jIOllugQC&pg=PA12| date=1 January 1990|publisher=International Labour Organization| isbn=978-92-2-107441-0 |pages=12–29}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Reports of Tax Cases| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FnFKAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA470| year=1993|publisher=H.M. Stationery Office| pages=470–507}}</ref><ref name="EliotRose2011">{{cite book|author1=Simon Eliot| author2=Jonathan Rose |title=A Companion to the History of the Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CFiDCjMcnvcC&pg=PA286|date=24 August 2011| publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5658-8| pages=286–289}}</ref> This offered considerable efficiencies, such as no need to print books from solid metal type, quicker setting of type and a reduced number of operators needed.<ref name="Statistics1984">{{cite book|author=United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics |title=Occupational Outlook Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pf533AUIVvsC&pg=PA317 |year=1984| publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics|pages=316–7}}</ref><ref name="AltbachHoshino2015">{{cite book|author1=Philip G. Altbach|author2=Edith S. Hoshino| title=International Book Publishing: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o-IjCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA72|date=8 May 2015 |publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-26126-0|page=72}}</ref> It also promised a more diverse and exciting range of fonts than that possible with hot metal, where it is necessary to own life-size matrices for every size of every font to be used.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mosley|first1=James|chapter=Reviving the Classics: Matthew Carter and the Interpretation of Historical Models|editor1-last=Mosley |editor1-first=James| editor2-last=Re|editor2-first=Margaret |editor3-last=Drucker|editor3-first=Johanna|editor4-last=Carter|editor4-first=Matthew| title=Typographically Speaking: The Art of Matthew Carter |date=2003|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=9781568984278 |pages=31–34| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WqXd_w4S4SsC&pg=PA32|access-date=30 January 2016}}</ref>

Monotype made the transition to cold type and began to market its own "Monophoto" phototypesetting systems,<ref>{{cite web |title=Getting to Know "Monophoto" Filmsetters - 1963 |url=https://vimeo.com/213186094 |date=14 April 2017}}</ref> but these suffered from problems.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Phototypesetting Roots |journal=Museum of Printing News |date=2009 |page=4 |quote=The Monotype Monophoto was described by Compugraphic co-founder Bill Garth as 'the only machine ever invented with no stationary parts'.}}</ref> Its first devices were heavily based on hot metal machinery, with glass pictures of characters which would be reproduced on photographic paper replacing the matrices used to cast metal type.<ref name="Kipphan2001">{{cite book|author=Helmut Kipphan|title=Handbook of Print Media: Technologies and Production Methods |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VrdqBRgSKasC&pg=PA1045|date=31 July 2001|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media | isbn=978-3-540-67326-2|page=1045}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Monotype: How It Works | date=1957 |publisher=Monotype |url=https://archive.org/details/MonotypeHowItWorksEtc1957|pages=[https://archive.org/details/MonotypeHowItWorksEtc1957/page/n6 10]–16|access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref> While this reduced the need for retraining, the resulting devices often set type slowly compared to legacy-free next-generation devices from providers such as Photon and [[Compugraphic]], and were often more expensive.<ref name="Boag" /><ref name="Wallis slippery slope">{{cite journal |last1=Wallis |first1=Lawrence |title=Monotype: the long slippery slope |journal=Bulletin of the Printing Historical Society |pages=1–6}}</ref> Its devices were slow to incorporate use of electronics, and while its type library was of high quality, changing tastes and the development of other companies' libraries competed with this.<ref name=Boag>{{cite journal|last1=Boag|first1=Andrew|title=Monotype and Phototypesetting|journal=Journal of the Printing History Society|date=2000|pages=57–77|url=http://www.letterpress.ch/APINET/IMMPDF/MONOPHOTO/PHS_journal.pdf|access-date=22 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328052034/http://www.letterpress.ch/APINET/IMMPDF/MONOPHOTO/PHS_journal.pdf|archive-date=28 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Its type library was also easily pirated, since fonts have only limited copyright protection. The company was eventually split into three divisions: Monotype International, which manufactured spinning mirror switched laser beam phototypesetters; Monotype Limited, which continued the hot metal machines; and Monotype Typography, which designed and sold typefaces. A research and development department was set up in [[Cambridge]] to isolate it from day to day production issues.

Monotype in the UK continued to enjoy prestige through the 1970s with the patronage of major British printers such as the university presses at Oxford and Cambridge; it also enjoyed some success with its Lasercomp laser-based typesetting system from the 1970s onwards, developed by the Cambridge research group.<ref name=Boag/><ref name="Louis2013">{{cite book|first=Martin|last=Maw|title=History of Oxford University Press: Volume III: 1896 to 1970 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YbcJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA277|date=November 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-956840-6| pages=277–307}}</ref> However, new technology and finally publishing software such as [[Quark XPress]] and [[Aldus PageMaker]] running on general-purpose computers ate away at its competitiveness in the market of complete typesetting solutions by the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Romano|first1=Frank|title=The day the typesetting industry died |url=http://whattheythink.com/articles/55522-day-typesetting-industry-died/|website=What They Think|access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref>

Monotype, however, has continued in business, for instance marketing typeface designs to third-party buyers, computing companies such as Microsoft (many fonts on Microsoft computers in particular are Monotype-designed) and companies and organisations such as [[Transport for London|London Transport]] and the UK parliament requiring custom digital typefaces.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Castle |first1=Bob |last2=Carpenter |first2=Victoria|title=Book Antiqua Parliamentary (Freedom of Information request) |url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/book_antiqua_parliamentary_4| website=[[Whatdotheyknow.com]]|date=6 September 2010 |access-date=27 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Walters|first1=John| last2=Esterson |first2=Simon|title=Features: Robin Nicholas| url=http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/robin-nicholas|website=Eye magazine|access-date=22 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Shaw|first1=Paul| first2=Matthew| last2=Carter| title=Some history about Arial|url=http://www.paulshawletterdesign.com/2011/09/blue-pencil-no-18%E2%80%94some-history-about-arial/| website=Paul Shaw Letter Design|access-date=22 May 2015}}</ref> Much of its metal type equipment and archives were donated to the [[Type Museum]] collection in London; other materials are held at [[St Bride Library]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mosley|first1=James |author-link=James Mosley |title=The materials of typefounding | url=http://typefoundry.blogspot.co.uk/2006/01/materials-of-typefounding.html |website=Type Foundry|access-date=14 August 2015}}</ref>

The history and decline of the hot metal American Lanston Monotype Corporation is described in full detail by [[Richard L. Hopkins]], in ''Tolbert Lanston and the Monotype. The origin of digital Typesetting''.{{sfn|Hopkins|2012}} In 2004, [[P22 type foundry]] bought the "Lanston Type Co." from [[Gerald Giampa]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=P22: Fond Found Typography|url=https://www.boxcarpress.com/blog/p22-fond-found-typography/|last=Spring|first=Jessica|date=June 14, 2008|website=Boxcar Press|access-date=March 27, 2020}}</ref>

The history of the English brand can be found in: Judy Slinn, Sebastian Carter, Richard Southall: ''The History of the Monotype Corporation'', [[Vanbrugh Press]] & [[Printing historical Society]], Woodstock, London, 2014, {{ISBN|978-0993051005}}

===Consolidation, reorganization, and expansion===
In 1992, The Monotype Corporation Ltd. appointed [[Receivership|Administrative Receivers]] on 5 March and four days later Monotype Typography Ltd. was established. Cromas Holdings, an investment company based in Switzerland, bought the Monotype Corporation Ltd. and Monotype Inc. (excluding Monotype Typography) and five other direct subsidiary companies in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Singapore. Monotype Systems Ltd. was the adopted name for the new organization with Peter Purdy as Chairman, the name Monotype was under license from Monotype Typography Ltd which retained the trademark Monotype. Monotype Systems Ltd. focused on selling [[pre-press]] software and hardware, [[raster image processor]]s and workflow.

Cromas Holdings reorganized its publishing interests with the formation of the International Publishing Asset Holding Ltd. effectively controlling Monotype Systems Ltd., QED Technology Ltd., and GB Techniques Ltd.

The company acquired Berthold Communications; the UK subsidiary of the German composing equipment supplier.

In June 2002, Monotype Systems Limited was re-branded, IPA Systems Limited, as this marked the end of the existing trademark licence with Monotype Corporation. In the US Monotype Inc became alfaQuest Technologies Limited. Both companies still sell pre-press software and hardware.

In 1999, [[Agfa]]-Compugraphic acquired the company, which was renamed Agfa Monotype. In late 2004, after six years under the Agfa Corporation, the Monotype assets were acquired by [[TA Associates]], a private equity investment firm based in [[Boston]]. The company was incorporated as Monotype Imaging, with a focus on the company's traditional core competencies of typography and professional printing.

Monotype was the first company to produce a digital version of the handwritten [[Persian alphabet|Persian]] script, Persian [[Nasta'liq script|Nasta'liq]]. A Chinese "keyboard" was developed to typeset Chinese characters; it consisted of a book with a stylus. As the pages were turned, the page number was detected electrically and this was combined with the position of the character selected by the stylus on a large grid.

In 2003, the company launched Fontwise, the first software to audit desktops for licensed and unlicensed (not necessarily illegal) fonts.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20030930005093/en/Agfa-Monotype-Launches-Fontwise-Monotype-Worlds-Font | title=Agfa Monotype Launches Fontwise from Monotype, the World's First Font Licence Management Solution | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=30 September 2003}}</ref>

On 2 October 2006, the company acquired Linotype GmbH, a subsidiary of [[Heidelberger Druckmaschinen]].<ref>{{cite press release | url=https://www.linotype.com/2794/monotype-imaging-acquires-linotype.html | title=MONOTYPE IMAGING ACQUIRES LINOTYPE | publisher=[[Linotype GmbH|Linotype]] | date=August 2006}}</ref>

On 18 September 2006, the company acquired China Type Design Limited, a typeface design and production company based in Hong Kong. CTDL was responsible for developing [[Microsoft JhengHei]], the default traditional Chinese interface font for [[Windows Vista]]. The deal also secured an exclusive relationship with Creative Calligraphy Center (CCC), a font production company in [[Zhuhai]], China, with 30 production specialists.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20060918005689/en/Monotype-Imaging-Acquires-China-Type-Design-Limited | title=Monotype Imaging Acquires China Type Design Limited; Acquisition Sets Up Expansion of Font Solutions into Asian Consumer Electronics and Printer Markets | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=18 September 2006}}</ref>

On 11 December 2009, the company acquired Planetweb, a developer specialized in applications and development tools for embedded devices.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20091211005060/en/Monotype-Imaging-Acquires-Planetweb | title=Monotype Imaging Acquires Planetweb | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=11 December 2009}}</ref>

On 8 December 2010, the company acquired [[Ascender Corporation]], a provider of fonts and font technologies used in computers, mobile devices, consumer electronics and software products.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101208005731/en/Monotype-Imaging-Acquires-Ascender-Corp. | title=Monotype Imaging Acquires Ascender Corp. | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=8 December 2010}}</ref>

In March 2012, the company acquired [[Bitstream Inc.]], a digital font retailer. The deal also gave Monotype ownership of the [[MyFonts]] font sale website used by many independent designers and its WhatTheFont recognition service.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shankland | first1=Stephen| title=Monotype gets more digital, buys Bitstream font biz |url=http://www.cnet.com/uk/news/monotype-gets-more-digital-buys-bitstream-font-biz/ |website=CNet|access-date=16 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120319006604/en/Monotype-Imaging-Completes-Acquisition-Bitstream%E2%80%99s-Font-Business | title=Monotype Imaging Completes Acquisition of Bitstream's Font Business | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=19 March 2012}}</ref>

On 15 July 2014, the company acquired [[FontShop]], the last large independent digital font retailer.<ref>{{cite press release | title=Monotype Acquires FontShop International | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140715005448/en/Monotype-Acquires-FontShop-International | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=16 July 2014}}</ref>

In October 2019 Monotype changed ownership to HGGC, a [[private equity firm]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191011005272/en/HGGC-Completes-Acquisition-Monotype-Imaging-Holdings | title=HGGC Completes Acquisition of Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. | publisher=[[Business Wire]] | date=11 October 2019}}</ref> A few months later, on January 27, 2020, the company added FontSmith, an independent [[London]] foundry, to its font catalog.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://monotype.com/resources/monotype-acquires-fontsmith|title=Monotype Acquires Fontsmith|date=2020-01-27|website=Monotype|language=en|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref>

On May 18, 2020, Monotype made another major expansion by purchasing [[URW Type Foundry]] from Global Graphics plc.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Monotype Agrees to Acquire URW Type Foundry|url=https://www.monotype.com/company/press-release/monotype-agrees-acquire-urw-type-foundry|date=18 May 2020|website=Monotype|access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref> In late 2021 it continued its expansion by acquiring iconic New York company [[Hoefler & Co.]] (created by [[Jonathan Hoefler]] in 1989), thus increasing its library with well-known fonts such as [[Gotham (typeface)|Gotham]], Knockout, Mercury, Sentinel, Chronicle, Decimal, and [[Archer (typeface)|Archer]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-09-15|title=Monotype Announces the Acquisition of Iconic Type Foundry Hoefler&Co.|url=https://www.monotype.com/company/news/monotype-announces-acquisition-iconic-type-foundry-hoeflerco|access-date=2021-09-15|website=Monotype.|language=en}}</ref>

On 19 July 2023, Monotype acquired Japanese type foundry Fontworks.<ref>{{cite web|title=Monotype announces deal to acquire Fontworks – an iconic Japanese Type Foundry|url=https://www.monotype.com/company/press-release/monotype-inks-deal-font-bureau-acquire-collection-type-designer-david-berlow |publisher=Monotype|date=19 July 2023|access-date=11 December 2024}}</ref>

On 4 May 2023, Monotype Corporation acquired 39 typefaces from the [[Font Bureau]] library, but not the company.<ref>{{cite web|title=Monotype inks deal with The Font Bureau to acquire collection of type designer David Berlow’s typefaces|url=https://www.monotype.com/company/press-release/monotype-inks-deal-font-bureau-acquire-collection-type-designer-david-berlow |publisher=Monotype|date=4 May 2023|access-date=11 December 2024}}</ref>

In 2024, Monotype acquired the rights to typefaces from US type foundry Sharp Type, but not the company.<ref>[https://www.monotype.com/monotype-acquires-award-winning-collection-from-sharp-types-library Monotype Acquires an Award-Winning Type Collection from Sharp Type's Library and Welcomes Sharp Type as a Creative Partner]</ref>

==Typefaces==
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* Apollo
* [[Albertina (typeface)|Albertina]] (Chris Brand, 1966)
* [[Albertus (typeface)|Albertus]] ([[Berthold Wolpe]], 1932–40)
* [[Albion (typeface)|Albion]] (1910)
* [[Arial]] (Nicholas, Saunders et al., 1982)
* Ashley Crawford
* Ashley Script
* [[Bembo]] (1929)
* Blado
* [[Bodoni]]
* [[Bulmer (typeface)|Bulmer]]
* Castellar
* [[Centaur (typeface)|Centaur]] (Rogers & Warde, 1929)
* [[Century Gothic]]
* Condensa
* Dante
*[[Dubai Font]]
* [[Ehrhardt (typeface)|Ehrhardt]]
* [[Emerson (typeface)|Emerson]]
* Engravers
* Felix Titling
* Festival Titling
* Forte
* [[Pierre Simon Fournier|Fournier]]
* [[Gill Sans]]
* [[Goudy Old Style]]
* Horley Old Style
* [[Imprint (typeface)|Imprint]]
* [[Joanna (typeface)|Joanna]]
* Klang
* Matura
* Menhart
* Mercurius Script
* [[Monotype Grotesque]]
* [[OCR-B]]
* Octavian
* Pastonchi (1928)<ref>{{cite web| title=Pastonchi| url=http://www.fonts.com/font/monotype/pastonchi| website=Fonts.com| publisher=Monotype|access-date=15 September 2015}}</ref><ref name="Library Pastonchi">{{cite journal| title=Pastonchi: a specimen of a new letter for use on the Monotype| journal=The Library| date=1928|volume=s4-IX| issue=4|pages=421–422|doi=10.1093/library/s4-IX.4.421}}</ref>
* Pegasus
* Pepita
* [[Perpetua (typeface)|Perpetua]]
* Photina
* Poliphilus
* [[Plantin (typeface)|Plantin]]
* Solus ([[Eric Gill]], 1929)
* Spectrum
* Tempest Titling ([[Berthold Wolpe]])
* [[Times New Roman]]
* [[Twentieth Century (typeface)|Twentieth Century]]
* Van Dijck
* Walbaum
}}

== See also ==
* [[Linotype machine|Linotype]] typesetting machine
* [[Monotype typefaces]], hot metal typefaces
* [[Monotype System]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book|last=Hopkins|first=Richard|title=Tolbert Lanston and the Monotype: The Origin of Digital Typesetting|date=2012|publisher=University of Tampa Press|location=Tampa, Florida|isbn=978-159732-100-6}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|title=The Works of the Lanston Monotype Corporation, Ltd|author= H. W. Westbrook}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030116091755/http://www.myfonts.com/foundry/lanston/ Lanston Monotype Co. history]

{{Monotype typefaces}}
{{Woburn, Massachusetts}}

[[Category:1887 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1999 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:2004 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:2019 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq]]
[[Category:Design companies established in 1887]]
[[Category:Letterpress font foundries of the United States]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1887]]
[[Category:Woburn, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Technology companies established in 1887]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1887]]