FAQ and NB

What applications will the fonts work in?

Our fonts will work like any other font in all applications but to fully display all of the fonts’ built-in capabilities, the application must support the following OpenType features: Contextual Alternates, Standard Ligatures and multiple, simultaneous Stylistic Sets. See Support. These are the currently recommended applications for our fonts:
 

Recommended applications-Word, Publisher, Pages, CorelDRAW, TextEdit, InDesign, Illustrator, Sketch, Quark XPress, NisusWriter

 
It is important to note that with some MacOS and Windows 10 applications that also have an app version for iOS, iPadOS and Android (eg Microsoft Office), the phone/tablet versions are usually scaled-back and less capable than the full MacOS/Windows 10 versions. This unfortunate situation may improve with time but it currently has the effect of limiting the usability of some of the extra features in our fonts on phone and tablets. See also Phones and tablets vs desktop computers? below.

Be aware that while the MacOS and Windows 10 versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher fully support the features in our fonts, the other Microsoft Office applications Excel and PowerPoint have only limited support - you can use our fonts in these applications but there is no control over guidelines or cursive joining. Also please note that your versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Publisher for Windows must be no older than 2010 to take advantage of all features in the fonts and Microsoft Word for Mac should be no older than 2011. See also our FAQ item Publisher WordArt versus Word WordArt? below.

Schools please note - some software very commonly used in schools ie SMART Notebook (Mac, Win), Promethean ActivInspire (Mac, Win), SAP Crystal Reports (Win) do NOT support the OpenType features that make many important functions of our fonts work eg cursive joining, horizontal guidelines, alternate numbers etc. The fonts will work at the basic level only.

Users of Apple Pages should note that versions 5.0 through 5.5 had severely degraded OpenType support however, as of version 5.6 (Jan 2016), Pages once again supports the FULL range of OpenType features that are required to make all of our fonts' functions work – control over the automatic guidelines, cursive joining levels and alternate letterforms/numbers/joins. In fact, Pages is now back to being SUPERIOR to Microsoft Word in its OpenType support – particularly because it is capable of applying more than one Stylistic Set at a time (Word can only have one at a time). This restored functionality in the latest version of Pages unlocks the full power of our fonts. Note that in Pages the automatic guidelines are ON by default (the opposite to Microsoft Word) – they can easily be turned off in the MacOS X Fonts panel which you can open with keystroke COMMAND-T, then select "Typography..." in the Fonts Panel Actions menu (the little cog-wheel) and UNtick the "Contextual Alternates" box. Note that most Apple text-capable programs (Pages, TextEdit, Mail, iBooks, iBooks Author etc) provide access to the MacOS Fonts Panel however surprisingly Preview does not.
 

Do the fonts work on all computers?

The fonts work in Windows (Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10 but excluding Windows 10S and Windows 10 in S-Mode – see below), Macintosh (MacOS 9, MacOS X) and Unix. Please note however that Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7 are no longer actively supported by Microsoft. The fonts can be installed on Apple iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod) using apps such as AnyFont or iFont available from the Apple Store. Earlier versions of Android do not support OTF fonts but as of v1.6 OTF is supported. In Android and Windows RT devices fonts are installed into individual apps rather than system-wide. See also Phones and tablets vs desktop computers? below. Note that Microsoft has said it will stop distributing and updating Windows RT after January 10, 2023 (EOL Date).

NOTE: If you are sill running Windows 10 version 1809 you are strongly advised to update it. The original Windows 10 1809 update was  released in October 2018. Significant problems including some font-related issues emerged immediately after release and it was promptly withdrawn. It was re-released in November 2018 supposedly with all issues resolved, however Microsoft immediately expedited the next update release - version 1903 - and it became available in May 2019.

The only fonts that can be used on Chromebook computers are those that are proscribed and supplied online by Google. See Can fonts from Australian School Fonts be used in Google Docs and/or on Chromebooks? below
 
Operating Systems-Windows, Macintosh, Unix, Android, iOS.

 

Phones and tablets vs desktop computers?

Phone and tablet apps often do not provide user-interface access to the same full range of font functions and features that are available with corresponding (or similar) desktop-computer applications. This unfortunate situation should hopefully improve with future versions of the phone/tablet operating systems and apps.

We are aware that on the Mac side, the phone/tablet operating systems (iOS, iPadOS) are gradually converging towards each other and towards the full MacOS (most likely v11 and later). Similarly, it seems likely that Android and ChromeOS (both based on a modified version of Linux) will converge towards each other over time. Since Microsoft has all but dropped support for Windows RT phone and tablet devices, it is not likely that the Windows RT OS will ever converge with Windows OS.
 

What languages are able to be written with the fonts?

The complete list of languages covered by the Beginner Regular and Thick fonts for each State is: Afrikaans, Albanian, Asu, Australian Aboriginal languages (all), Basque, Bemba, Bena, Breton, Catalan, Chiga, Cornish, Croatian, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, Flemish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Galician, Ganda, German, Gusii, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jola-Fonyi, Kabuverdianu, Kala Lagaw Ya (Torres Strait Islands), Kalenjin, Kinyarwanda, Latvian, Lettish, Lithuanian, Luo, Luxembourgish, Luyia, Machame, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Malagasy, Malay, Manx, Morisyen, Māori language (New Zealand), North Ndebele, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Nyankole, Oromo, Phonetic Latin (Classical), Polish, Portuguese (Timor-Leste), Pure Motu and Hiri Motu (Papua New Guinea), Romanian, Romansh, Rombo, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Samoan, Sango, Sangu, Scottish Gaelic, Sena, Shambala, Shona, Slovak, Slovenian, Soga, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Tagalog, Taita, Teso, Tetum (Timor-Leste), Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea), Tongan, Turkish, Vietnamese, Vunjo, Welsh, Zulu.

The complete list of languages covered by the Tight Text fonts for each State is: Afrikaans, Albanian, Asu, Australian Aboriginal languages (all), Basque, Bemba, Bena, Breton, Chiga, Cornish, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Faroese, Filipino, Finnish, Flemish, French, Frisian, Friulian, Galician, Ganda, German, Gusii, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Jola-Fonyi, Kabuverdianu, Kala Lagaw Ya (Torres Strait Islands), Kalenjin, Kinyarwanda, Luo, Luyia, Machame, Makhuwa-Meetto, Makonde, Malagasy, Malay, Manx, Morisyen, Māori language (New Zealand), North Ndebele, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, Nyankole, Oromo, Phonetic Latin (Classical), Portuguese (Timor-Leste), Pure Motu and Hiri Motu (Papua New Guinea), Rombo, Rundi, Rwa, Samburu, Samoan, Sango, Sangu, Sena, Shambala, Shona, Soga, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Swiss German, Taita, Teso, Tetum (Timor-Leste), Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea), Tongan, Vunjo, Welsh, Zulu.
 

I'm a parent. What regional font style do I buy?

This is a very reasonable question because, since the adoption of the Australian National Curriculum, there has been a move away from the previously strictly-enforced use of an "official" regional style for all schools across each State. Generally it is now the case that individual schools can teach any style they choose provided it is one that culminates naturally in fully cursive handwriting – these are called "Foundation" styles and include all of the current Australian modern cursive styles (NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, TAS) as well as the NZ Basic Script style, the UK Sassoon style and also the D'Nealian style widely taught in the US. Note that the old "Ball and Stick" style (widely used prior to the mid-1980s) is not a Foundation style. The move away from the statewide use of their traditional style has been most noticeable in WA – in WA some schools are still using the VIC style (the previous official style) but other schools are using the SA style and some are using the NSW style. No matter what Australian State you are in, before you purchase fonts for home use with your child it would be wise to check with your child's school to see which particular style they have decided to use.

Do I qualify for a 25% Home Licence discount?

The Home Licence is primarily intended for parents or students for their individual personal use on no more than 2 personally-owned, home-based computers/devices. It is not intended for teachers, tutors and other educational professionals preparing teaching materials at home. The main reason that we don't offer any discount for educational professionals is that other significant cost-saving options are already available for them eg  (a) they should be  able to claim the fonts as a work-related expense in their Income Tax Return (whereas parents and students usually can't) and (b) we offer Site Licences available for purchase by whole organizations which makes the fonts available to everyone in the organization at no personal expense to individuals. Full details of our Home Licence discounts can be found here. Please note that if you apply for a code during standard business hours (Mon-Fri, 9-5) you can expect to receive it by email within a couple of hours at the most. Applications received outside business hours will be responded to as early as possible the next day. Please note that our Home Licence Discount cannot be applied retrospectively to an order which has already been completed. If, after applying for a discount, you go ahead and make a purchase before we have been able to respond to you, we will consider your request for a discount code to be cancelled.
 

I've paid for the fonts. What happens now?

Immediately after you pay, you will be automatically re-directed after a few seconds from the final PayPal page straight back to our site for downloading. We also immediately send you a backup email containing your private download link. This email is sent to the address you entered on our customer details page when you made your order so it's not necessarily the same as your PayPal email address. This email will have the Subject "Your download link is ready. Invoice #99999" and in addition to the download link it contains a copy of the invoice marked "Paid in Full" for your records. At the same time we also send you an email with your receipt – it has the Subject "Payment receipt for your order. Invoice #99999". Both these emails are sent from sales@australianschoolfonts.com.au  Unfortunately it's not unusual for these emails to go straight into the recipient's spam/junk mail folder because they are the first emails you will have ever received from us. So please check your spam/junk mail folder and If your ISP (internet service provider) also filters out spam on your behalf you may need to check with them as well. If for some reason you can't locate the email please let us know and we'll re-send it immediately. Please note that for security reasons your personal download link expires automatically exactly 72 hours after purchase but if you contact us we're always happy to renew it. You will also receive a payment confirmation email direct from PayPal with the Subject "Receipt for your payment to Australian School Fonts".
 

When are some downloads after purchase not instant?

Payments made by Credit Card, Charge Card or Debit Card (provided there are no issues with your card) and payment using a PayPal Account with back-up Credit Card qualify for instant access to your purchase for download.

However some forms of payment do not qualify as instant payments so with these payments your download is not available immediately. For example, some PayPal Account payments get processed as an "eCheque" rather than as an "Instant Transfer". This usually happens when your PayPal Account doesn't have a backup Credit Card associated with it. So, instead of transferring your payment immediately to our account, PayPal waits for your bank to respond to the request for the funds. This can take up to 3-5 days but it is often quicker. Please be assured that we will send you your download link as soon as we receive notification from PayPal that your bank has released the funds.

Similarly, "Direct Payments" made by EFT require you to go to your bank (usually online) and transfer the funds to us as per the Account details we send you with our invoice. As soon as you send us some form of official confirmation of your payment, we send you your download link in good faith. How quickly you can download your purchase depends entirely on how long you take to organize the payment.
 

What do I do with the zip file I've downloaded?

A ZIP file (filename .zip) is a compressed folder containing one or more files. It's an efficient and secure way to transfer files over the internet. Mac OS X (all versions), Windows Vista, Windows 7, 8 and 10 all have a built-in unzip capability. On Mac just double-click your downloaded zip file and it will expand. In Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10 click on the downloaded zip file to view its contents. If you have Windows XP, right-click or double-click on the ZIP folder, click on "Extract all files" and the system will take you through a short extraction process via a step-by-step "wizard." which will ask you to choose a destination. If you're having problems unzipping on a Mac by double-clicking, just right-click (or hold down the Control key and click) on the ZIP file icon. Choose "Open With" and then select "Archive Utility." The utility will extract the ZIP files and you can find them in the same folder you downloaded them to. If you're on Windows and you find that you have no functioning unzipping utility on your computer, there are many options for you. You could try SmithMicro's StuffIt Expander which you can download free from here – free versions for both Windows and Mac are available. Another free Windows unzipping application is 7-zip. Alternatively to get access to sites which allow you to upload your zip archive and then download the extracted files see this list of the most well-known sites. Finally, you can also purchase a commercial product called WinZip.

I've never installed a font before. How do I do it?

Simply downloading the fonts from our website and unzipping them doesn't install them on your computer. Getting the fonts to appear in the font menu of your applications is a very easy process on both Mac and Windows – the latest version of our full installation instructions can be found here. In summary all you do is double-click on the font file and click on "Install" in the window that opens up. You're welcome to contact us by phone or email if you're having a problem with installation.

Why am I'm getting an "invalid font" message when I try to install?

There are common reasons on both platforms why you might be getting an "invalid font" message. Unfortunately the message is both misleading and unhelpful, disguising the actual reason for the installation failure - it's almost never because the font is actually "invalid" ie corrupted in some way. If you're on PC/Windows the message can indicate that you actually don't have the administrator authority to install fonts. You will need to get your IT person to log in using their top-level administrator password. Similarly if you're on Macintosh, Administrator privileges are required to install fonts into the main global Fonts folder (all users) but the most common reason for the "invalid font" message is that you are attempting to install a font that is identical to one that is already installed. This can arise if you install a font and think that it's not installed so then try to install it again. It's always a good idea to check in FontBook after installation to see if the font is showing and you can validate the font using FontBook to satisfy yourself that the installed font is indeed valid. We're always happy to talk you though the process on the phone if you continue to have issues.The latest version of our full installation instructions can be found here.

Why do I get a "serious font error" message when I try to install in MacOS El Capitan and Sierra?

As of MacOS 10.11.5, Apple made a change to the way FontBook's font validation works when it is examining a font before the font is actually installed. Consequently, you may be seeing a "Serious error with the font" message whenever you attempt to install a font directly from your downloaded folder. You will find that if you ignore the warning and go ahead with the installation and then do a validation test from within FontBook, the font will invariably be confirmed as being perfectly OK and safe to use. The "serious error" message while installing may be avoided in most cases by first transferring the font/s to your desktop and then proceeding with the installation. We understand that Apple is aware of these unintended font installation issues and is addressing them. Of course, if a font validation from within FontBook after installation ever fails then you should always uninstall the font without delay. Please be assured that all fonts from Australian School Fonts are of the highest and latest technical standards, have been thoroughly tested and have also been thoroughly checked for corruption and viruses.
 

I've installed the font. Why doesn't it show in Word's font menu?

On both Mac and Windows platforms, some people are led to believe that the font is not installed because they check Word's font menu after installation and don't find the font in there. This is almost always because Word was running while the font was being installed. Word (as well as some other applications) does not "see" newly-installed fonts until it you quit out of it and start it up again. Sometimes it even takes a restart of the whole computer to get Word to show the font in its font menu. This problem can occur in Word with all fonts, not just our school fonts. We recommend that you quit out of all applications including Word before installing fonts. If you continue to have installation issues, we're always happy to talk you though the process on the phone. The latest version of our full installation instructions can be found here.

I've installed the whole 11-font Pack on my Mac so why are only 3 fonts are showing in my font menu?

This is exactly what you should be seeing with all the fonts installed. The main menu should show [STATE's NAME] Beginner GT, [STATE NAME] PreCursive GT and [STATE's NAME] Cursive GT Pro. If you have a look at the submenu for the Beginner GT you'll see the full 7-member Beginner family listed - Regular, Thick, Arrow, Dot, DotArrow, Line, LineArrow). If you have a look at the submenu for the PreCursive GT you'll see the full 3-member PreCursive family listed - Regular, Thick, Line). The Cursive GT Pro font has just the one font in its submenu (Regular) - all the different cursive styles are accessed from within your application. In Windows, the whole set of 11 fonts usually shows in the main font menu.

I've followed all your instructions including Restart but my newly-installed fonts still aren't showing in Mac Word?

We have noticed that installing new fonts sometimes exposes problems with the Font Cache in Mac Word - especially if you have a very large number of fonts already installed - so it's a good idea to rebuild the Font Cache occasionally. By far the easiest and safest way to do this is to use a free shareware application called Font Finagler v1.5 (beta 10) available here. NOTE: Despite the warnings you may receive when launching Font Finagler, version (1.5 beta 10) is fully compatible with all versions of MacOS X 10.4.x and greater, including Leopard (MacOS X 10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6), Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8), Mavericks (10.9), Yosemite (10.10), El Capitan (10.11) and Sierra (10.12).

Just download the Installer Package and double-click it. After installing Font Finagler, open it , click "Inspect Font Cache Files..." then when these have all been listed click "Clean Font Cache Files...". The cleaning will occur then a Restart will occur. After your computer has started up again, check to see if Word is now showing your font/s. If not, you may need to consider a careful culling of your font collection - although we can't find anything conclusive on the web indicating a specific numerical upper limit to Word's font capacity.

The fonts appear in Win Word's font menu but I can't use them in documents (and I can't delete them from my computer either!)

The most likely explanation for this strange situation is that your computer is running the special version of Windows called Windows 10S OR it is running Windows 10 in S-Mode. Windows 10S will not run software that needs to be installed from the desktop. Currently that means no Chrome, no Firefox, no iTunes, numerous games and much much more. We can't specifically find mention of fonts in the Windows 10S information on the internet but it seems likely that third-party fonts also fit into this "prohibited" category. All Windows 10S software must be downloaded ONLY from the Windows Store. Microsoft rightly points out this should mean software is safer – an important consideration for schools and businesses but it is obviously very restrictive and it seems that not everyone is aware of these limitations. Read more about Windows 10S here.

Previously the only solution was to purchase a paid upgrade to standard Windows 10 but if you are running a relatively recent version of Windows 10S (Windows 10 in S-Mode) it is easy to switch to standard Windows 10 which will allow you more freedom to install and use third-party software such as custom fonts. There is no cost involved in switching to standard Windows 10 from S-Mode but be aware that it is a permanent one-way switch - you can't go back to S-Mode once you've switched. More information on Windows 10 S-Mode and switching to Windows 10 can be found on the Microsoft Windows Support site here.

NOTE: S-Mode is not the same as "safe mode". The "S" is S-Mode stands for "Security" and S-Mode is an intentionally pared-down version of the Windows 10 system (no x86 and x64 apps, only apps from the Microsoft store etc), whereas "safe mode" is a way of starting up full Windows 10 in a basic state, using a limited set of files and drivers in order to troubleshoot issues (for info on safe mode see here on the Microsoft Support site.

How do I clear my computer's Font Cache manually?

MacOSX: OS X includes a command line utility for cleaning the system font cache. To use the utility, you need to log in with an administrator account.
    1. Close all applications. (Important!)
    2. Start Terminal located in the Applications > Utilities folder (press CMND+SHIFT+U to open this folder).
    3. Type sudo atsutil databases -remove and press Return (take care to type this command string exactly as it appears here).
    4. Type your password at the prompt (no characters will echo back to the screen). Press Return
    5. When the process is complete, type exit to end your command line session, choose Terminal > Quit Terminal, then Restart your Mac.

Windows 10: Follow the instructions at https://winaero.com/blog/rebuild-font-cache-windows-10/

My download link has expired. Can I get a new link?

Because our site does not require a password-protected account to access it, for security reasons all download links automatically expire after exactly 7 days (168 hours), but you can always request a new download link. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need to re-download after your link has expired. As for guaranteeing that you always have access to your purchase, we do plan on being around for a long time :) but, if you didn't purchase a backup disc as part of your order we strongly recommend that you burn your own backup USB or DVD and keep it somewhere safe.

Please note that we can only accept a new download request if it is directly and personally from the original purchaser of the fonts and the new link can only be sent to the email address given to us at the time of the original purchase. A request to send the new link to an alternate email address will be accepted only if it is requested personally by the original purchaser. In the case of a Single-User licence, the alternate email address cannot be that of another person.

The new download link you receive will always be for the most recently released version of the Pack or font/s that you originally purchased. However, if you have a special reason to continue using only the version you originally purchased then please don't use the new download link – simply send us an email to ask us for an exact replacement and we'll do our best to meet your request.

How can I purchase a Site (Multi-User) Licence online?

Site (Multi-User) Licences can now be purchased online. Make sure you've read the Site Licence information here and also checked our current Licence Price List. Click the "Choose Licence" button next to the item/s on our Shop page and then from the "Licence" menu choose the licence for the number of computers/devices onto which you want to install the fonts eg "1-25 Computers/Devices (Multi User)". If you choose a Site (Multi-User) Licence for installation on 201+ computers/devices, you must enter the exact number of computers/devices in the "Number of computers" box otherwise just leave the number "1" in this box (the total licence cost will be calculated in the Cart). Click the "Add to Cart" button. Then, when you've finished shopping, Click the "Cart & Checkout" button to see your Cart. The correct licence/s and cost/s should be displayed in your Cart. If you need to, you can change or delete your licence choice/s in the Cart and/or, if you happen to have been issued a discount voucher code by us, you can enter it in the "Redeem discount/voucher" box. Then click the "Update Cart" button to get the new correct pricing. Click the "Checkout" button to begin the payment process.

If you ever need to upgrade an existing Single-User Licence to a Multi-User Licence, or if you want to increase the number of computers covered by your existing Multi-User Licence, just contact us by email with all the details and we'll send you an upgrade invoice – the amount you've already paid will be taken into account.

Site Licences can now be purchased online. Click the Select Licence button next to the item/s on our Shop page and then from the menu choose the Licence for the number of computers/devices on which you want to install the fonts eg "1-25 Computers/Devices (Unlimited Users)". If it's more than 200, enter the exact number in the box – the total will be calculated in the Cart. Click Add to Cart. The correct Licence and cost will display in your Cart. If you need to, you can change your Licence choice in the Cart and then click Update Cart

- See more at: https://www.australianschoolfonts.com.au/licence/site-licence/#sthash.zdGuvIku.dpuf

How do I get coloured dotted-thirds behind the letters like in the website font samples?

For technical reasons it is very difficult to use dotted lines for our automatic guidelines – it's quite challenging to get the dots to line up precisely from one character to the next because characters are all different widths. So instead we have used all solid lines, with the thinner solid lines replacing the dotted lines. Some States (eg NSW and Qld) use all solid lines as standard so this is quite a common format for handwriting guidelines. But don't worry, it is definitely possible to use our fonts so that your letters sit on top of dotted lines – you can even make the dotted-thirds a different colour from your text (the same way the fonts look on our site in our font sample illustrations). By using the backslash key in the font you will ensure that you are getting the correct dotted thirds for your State as illustrated in the official Department of Education syllabus/handwriting guidelines. Admittedly the method is not quite as simple as just turning the automatic guidelines on and off but it's really not hard at all and after you've done it a couple of times you'll find it much easier and quicker, especially if you create your own template document that you can re-use. See the instructions Coloured Dotted-Thirds GT_v2.1 on our Resources page.

IMPORTANT: If you want to change the text style eg from Regular to Dots for the same State, you only need to change it in the front text box. There is no need to change the style in the rear box as the lines are identical across all of our fonts from the same State. If you change to one our fonts from a different State in the front text box it will still line up with our lines in the rear box but the specific arrangement of thin lines, thick lines and dots may no longer be the syllabus-recommended writing grid for the State style you are now using in the front box. Finally, note that if you use another vendor's font for the text in the front box it will almost certainly not align with our lines in the rear box and vice versa.

What's the relationship between the point size of writing lines and the number of sets of these lines that will fit on an A4 page?

A rough guide to creating practice worksheets (using space character or backslash character) with a specific number of sets of writing lines per portrait A4 page is as follows. Please note that you will need to set your top and bottom page margin to the minimum setting to fit these in.

    10 sets of lines per A4 page    70 point    recommended for Year 1 in some States.    
    15 sets of lines per A4 page    50 point    recommended for Year 2 in some States.
    20 sets of lines per A4 page    35 point    recommended for Years 3-4 in some States.
    35 sets of lines per A4 page    20 point    recommended for Years 5+ in some States.

Why do my school fonts look small compared to other fonts?

Your school fonts will look smaller than common text fonts like Arial and Helvetica at the same point size eg 12 point. The reason for this is that the main lowercase "body" of school font letters is quite a lot smaller in relation to the overall vertical size than an Arial or Helvetica letter. The vertical size is the distance from the top of the capital letters and the ascenders of the letters b, d, f, h, k, l and t down to the bottom of the descenders of the letters g, j, p, q, y (and sometimes z). The illustration below compares the appearance of a normal text font with that of a school font at the same point size. Simply increase the point size when you're using school fonts. If you need a school-style font that has the same proportions and line-spacing as normal text fonts, use our Tight Text™ fonts.

Comparison between normal text fonts, school fonts and Tight Text.

By the way, if you are using Microsoft Word you will find that the greatest point size you can select in the font size menu is 72 point, however did you know that you can manually enter any size you like in the actual point size field? Simply place your cursor in the box which shows the current point size eg "72", backspace-delete and then type your preferred point size eg "500". With the letter "A" (in any of our fonts) you can increase the point size to 850 before the letter starts to exceed the A4 page size. Most applications – and certainly all of our recommended applications – should allow the manual entry of point size as per the above directions for Word. Note that the upper point size limit for Word is 1638 which is well in excess of what you will probably ever need! Other applications may have different upper limits to point size.

Dots vs Dashes?

There is some controversy/confusion about the use of dots versus dashes. Actually the teaching principle behind the use of dots is to support the formation of letters at it's most primitive stage. The pedagogic intention was to get children to literally "join the dots" so that they would gradually, through successive small directed movements, be inducted into the feeling of the fine motor skill which leads eventually to the fluent formation of letters and drawing in general. Alternatively the use of dashes is really for tracing at a slightly more advanced stage than the dots because the letters must then be formed by single, continuous, smooth and faster movements compared to the tiny incremental steps involved in joining the dots.

We don't feel the need to include the dashed lines as there is a far easier solution - namely, to simply change the colour of our solid Regular or Thick font from the default black to a very light shade of grey (or any other desired colour) so that it can be used for continuous line tracing and the child's pen/pencil mark can easily be seen sitting on top of the very pale letter in the background. The change in colour of the text can be easily done in pretty much any program you are likely to be using eg Word, Pages etc. If you're having trouble creating the light-coloured text in your application of choice let us know - we should be able to help you get started with that.

The next stage is for the child to progress to the Line fonts where the child is writing for the first time in a blank space albeit within the "gentle" constraints of the surrounding outlines.

The overall recommended teaching stages are from connecting dots to writing within outlines to writing completely unassisted except for writing lines to writing on a blank page without lines. At every stage there is the option of practice using light-coloured letters (instead of dashes) as described above – this can be particularly useful in the early stages of PreCursive/Cursive.
 

How do I get my Cursive font to join up in Microsoft Word and Publisher?

Perhaps you haven't yet had a chance to look at the Cursive GT Pro Manual PDF which was included in the package you downloaded? The "Quick Start Guide" (page 1) summarises all your options for setting up the cursive font to suit your needs. As you've probably already noticed, if you don't select any joining level (which is the default state after installation) then the font will simply appear as the unjoined beginner style. Don't worry, the Cursive font certainly does join but not without you first selecting your preferred joining level - eg PreCursive, Basic Cursive, Speed Cursive etc. You will find all the font's possible joining levels illustrated in the "Quick Start Guide" and also in more detail on the page titled "the joining levels at a glance".

To select your cursive joining level in Microsoft Word (Mac and Win) or Publisher (Win only), start a new document and set the font to the Cursive GT Pro font in the font menu:

1. Open up the "Fonts" formatting window. in Windows you do this by clicking the little arrowed box on the right-hand side of the "Font" section under the ribbon at the top of the Word or Publisher document window in Home tab view (or use keystroke CTRL+D - Word only). On Mac you can open up the "Fonts" formatting window from the "Format > Fonts..." menu item (or use keystroke CMND+D). The "Fonts" formatting window is illustrated on the "How to use Stylistic Sets" page of your Cursive Manual.

2. In the "Fonts" formatting window, open the "Advanced" tab. Note that versions of Word prior to 2010 (PC) and 2011 (Mac) do not have the Advanced tab so cursive joining cannot be enabled in these older versions of Word. See Support. Note that in Publisher, the "Fonts" formatting window does not have tabs.

3. In the "OpenType Features" section (Word) or the "Typography" section (Publisher) in the middle of the "Fonts" formatting window, find the "Stylistic Sets" pull-down menu. Select the appropriate stylistic set number from the manual and click "OK" at the bottom of the dialog box to exit. If you find that the OpenType options are unavailable (greyed out), you will need to take your document out of Compatibility Mode by Saving it in "Word Document (*.docx)" format, or by Copying the document's contents and Pasting it into a newly-opened document.

Now start typing. Your text should now join up at the selected level. See "Quick Start Guide" (page 1) or the "joining levels at a glance" page to see all the joining levels and the stylistic set number you need to use to select them. If you want to turn already-typed text into text at a certain joining level (including no level - ie unjoined) just select it first then open the "Fonts" dialog box and proceed as above. Tip: If you're always going to be using the same joining level for most of your documents you can simply Save As a Template with the correct Stylistic Set already selected and use this Template to start all new documents. You can also save your set-up (font size, joining level, with or without guidelines, text colour etc) as a Style which will then appear in the Styles pane.

See the "joining and letterform" pages in the cursive manual for a detailed summary of the cursive joining rules for each joining level. The last page of the Cursive manual has a very useful chart of of the major cursive joins which can print/enlarge and use as a physical or digital wall display for your classroom.

How do I get my Cursive font to join up in Apple Pages, TextEdit, Sketch and Nisus Writer Pro?

In Pages* or TextEdit click CMND+T to open the Fonts window; in Sketch right-click on your text and in the menu that opens select Show Fonts; in Nisus Writer Pro open the main menu's Format item, select Font then Show Fonts. Depending on your version of the MacOS your Fonts window will differ slightly in appearance but all the essential features will always be the same. Locate the little cog wheel and click on it to get the "Font Panel actions" pull-down menu. Choose the "Typography..". item. In the Typography window that opens up, go down to the "Styliistic Sets" section. Simply TICK the box next to the Stylistic Set that corresponds to the joining level you want (see your Cursive Manual). Click OK to close the Fonts window - your text will now be joined at the required level. *Please note that if you are using Pages you must be running version 5.6 or later (see above). Please note that, even though the application Preview is an Apple program which supports text, it does not to date allow access to the MacOS Fonts window and therefore it has only very basic text support.
 

How do I get my Cursive font to join up in Adobe InDesign and Illustrator?

To select your joining level in InDesign or Illustrator, first select your text then, from the Character palette, open the OpenType menu. Locate the Stylistic Sets menu item and TICK the set which corresponds to the joining level you want – check your Cursive Manual's "Quick Start Guide" or "The Joining Levels at a Glance" to find which set you need. See the illustration on the "Stylistic Sets" page of your Cursive manual. To change the joining level, first UNTICK the previous level then TICK the new level. Hint: Never have two joining levels ticked at the same time.
 

How do I turn the guidelines ON and OFF in Microsoft Word and Publisher?

As always a good place to start is the Quick Start Guide (page 1) of your Beginner or Cursive Manual. You will find there a summary of all the steps to get your font working. To turn ON the guidelines in Microsoft Word (they're OFF by default), start a Word document and in the font menu set the font to our school font. Use the same process below to turn the lines OFF in Publisher (they're ON by default).

1. Open up the "Fonts" formatting window. in Windows you do this by clicking the little arrowed box on the right-hand side of the "Font" section under the ribbon at the top of the Word or Publisher document window in Home tab view (or use keystroke CTRL+D - Word only). On Mac you can open up the "Fonts" formatting window from the "Format > Fonts..." menu item (or use keystroke CMND+D). The "Fonts" formatting window is illustrated on the "Automatic Grid Lines" page of both the Beginner and the Cursive Manual.

2. In the "Fonts" formatting window, open the "Advanced" tab. Note that versions of Word prior to 2010 (PC) and 2011 (Mac) do not have the Advanced tab so cursive joining cannot be enabled in these older versions of Word. See Support. Note that in Publisher, the "Fonts" formatting window does not have tabs.

3. In the "OpenType Features" section (Word) or the "Typography" section (Publisher) in the middle of the "Fonts" formatting window, find the "Use Contextual Alternates" box and tick it (to display the guidelines under your font) or untick it (to remove the guidelines). Click "OK" at the bottom of the dialog box to exit. If you find that the OpenType options are unavailable (greyed out), you will need to take your document out of Compatibility Mode by Saving it in "Word Document (*.docx)" format, or by Copying the document's contents and Pasting it into a newly-opened document.

Now start typing. Your text should now display with guidelines.  If you want to get already-typed text to display with guidelines just select it first then open the "Fonts" dialog box and proceed as above. To turn the guidelines off, simply untick the box. Tip: If you're always going to be using the same guidelines status for most of your documents you can simply Save As a Template with the correct Contextual Alternates setting already selected and use this Template to start all new documents.

Note that the automatic guidelines will NOT show for normally invisible/non-printing characters such as a wordspace if you have selected to display special symbols for invisible/non-printing characters (eg a black mid-dot to indicate a wordspace). You will need to turn this display Option or View Preference off to make the guidelines visible for the space.

For technical reasons it is very difficult to use dotted lines for our automatic guidelines – it's quite challenging to get the dots to line up precisely from one character to the next because characters are all different widths. So instead we have used all solid lines, with the thinner solid lines replacing the dotted lines. Some States (eg NSW and Qld) use all solid lines as standard so this is quite a common format for handwriting guidelines. But don't worry, it is definitely possible to use our fonts so that your letters sit on top of dotted lines – you can even make the dotted-thirds a different colour from your text (the same way the fonts look on our site in our font sample illustrations). See our FAQ info above - How do I get coloured dotted-thirds behind the letters like in the website font samples?.

  

How do I turn the guidelines OFF and ON in Apple Pages, TextEdit, Sketch and Nisus Writer Pro?

In Pages*, TextEdit, Sketch and Nisus Writer Pro the guidelines will usually be ON by default but it's easy to turn them off. Start with a blank document or select the particular text you wish to modify. In Pages or TextEdit click CMND+T to open the Fonts window; in Sketch right-click on your text and in the menu that opens select Show Fonts; in Nisus Writer Pro open the main menu's Format item, select Font then Show Fonts. Depending on your version of the MacOS your Fonts window will differ slightly in appearance but all the essential features will always be the same. Locate the little cog wheel and click on it to get the "Font Panel actions" pull-down menu. Choose the "Typography..". item. In the Typography window that opens up, go right down to the "Character Alternates" section. The "Contextual Alternates" box will usually be TICKED on. Simply UNTICK this box. Your selected text will now have no guidelines or, if no text was selected, all text typed from this point on will not have lines. To go back to having the guidelines, just TICK the box. *Please note that if you are using Pages you must be running version 5.6 or later (see above). Please note that, even though the application Preview is an Apple program which supports text, it does not to date allow access to the MacOS Fonts window and therefore it has only very basic text support.

Note that the automatic guidelines will NOT show for normally invisible/non-printing characters such as a wordspace if you have selected to display special symbols for invisible/non-printing characters (eg a black mid-dot to indicate a wordspace). You will need to turn this display Option or View Preference off to make the guidelines visible for the space.
 

How do I turn the guidelines OFF and ON in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop?

In InDesign and Illustrator the guidelines will be ON by default. To turn them off, select your text and open the Character palette. Open the OpenType menu. You will see that the Contextual Alternates item is turned on by default. Just UNTICK it and the guidelines will stop displaying. See the illustration on the "Automatic Grid Lines" page of your Beginner or Cursive manual. For Photoshop the Contextual Alternates feature will need to be ticked ON to get the guidelines to display.

Note that the automatic guidelines will NOT show for normally invisible/non-printing characters such as a wordspace if you have selected to display special symbols for invisible/non-printing characters (eg a black mid-dot to indicate a wordspace). You will need to turn this display Option or View Preference off to make the guidelines visible for the space.

 

What is "Compatibility Mode" in Microsoft Word and Publisher and why can it be a problem?

You may not have noticed this but when you're using a version of Word or Publisher that's newer than the version that was used to create your document, you typically see Compatibility Mode in the title bar. It's important that you're aware of this because Compatibility Mode temporarily disables new or enhanced Word features so that the document can still be edited by people using the earlier version. Compatibility Mode also preserves the original layout of the document. In Compatibility Mode application features which were not available in the version of the application in which the document was created will appear greyed out and will not be accessible. So it might look like the font is not working properly but its actually the application that is deliberately limiting some of the font's normal functions.

In the case of our fonts, this may apply to the "Advanced" typography features that are in the "Fonts" format window. The "Advanced" tab, which gives access to typography features including OpenType was first introduced in Word 2010 (Windows) and Word 2011 (Mac) so if the document you've opened was created in those versions or later you can safely take your document out of Compatibility Mode. You can do this either by Saving As in "Word Document (*.docx)" format, or by Copying the document's contents and Pasting it into a newly-opened document.

Please note that by converting the document to a newer format lets you use newer features, but conversion might create difficulties for people who are still using earlier versions of Word to then edit the document. If you convert the document, they might not be able to work with certain portions of the document that were created in the newer versions of Word. For more info see the Microsoft Support document Converting documents to a newer format.

 

How do I use the special maths features in my Beginner Regular and Thick fonts (and also in the Tight Text fonts)?

The special maths functions all use the Ligatures OpenType feature which is ON by default in a number of applications (such as InDesign, Publisher, Pages, TextEdit, Sketch) and OFF in others (eg Word). To turn Ligatures ON in Word, open up the "Fonts" formatting window - in Windows you do this by clicking the little arrowed box in the "Font" section under the ribbon at the top of the Word document window in Home tab view (or use keystroke CTRL+D). On Mac you can open up the "Fonts" dialog box from the "Format>Fonts..." menu item (keystroke CMND+D). In the "Fonts" dialog box, open the "Advanced" tab. In the "OpenType Features" section (in the middle of the dialog box), select "Standard Only" from the "Ligatures: menu. Click OK. Now, to use your automatic fraction feature just type an asterisk (*) when you want to START your fraction. Then type the numbers you want on top then a forward slash then the numbers you want on the bottom. END with a space. The asterisk will disappear and your fraction will appear correctly. You can have as many numbers as you like in the numerator and denominator. The same Standard Ligatures feature allows you to type correct looking minus and multiply signs (correct design, correct vertical position relative to numbers and correct size). It's not straightforward to type the correct minus and multiply signs from the keyboard so this feature is very useful. In Word and Publisher version 2013 and earlier we recommend turning AutoCorrect OFF as it reduces the reliability of this feature of our fonts. Note: The hyphen and x substitutions work in all our fonts but the fractions only work in the beginner Regular and Thick as well as the Tight Text family.

How to type fractions.
     Type this...                                   Get this

                                                                          How to get a correct-looking minus sign             
                                                                                       Type "hyphen"                 Get correct "minus" sign

                                                                          How to get a correct-looking multiply sign             
                                                                                        Type letter "x"               Get correct "multiply" sign

Why aren't my school fonts embedding properly in PDFs made from Word for Windows?

If you look at your PDF in Acrobat Reader or Adobe Acrobat (click CTRL+D and select the "Fonts" tab) you may see that our school fonts are referenced but not embedded – any TrueType fonts present will have "Embedded Subset" next to them in brackets but our school fonts may not. Don't worry, our school fonts are fully embeddable so the issue is not with our fonts – unfortunately the problem is due entirely to a quirk of Word which treats the embedding of OTF fonts such as our school fonts differently to the embedding of TTF fonts. In some cases our fonts may not even be visible in the PDF or they may be only partially visible. This is only a Windows Word issue - it isn't a problem with Word for Mac and it doesn't happen with other applications (even in Windows). The workaround for this issue in Windows Word is as follows: when you "Save As" a PDF, click the Options button at the bottom of the "Save As" window. Then, in the Options window that opens up, you should UNTICK "Bitmap text when fonts may not be embedded" in the PDF options near the bottom of the Options window, then click OK. In your newly-generated PDF, click CTRL+D and select the "Fonts" tab to confirm that our school fonts are now showing as Embedded and any previously invisible fonts should now be fully visible. Occasionally, this workaround is not successful – in such cases, contact us and we'll do our best to find a solution for you.

Publisher WordArt versus Word WordArt?

Our inclusion of Publisher in our list of recommended applications above is qualified and that is because of issues with WordArt in Publisher. The version of WordArt included in Publisher is much more "primitive" than that included in Word. WordArt in Publisher produces smooth images only with TrueType (TTF) fonts - using OTF fonts results in inferior bitmapped images. Also, WordArt in Publisher only works with the four mainstream font family styles (Regular, Bold, Italic, BoldItalic) so that other quite valid OpenType styles eg Dot, Line, LineArrow etc do not work. Fortunately, Word's much more advanced version of WordArt does not have either of these two major limitations of WordArt in Publisher so we strongly recommend using WordArt in Word rather than in Publisher.

How do I avoid clipped and/or missing letters when I make a PDF in Windows Office 365?

Perhaps you are finding that some letters on the left-hand side of the page are displaying as "clipped" when you make a PDF in Microsoft Office 365 for Windows even though these same letters are not clipped on screen nor on a page you have printed out? Perhaps sometimes some letters are completely missing? Here's how you should be able to fix it. Instead of making your PDF by using File > Save As, try File > Print and then select "Microsoft Print to PDF" from the Printer menu. This method brings into play the more advanced Adobe PDF driver that has been integrated into Office 365 since 2018.  We have confirmed reports that using the "Microsoft Print to PDF" solution also fixes the problem of the missing/clipped text that appears in the cells of Tables when that text exceeds a certain point size. We are not aware of this missing/clipped letters problem occurring with PDFs made from Office 365 on Mac. Even if you are not having specific issues with PDFs made from Office 365 applications, we strongly recommend that you use "Microsoft Print to PDF" as your default PDF generator as it appears to be generally more robust and accurate.
 

Can I buy an "official" hardcopy backup of my order?

After you've put all the fonts you want into your cart, select either the "DVD Backup Disc" or the "USB Flashdrive Backup" item and add it to your cart. A backup of the fonts purchased in your Order will be mailed to you within 3-5 days. Please allow up to 10 days from the purchase date for delivery. Even if you're buying a physical backup you'll still be able to download your fonts at the time of your Order and start using them immediately. The hardcopy backup (as well as the fonts loaded onto it) will work with both Mac and Windows computers. The optical media disc is not ReWritable (RW) and the USB drive is write-protected – so your backup cannot be accidentally erased or written over. To purchase a hardcopy of an order you've made previously, just email us with the Invoice number and your preferred backup format (USB or DVD).

How do I make my own USB backup of my order?

Your font licence permits you to make a backup copy of your purchase for safe-keeping. To make a USB backup, simply purchase a USB flash drive - the smallest capacity available these days (1GB) will be quite big enough to fit your Order on it. Put it in your computer. If you have a Mac the USB will appear on your Desktop. If you have a PC you will find it in Windows Explorer (Press Win+E on your Keyboard or use the Explorer Shortcut on your Taskbar). Then you need to locate your "Downloads" folder. On Mac it should be in your Dock, or you can find it in the Finder window on your main drive. Then simply Select and Copy your Order folder - CMND+C (Mac) or CTRL+C (Win). Then open the USB by double clicking and Paste (CMND+V or CTRL+V) into the USB window. Eject the USB and you're done!

Why don't you have Sassoon handwriting fonts?

The Sassoon fonts are a proprietary design whose registered trademark and copyrights are wholly owned by Dr Rosemary Sassoon & Adrian Williams Design Ltd in the UK. The only official and authorised source for Sassoon handwriting fonts globally is their official UK website www.sassoonfont.co.uk  It's not entirely clear whether the use of the Sassoon fonts is approved under the current Australian National Curriculum handwriting guidelines. Certainly there is no question that the Sassoon font is a "foundation" style but as far as we are aware the National Curriculum recommends that schools should use one of the five current Australian foundation styles ie NSW Foundation, QLD Modern Cursive (QCursive), SA Modern Cursive, VIC Modern Cursive or TAS Modern Cursive. For what it's worth, most people seem to think that the SA font is the Australian style that overall most closely resembles Sassoon.

Can fonts from Australian School Fonts be used in Google Docs and/or on Chromebooks?

Unfortunately not! The only fonts that can be used in Google Docs and/or on Chromebook laptops are those that are proscribed and supplied online by Google. For our fonts to be available to Google Docs users we would have to make them available free to Google. We are quite a small font developer so we simply cannot afford to give our fonts away. Literally thousands of hours have gone into their development.

Is there anything more to pay once the fonts have been purchased?

No. You pay just once for your lifetime licence and that’s it! No repeat annual fees, ever. Provided there are no significant change in the nature and extent of the usage over time, this is also the case with Site Licences, Web Licences and Publishing Licences.

Can I buy the fonts from overseas without being charged Australian GST?

Yes, just contact us directly with your order, we’ll work out the cost without the 10% Australian Goods and Services Tax (GST) and send you a PayPal invoice. Such a purchase is classified as an Export for taxation purposes and is exempt from GST. Unfortunately no GST refunds are possible if you leave it until after you've already completed your purchase to contact us.

Can I buy the fonts by electronic funds transfer, cheque or money order instead of using the PayPal checkout?

Yes, this option ("Direct Payment") is available in the Payment section. You will be emailed a Tax Invoice along with all the details you will need to make your payment. As soon as we receive your payment (by cheque, money order or by transfer to our bank account) we will email you with your download link. If you're paying by bank transfer online we will be happy to send you the download link immediately if you are able to simply email us an official confirmation of your payment (eg a receipt/acknowledgement issued to you from your bank) or even a screen shot showing the completed transaction – otherwise we will need to wait for the funds to appear in our account and unfortunately this can sometimes take up to 5 days. "Direct Payment" Tax Invoices which remain unpaid for 7 days will be cancelled.

Where can I compare the fonts to the official Education Department syllabus for my region?

Just download the syllabus for your region from the link at the bottom of page 2 of the Beginner Manual or the Cursive Manual. The links to all these syllabus documents are also available on the Resources page of this site. See Resources. In cases where the original document has become difficult to get online we've made it available as a download directly from our website. We guarantee that our fonts comply 100% with the latest official Education Department handwriting specifications from each State – customers are always more than welcome to contact us if they find something in our fonts which appears to not comply with official Education Department guidelines.

What restrictions are there on the duplication of the teaching materials in the Manuals?

All pages in the Manual and in particular the special teaching materials at the end may be duplicated but strictly only for the exclusive, non-commercial use of the holder of the font licence. The material may not be resold nor incorporated into any software or publication (physical or digital) for commercial sale. If the licence holder of the font/s is a school or an individual teacher, the materials may be duplicated without restriction for the use of students directly associated with the licence-holder. See Licence.

How will my order payment appear in my credit card Statement and in my PayPal Account?

Different banks and credit card providers will record transactions differently but your Statement will most likely say either "PAYPAL *AUSCHLFONTS" or "PAYPAL *AUST SCHOOL FONTS". There could possibly be a reference to  "Australian School Fonts" or "Kevin G Brown" or "Graphity" or some combination of some or all of these (you will see the three latter entities clearly identified at the top of the official Tax Invoice and Receipt that we email to you). The receipt you are emailed from PayPal will have the Subject "Receipt for your payment to Australian School Fonts" and your PayPal account will show "Australian School Fonts" as the Seller and recipient of your payment. Please note that "Australian School Fonts" and "Graphity" are Registered Business Names of Kevin G Brown ABN 23 260 697 910.

Will the privacy of my information be respected?

Any personal details (including your email address) which you give us when ordering or in the course of any direct communications with us, or any contact details given to us by PayPal as a record of your transaction will be kept strictly private and will never under any circumstances be distributed or sold to any third party. Your contact details will only ever be used to contact you if there is a problem with your order, to reply to direct queries about orders, to supply you with free updates to products you have previously purchased and to advise you of newly-released products or upgrades that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of these notifications at any time. If you submit Feedback to us for publication on this website, your email address will never be displayed.
 

Is the Australian School Fonts website secure?

Our entire website including the Checkout is fully protected by SSL security (cPanel Inc. SHA-256/128-bit)  – you can confirm this by looking for the "https://" in the URL field of your browser. We do not collect any financial information from you on our site. This all occurs on the PayPal site and is very secure, as you would expect. PayPal supplies absolutely none of your financial information back to us. All personal contact details that you give to us during the Checkout process are fully protected in transmission by our site's SSL security.
 

Our Refunds/Swaps/Returns Policy

Refunds, swaps, and returns for digital products, especially if delivered by download, have always been problematic for software sellers. This is mainly due to the fact that digital files are so easily and undetectably copied and also because a digital product cannot be "returned" to the seller in any meaningful sense as can a physical product such as a pair of jeans or a vacuum cleaner. Even if you opted for a DVD backup disc and you return it to us it's unfortunately not possible to absolutely guarantee that the files have not been copied from it and retained. It is therefore very important that before you buy our digital software you first need to ensure that the software is appropriate to your intended usage and also to your particular computer environment (ie your platform, your operating system, your applications etc) and that you have sufficient basic computer skills to download, install and use the software. To help you make these decisions with the necessary due diligence we try to provide as much information as possible on our website. It is especially important that if you have any doubt whatsoever about whether the product you have purchased and which you are about to download from our Downloads page and which is clearly identified by name on that page is the exact product you intended to purchase then you should not download it - instead you should immediately contact us.

Once you take delivery of a digital product (either by download, email or postal delivery) then we can guarantee to offer a refund or swap if and only if you can establish that, as a result of deficient or inaccurate information provided by us on our website, the product including its functionality and compatibility does not conform to your reasonable expectations based on that information and/or if it is demonstrably faulty. In all circumstances other than the preceding, refunds and swaps are not available for downloaded, posted or emailed products however they may occur in very special cases entirely at our discretion. See also our Standard Licence Clauses (m), (n), (o), (p), and (q).

In all cases where a purchased item has been downloaded, delivered by post or emailed and then subsequently refunded by us for one of the special and limited reasons above, we require a declaration in writing (usually by email) as soon as possible after the refund occurs to the effect that all instances of the downloaded, posted or emailed item/s have been permanently deleted/destroyed. This includes installed items which need to be permanently uninstalled – not merely inactivated. It also includes physical hardcopy back-ups which may have been made by you for safekeeping as per your Licence. Please note that simply sending items to the Trash or Recycle Bin etc on your computer does not constitute permanent deletion - the contents of these storage locations (Trash, Recycle Bin etc) must be securely deleted.

We support and respect Australia's strong consumer protection regime. Accordingly, we ensure that our policy regarding refunds etc is consistent with all current applicable consumer laws and in particular with the latest PayPal Buyer & Seller Protection Policies and PayPal Digital Goods Policy as well as all standard Credit Card consumer protections and also ACCC Consumer Rights and Guarantees. Please note that a DVD or USB backup, being a physical item delivered by post, will be happily replaced if it has not been received by you (please allow 10 days from purchase) or if it is received with incorrect content or in defective condition.

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