Alight Motion comes with a solid set of built-in fonts, but sooner or later every editor wants something more distinctive for a title, lyric video, or intro. Custom fonts let you import your own font files into the app and use them on any text layer. This guide covers what custom fonts are, which font format Alight Motion supports, where to get fonts legally, how to import them, and how to fix the most common font problems.
What Are Custom Fonts in Alight Motion?
A custom font is simply a font file you add to the app yourself instead of using one of the fonts bundled with Alight Motion. Once imported, a custom font behaves like any built-in font: you can apply it to text layers, resize it, animate it, and use it in any project.
Custom fonts matter most when you work with shared content. An Alight Motion preset or a shared project may have been designed with a specific font. If that font is not on your device, the text will not look the way the creator intended — this is the classic “missing font” problem covered below.
Supported Font Formats
Alight Motion’s official help center recommends using font files in .ttf (TrueType) format so the app can recognize them. In practice, this means:
- Use .ttf files. This is the format the official documentation verifies. If a font will not import, the file format is the first thing to check.
- Unzip before importing. Fonts downloaded from the web usually arrive as .zip archives. Extract the .ttf file first — the app cannot read fonts from inside a zip.
- One file per style. Bold, italic, and regular versions of a typeface are usually separate .ttf files. Import each style you want to use.
Getting Fonts Legally
There are plenty of legitimate places to find fonts, but “free to download” does not automatically mean “free to use however you like.” Safe sources include:
- Google Fonts — a large library of open-licensed fonts you can download as .ttf files.
- Reputable free font sites that clearly state the license for each font.
- Paid font foundries — buying a license gives you a .ttf/.otf file plus written usage rights.
- Fonts bundled with your device or other apps — these are licensed for your personal use on that device.
Avoid pirated “free download” copies of commercial fonts. Besides the legal risk, they are a common source of corrupted or mislabeled files that fail to import.
How to Import Fonts into Alight Motion
The import flow is done from inside a project, through the text settings:
- Download or copy the .ttf font file to your device and note where you saved it.
- Open Alight Motion and open (or create) any project.
- Add a text layer, or select an existing text layer, and open its text/font settings.
- Open the font list and use the import/add option to browse your device storage.
- Select the .ttf file. The font is added to your font list and stays available for future projects.
If the import option does not respond, double-check that the file is an unzipped .ttf, that the file is not corrupted (try opening it in another app), and that Alight Motion has storage/file access permission on your device.
Using Custom Fonts in Your Projects
Once imported, a custom font works like any built-in font:
- Select a text layer, open the font picker, and choose your imported font.
- Fonts apply per text layer, so different layers can use different fonts.
- Imported fonts persist in the app, so you can reuse them in new projects without re-importing.
- If you share a project with someone, they need the same font installed or the text will fall back to a different font on their device.
Missing Font Problems
Missing fonts show up when you open a project, preset, or shared file that references a font you do not have installed. Typical signs: text renders in a plain default font, or lettering looks noticeably different from a preview video.
To fix it:
- Ask the project creator which font was used, obtain it legally, and import it yourself.
- If the project arrived as an XML file, make sure the import itself completed cleanly — see our guide to XML import errors.
- If the exact font is unavailable, pick the closest licensed alternative and restyle the affected text layers.
Font Compatibility Issues
- Rendering differences between devices: the same .ttf can look slightly different on different phones or app versions because of how each system draws text. Always preview on your export device.
- Decorative and script fonts: highly stylized fonts sometimes have unusual spacing or missing glyphs (for example, no numerals). Test the full alphabet before committing to one for a project.
- App updates: after a major Alight Motion update, re-check projects that rely on custom fonts — re-import the font if a previously working one stops appearing.
Font Licensing: What to Know
Every font is software with a license, and the license decides what you may do with it:
- Personal vs. commercial use: many free fonts allow personal projects only. Using them in monetized videos, client work, or ads may require a paid license.
- Open licenses: fonts under the SIL Open Font License (common on Google Fonts) are generally free for commercial use, but read the specific terms — some require attribution or forbid resale of the font file itself.
- Do not redistribute font files unless the license explicitly allows it. Sharing a project is fine; uploading the .ttf itself usually is not.
- When in doubt, check the license file that came with the font or the terms on the site where you downloaded it.
Bottom line: never assume that every font you find online is free for commercial use. A quick license check takes a minute and protects your channel or business.
Troubleshooting Font Problems
- Font does not appear after import: confirm the file is an unzipped .ttf, re-import it, then restart Alight Motion.
- “File not recognized” or import fails: the file may be corrupted or mislabeled (for example, a renamed non-font file). Re-download it from a reputable source.
- Font shows in the list but renders wrong: the .ttf may be incomplete or use features the app does not support — try another file of the same typeface.
- App crashes when picking a font: treat it like any other stability issue — see the Alight Motion troubleshooting guide.
Stick to verified .ttf files from legitimate sources, keep your app updated, and font issues in Alight Motion are rare — and when they do appear, they are usually fixed by re-importing a clean copy of the file.