A
type foundry is a
company that
designs or distributes
typefaces. Originally, type foundries manufactured and sold metal and wood typefaces and
matrices for line-casting machines like the
Linotype and
Monotype machines designed to be printed on
letterpress printers. Today's
digital type foundries accumulate and distribute typefaces (typically as
digitized fonts) created by
type designers, who may either be
freelancers operating their own independent foundry, or employed by another foundry. Type foundries may also provide custom type design services.