# Do i need the instances for non-variable font?

**URL:** <https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/do-i-need-the-instances-for-non-variable-font/32423>\
**Category:** Glyphs\
**Tags:** export\
**Created:** [January 2, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/do-i-need-the-instances-for-non-variable-font/32423 "2025-01-02T03:39:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![scd876](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/user_avatar/forum.glyphsapp.com/scd876/32/28759_2.png) [@scd876](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/u/scd876)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/do-i-need-the-instances-for-non-variable-font/32423/1 "2025-01-02T03:39:46Z")

</div>

I finished designing a font and when i was exporting it, i ran into an issue of the font not exporting. I did some search on this forum and realized i needed to set up the weight axes, map the 3 masters to different values and lastly generate the instances from the master and this fixed the issue of the font not exporting. My question is, do i need to set up the weight axes and instances (exports) for a non-variable font? Because setting up the weight axes now creates the interpolation issue between the masters.

For more context about why i have the interpolation issue  
I’m creating a handwritten type with 3 different weights so it is not a variable font by design.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FlorianPircher](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/user_avatar/forum.glyphsapp.com/florianpircher/32/30457_2.png) [@FlorianPircher](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/u/FlorianPircher)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 9:09am UTC](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/do-i-need-the-instances-for-non-variable-font/32423/2 "2025-01-02T09:09:18Z")

</div>

As long as every instance has the same coordinates as some master, there is no interpolation and thus no interpolation issues.

For projects where your masters are not designed for interpolation, add an “Enforce Compatibility Check” Custom Parameter to the font and set it to off. See also:

> [@Master Compatibility vs Interpolation problem](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/master-compatibility-vs-interpolation-problem/27315/2):
>
> Add “Enforce Compatibility Check” Custom Parameters, in your Font Info, and uncheck it

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GeorgSeifert](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/user_avatar/forum.glyphsapp.com/georgseifert/32/259_2.png) [@GeorgSeifert](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/u/GeorgSeifert)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/do-i-need-the-instances-for-non-variable-font/32423/3 "2025-01-02T12:03:12Z")

</div>

The masters are your source material, the instances represent the exported fonts. So you need both in static and variable exports.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![scd876](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/user_avatar/forum.glyphsapp.com/scd876/32/28759_2.png) [@scd876](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/u/scd876)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 7:27pm UTC](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/do-i-need-the-instances-for-non-variable-font/32423/4 "2025-01-02T19:27:12Z")

</div>

> [@GeorgSeifert](#):
>
> atic and va

Thank you and that article fixed my interpolation error warning.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![scd876](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/user_avatar/forum.glyphsapp.com/scd876/32/28759_2.png) [@scd876](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/u/scd876)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 7:30pm UTC](https://forum.glyphsapp.com/t/do-i-need-the-instances-for-non-variable-font/32423/5 "2025-01-02T19:30:20Z")

</div>

Thank you. I just realized that it does make a lot of sense when i thought about it more.