Arts & Letters
Arts & Letters, operated by A&L Express Corporation, is a privately held San Antonio software vendor selling the Arts & Letters Express graphics and illustration application as a $9.95/month subscription to professional designers, educators, and home users across 35 countries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1987
- HeadquartersSan Antonio, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Arts & Letters does
Arts & Letters, operated by A&L Express Corporation, is a privately held software vendor founded in 1987 by Fred Schoeller and headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. The company develops and sells professional graphics and illustration software under the flagship brand Arts & Letters Express, targeting users in pre-press, print, silkscreen, publishing, design, commercial art, fine art, education, and home creative use. Approximately 60% of the user base is described as professionals producing work ranging from t-shirt designs to mosaic art displayed at international airports.
The core product, Arts & Letters Express 9.0, is a Windows desktop application (supporting Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11 in both 32-bit and 64-bit) rebuilt from earlier DOS- and Windows-era codebases. It includes professional illustration tools, a built-in auto-update system for continuous feature delivery, the Son of the Boss font manager providing access to approximately 2,000 fonts, and an award-winning continuous clip art library. The product is localized in seven languages and distributed to users in 35 countries.
The business model is direct-to-consumer e-commerce with three revenue streams: a $9.95/month recurring subscription for Express 9.0 (which can be cancelled at any time and includes continuous upgrades), one-time add-on purchases of Bonus Art and Fonts packs at $10-$15, and digital gift certificates priced between $10 and $160. Distribution is via the company's own e-commerce storefront at arts-letters.com with digital download delivery and, for physical CD orders, US Postal Service international shipping. Marketing relies on organic social channels (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube), an email newsletter, and customer testimonials, with no disclosed institutional funding, partnerships, or M&A activity.
Arts & Letters firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Arts & Letters
- Legal name
- A&L Express Corporation
- Website
- https://arts-letters.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1987
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Arts & Letters, operated by A&L Express Corporation, is a privately held San Antonio software vendor selling the Arts & Letters Express graphics and illustration application as a $9.95/month subscription to professional designers, educators, and home users across 35 countries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Arts & Letters is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Antonio
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Arts & Letters business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Express 9.0 Monthly Subscription: Monthly subscription model at $9.95 per month providing continuous software upgrades, clip art updates, and font library access. Subscribers receive access to special versions of other A&L product releases as they become available.
- Bonus Art & Fonts Packs: One-time purchase add-on packs containing additional fonts and clip art. Prices range from $10 to $15 for individual packs.
- Gift Certificates: Digital gift certificates sold between $10 and $160, emailed to recipients after purchase completion.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Express 9.0 Monthly Subscription at $9.95/month |
| Subscription | Annual | Annual subscription option at approximately $10 per month |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Bonus Arts & Fonts 3 pack at $15.00 |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Bonus Art 2 - CMYK at $10.00 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Gift certificates from $10 to $160 |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Credit Card Update fee at $0.01 |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Arts & Letters product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Arts & Letters sells Arts & Letters Express, a subscription-based professional illustration and graphics design software for Windows. The $9.95/month Express 9.0 subscription provides continuous automatic upgrades, an award-winning clip art library, and access to approximately 2,000 fonts via the Son of the Boss font manager, targeting users in pre-press, print, silkscreen, publishing, design, commercial art, fine art, education, and home graphics.
Product overview
Arts & Letters offers a unified software product portfolio centered on Arts & Letters Express, a subscription-based professional graphics design application. The main Express 9.0 subscription ($9.95/month) provides core illustration and design tools with continuous upgrades, clip art libraries, and font management. Additional value is delivered through Bonus Art & Fonts add-on packs (Bonus 1, 2, and 3) that provide supplementary clip art and fonts. The product is compatible with Windows 7, 8, 10 & 11 across both 32-bit and 64-bit systems. The company has a five-decade history in graphics software, originally delivering Diagraph and Picture Perfect for DOS before evolving to the current Windows-based platform.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Arts & Letters Express 9.0: Subscription-based professional illustration software with auto-update system, clip art, fonts, and continuous upgrades.
- Bonus Art & Fonts
Products and services
- Arts & Letters Express 9.0 Monthly Subscription A subscription-based professional illustration and graphics design software for Windows 7, 8, 10 & 11 (32-bit and 64-bit). Provides continuous upgrades, an award-winning clip art library, and access to approximately 2,000 fonts via the Son of the Boss font manager. Priced at $9.95 per month with cancel-anytime terms.
- Bonus Art & Fonts 1 A one-time purchase add-on pack for Express users containing 6 new fonts and 10 new pieces of clip art to expand the design library.
- Bonus Arts & Fonts 3 A one-time purchase add-on pack for Express users containing 10 new fonts and 13 new pieces of clip art, sold at $15.00.
- Bonus Art 2 - CMYK A one-time purchase add-on pack priced at $10.00 containing images to assist Express users with CMYK color conversion workflows for print production.
Companies that use Arts & Letters
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Arts & Letters technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Arts & Letters partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Arts & Letters competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Krita: Krita is a free, open-source professional painting and illustration program with a strong community among concept artists and illustrators. It overlaps with A&L's illustration use cases and competes for the same education and prosumer creative users.
- Inkscape: Inkscape is a free, open-source vector graphics editor for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It competes with A&L Express on price-sensitive individual and education users who might otherwise choose an affordable subscription product.
- Sketch (Sketch B.V.): Sketch is a Mac-focused vector design tool used by product, UI, and graphic designers. While A&L is Windows-first, Sketch competes for the same SMB subscription-paying design professional segment with a modern subscription and collaboration model.
- Vectornator (Linearity Curve): Linearity Curve (formerly Vectornator) is a modern vector illustration tool initially built for iPad/Mac and now expanding to web. It targets the same SMB and prosumer illustrators as A&L, but with a mobile-first, cross-platform approach that highlights A&L's Windows-only gap.
- Canva: Canva is a browser-based, AI-assisted design platform that overlaps with A&L's prosumer and SMB use cases (t-shirt design, presentations, social/print graphics). It is rapidly capturing the lower-end of the market that A&L has historically served with easy-to-use tools.
Broad incumbents
- Adobe Illustrator: Adobe Illustrator is the dominant professional vector graphics application within Creative Cloud. It serves the same professional designers in prepress, publishing, and commercial art that Arts & Letters targets, but as part of a much broader enterprise suite.
Direct peers
- Xara Designer: Xara Designer is a Windows-first vector/illustration tool positioned as lightweight and affordable for SMB and individual designers. It has comparable target customer overlap with Arts & Letters Express, including prepress and DTP workflows.
- Affinity (Serif): Affinity Designer targets the same value-conscious professional and SMB illustrator segment as A&L Express, offering one-time perpetual licenses for vector/illustration. Both compete as affordable, ease-of-use alternatives to Adobe Illustrator.
- Corel (CorelDRAW): CorelDRAW is a long-standing Windows-first vector illustration suite for professional designers and commercial print. It directly competes with Arts & Letters Express in prepress, signage, and apparel graphics — the same core use cases A&L serves.
Regional players
- Celsys (CLIP STUDIO PAINT): CLIP STUDIO PAINT is a Japanese illustration and comic-focused software widely adopted by professional illustrators worldwide. It is comparable to A&L Express as subscription-based illustration software, but with stronger traction in Asia and a specialization in comics/manga.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Arts & Letters social profiles
Digital presenceArts & Letters financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Arts & Letters leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Arts & Letters funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Arts & Letters M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Arts & Letters
What does Arts & Letters do?
Arts & Letters sells Arts & Letters Express, a subscription-based professional illustration and graphics design software for Windows. The $9.95/month Express 9.0 subscription provides continuous automatic upgrades, an award-winning clip art library, and access to approximately 2,000 fonts via the Son of the Boss font manager, targeting users in pre-press, print, silkscreen, publishing, design, commercial art, fine art, education, and home graphics.
Is Arts & Letters a public or private company?
Arts & Letters is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Arts & Letters founded?
Arts & Letters was founded in 1987. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Arts & Letters based?
Arts & Letters is headquartered in San Antonio, United States, in the North America region.
How does Arts & Letters make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Express 9.0 Monthly Subscription is the primary driver. The others are bonus Art & Fonts Packs and gift Certificates.
Who are Arts & Letters's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Krita, Inkscape, Sketch (Sketch B.V.), Vectornator (Linearity Curve) and Canva. Adobe Illustrator is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are Xara Designer, Affinity (Serif) and Corel (CorelDRAW). Celsys (CLIP STUDIO PAINT) is listed as a regional player.
Does Arts & Letters have an API?
No public API is recorded for Arts & Letters.