Need help reloading fonts in OSX.

September 25, 2007 9:16 AM

I am using CS2 and missing various PostScript fonts. I ran FontDoctor in hopes of fixing the problem, but it is still reporting that I cam missing about 50 bitmap fonts. How can I reload these fonts? Please walk me through each step - this is all new to me. (I am running version 10.4.10 on a 1.8GHz Power PC G5.)
posted by jrichards to computers & internet (11 comments total)

It seems that you're saying that FontDoctor reported 50 missing bitmap fonts. Is that correct? Or is it one of the CS2 applications?

Is this when opening a document or starting the program?

Is this a new issue? Did you change anything on your computer before the problem started?
posted by wemayfreeze at 10:24 AM on September 25, 2007

Are you (or were you) running a font management application such as Suitcase Fusion?
posted by thinman at 10:28 AM on September 25, 2007

I've been having problems opening documents in InDesign for a long time now (especially documents that I share with our graphic designer). The docs either close or open with funky looking fonts, specifically Gill Sans, Univers, and Bodoni. I ran the font utility a couple of times but that didn't help. I just bought FontDoctor, which fixed a bunch of fonts and then reported the missing Bitmap fonts. I'd like to replace them, but I don't know how. I'm working on a project in InDesign and it's taking forever to work around this issue.

I am not running any other font management applications.
posted by jrichards at 11:02 AM on September 25, 2007

Are these fonts that you've used successfully in the past? This page suggests a number of things to check when you have font problems.

Do you have copies of the offending fonts somewhere else—on a CD or a different folder—or just the problem copies? If you have copies elsewhere, you may be best served by deleting everything associated with the fonts and reinstalling them.
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:22 AM on September 25, 2007

Wemayfreeze: I DO want to reinstall them. How do I do it??
posted by jrichards at 12:00 PM on September 25, 2007

Have you used the Font Book application by any chance? You may have turned off the fonts you need there. If yes, it's a simple matter to turn them back on, but you'll be wanting to use some other font management software. I use Suitcase fusion, but there are others out there. Everyone has their favorite, find yours.

The "funky looking fonts" you're seeing are fonts that are being substituted by InDesign for fonts that were used in the document which are no monger available on your system. Fonts become corrupt over time, so it's a good idea to create a backup of fonts you've used, just as you'd create backups of important documents. If you don't have a backup you may have to buy the appropriate fonts from a foundry or reinstall your system. Or get them from a friend or colleague, which would be illegal.

If you don't do so now, you ought to Package any completed files. Packaging will collect all of the fonts and graphics into a single folder which you can then give to other designers or back up. So long as the fonts you used aren't corrupted, the fonts collected in the Packaged folder wont be corrupted either.

Sorry if this doesn't directly solve your problem, but I'm trying to troubleshoot the issue.

A couple other questions - Have you been using this computer the whole time or did you get it from someone else? When was the last time the system was installed? Any upgrades recently?
posted by lekvar at 12:37 PM on September 25, 2007

Okay, thanks for all the help! Really. Sorry to be so dense.

I'm working on a computer at work, so I should be able to get "clean" fonts from one of our other computers, right? We all have the same applications loaded on our machines. I threw out a folder of fonts that came from our designer and which I think caused this problem in the first place.

Now, I want to delete the old files and reload them. Can anyone walk me through this process? Can I just copy them onto a disk from another machine and then copy them into my library?
posted by jrichards at 1:38 PM on September 25, 2007

1. Remove all copies of the offending fonts from the following locations (I recommend moving them to a temp folder instead of deleting them. Once everything starts working again feel free to delete.):

/Library/Fonts
(located in the root directory of your hard drive, found by double-clicking on the hard drive icon on your desktop)

~/Library/Fonts
("~" refers to your user directory. Find it in the sidebar of your finder window or by typing Shift+Command+H.)

2. Get fonts from a working computer.

3. Open Font Book (in the Applications folder) and add the new fonts (File>Add Fonts…).


That should do it. Restart your design apps to see it (hopefully) take effect.
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:03 PM on September 25, 2007

Gracias! I'll let you know how it goes.
posted by jrichards at 2:07 PM on September 25, 2007

Thanks, wemayfreeze! You solved my problem!
posted by jrichards at 1:22 PM on September 27, 2007

w00t!
posted by wemayfreeze at 2:24 PM on September 27, 2007