How to insert spaces in a font?

November 25, 2007 2:27 PM

Why doesn't a font I just loaded on my Mac have spaces?

I just loaded Miller up on my Mac (using Font Book) and it is displaying in the font manager, but when I type with it I am unable to insert spaces. In other words, nothing happens when I hit the space bar, the words just string together.

Any idea what might be causing this? It is a beautiful font that I'd like to use, but of course I am having some trouble doing so.

posted by names are hard to computers & internet (16 comments total)

What program?

Weird spacing settings in InDesign get me every time.
posted by niles at 2:31 PM on November 25, 2007

This is happening in all programs, from TextEdit to Word, etc.
posted by names are hard at 2:33 PM on November 25, 2007

Are there any character elements left in documents where you've typed spaces, or is nothing there at all?

Try typing "wordSPACESPACESPACESPACEword" then start deleting the characters of the second word by backspacing over them. Do you have to press backspace three times before you start to erase the first word?
posted by odinsdream at 2:54 PM on November 25, 2007

You might need to clear your font caches We use Font Finagler at my work.

It's also possible that the font is simply borked.
posted by nathan_teske at 3:45 PM on November 25, 2007

...using Font Book) and it is displaying in the font manager...
This seems to imply you are using a separate font manager along with FontBook. Is this right? Or are you just referring to the font menu in whatever application you are using?

What version of OSX are you using? There seems to be some font corruption issues with 10.4.7., but that seems to centered mainly with OpenType fonts.

Use a utility like Onyx and clean-out the font caches.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:48 PM on November 25, 2007

@odinsdream: yes, I have to press backspace multiple times. the cursor does not move, it just takes multiple presses to get it

@Thorzdad: I am not using a separate font manager. That was a typo.
posted by names are hard at 5:08 PM on November 25, 2007

Check your letter-spacing in Word. I don't know of any system wide letter-spacing setting, but that should fix Word at least.
posted by niles at 5:32 PM on November 25, 2007

I've had this happen a few times, where the space character is nonexistent or a box or something. Here's the workaround:

1. Write it all in some normal font.
2. Replace all " " with "~" or some other character you never use.
3. Change the text to the desired font.
4. Change all instances of "~" for "~" formatted in some standard font (proportional or nonproportional).
5. Replace all "~" with " ".
posted by aeschenkarnos at 6:36 PM on November 25, 2007

(Oops, missed a step: 1a. Highlight the area of text which you intend to change to the desired font.)
posted by aeschenkarnos at 6:37 PM on November 25, 2007

Thanks for this workaround? Do you think there is a way to fix the actual font or should i reload it?
posted by names are hard at 7:42 PM on November 25, 2007

Where did you get this font? It would be helpful to know what we're dealing with.
posted by nathan_teske at 8:19 PM on November 25, 2007

I assume you're talking about this Miller. If you paid for the license, you should be able to contact the foundry that distributes it, the Font Bureau, for support.
posted by tepidmonkey at 9:41 PM on November 25, 2007

tepidmonkey is right. Best place to go first is the foundry, especially one as solid as Font Bureau. You can also contact the retailer where you licensed the font, such as FontShop or Veer.
posted by Typographica at 10:36 PM on November 25, 2007

I have had this very problem over the years, but only in Illustrator (several versions) and only with a few fonts. I end up reinstalling, usually, which fixes it. Usually.

Stripping down to system fonts and adding back one at a time helps.

Am I the only one who thinks print management font management got worse between OS 9 and OS X?
posted by rokusan at 1:12 AM on November 26, 2007

thanks for everyone's help. will contact and reinstall.
posted by names are hard at 2:25 PM on November 29, 2007

These type of problems can come from a corrupt font. I'd recommend obtaining a fresh copy of the font from your font foundry and then re-installing it. If it was a free font downloaded from the web, many of these fonts may have been created by someone in their spare time. While some may be configured correctly, I've found that a number of them can have problems because of various configuration requirements that may have been overlooked. Not to say that the font isn't worthwhile, I'd recommend running it through a tool like Font Doctor to repair many of the common font corruption issues.
posted by jkidwell at 12:45 PM on October 20, 2008