How Do I Add Fonts to GIMP? (Mac)

July 28, 2008 2:50 PM

I loaded GIMP on to my IMac but would like to put some fonts on it (like maybe some from 1001 fonts)...I am not tech-savvy (to say the least) and would appreciate how I can go about downloading such free fonts and adding them to GIMP. Thanks in advance for any help on this.
posted by snap_dragon to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I don't know about Gimp, but for any standard Mac app, just putting the fonts in Library/Fonts is all that's required.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:01 PM on July 28, 2008

No, I don't think it's not like a standard Mac app because it runs through X11 and uses the X11 font manager.
posted by meta_eli at 3:41 PM on July 28, 2008

Using your OS X fonts in The Gimp
posted by meta_eli at 3:42 PM on July 28, 2008

In GIMP, go to File → Preferences → Folders → Fonts, and tell GIMP which folder to look for fonts in. You can install fonts in OS X as you would normally and then instruct GIMP to look in ~/Library/Fonts. ...I think.
posted by tepidmonkey at 3:47 PM on July 28, 2008

This is only slightly related to your question, but I would recommend against using typefaces from most "free fonts" sites on the web. They tend to be knock-offs of fairly poor quality. You probably won't notice just looking at the characters, but once you set a few sentences, the lack of attention to spacing (especially kerning) becomes noticeable. Of course, the best stuff costs money, but many places that sell typefaces also give some away for free. To get you started, I recommend exljbris (everything there is free). This site has many suggestions for decent free typefaces. If you want comic fonts, Blambot has a wide selection of free and pay typefaces.
posted by ErWenn at 7:57 PM on July 28, 2008 [1 favorite]

This is only slightly related to your question, but I would recommend against using typefaces from most "free fonts" sites on the web.

Seconded. What isn't incomplete is usually a commercial font with the ID changed and copyright stripped.
posted by nathan_teske at 8:04 PM on July 28, 2008

ErWenn and nathan_teske may be correct, but if you're just playing around in Gimp and you're not a professional designer nor are you typesetting large chunks of text, the free fonts from sites like dafont will probably suit you just fine.
posted by radioamy at 8:23 PM on July 28, 2008