Fonts Not Available in Photoshop CS3 (Windows 7)?

[mlittle1105]

Hello,

My desktop computer crashed yesterday and I had to run out last night and pick up a new unit as I'm trying to meet a number of deadlines (and not having much luck getting the work done in my laptop).

The new computer uses Windows 7 as the Operating System.  It has already presented a ton of headaches... I've already spent in excess of ten hours trying to reinstall hardware and dealing with the various quirks that arise.

The latest of these issues is that I cannot seem to access some fonts from Photoshop CS3.  I'm having the same issue, to a lesser extent, in Illustrator 10.

For instance, after downloading the Helvetica and Helvetica Neue families in Windows 7, they do not appear in the Type menu in Photoshop.  There are a ton of useless pre-installed fonts there, but not the ones I installed.  If I try to access them from Illustrator, it displays only one weight of each typeface (for instance, it displays Helvetica Neue 65 but omits 55, 75, 95, etc....).

The issue does not occur for all fonts.  For instance, I installed AvantGarde and it displays just fine.  In that instance, the fonts were TrueType whereas the Helvetica font files are Type 1 font files.

Can anyone help?  I've already lost a day-and-a-half of work, and can't afford to spend much more time screwing around with this nonsense.

[Guest · Accepted solution]

It may be the way the fonts are displaying.

Are they available to programs like Word or Wordpad or Notepad?

Are they present as files in the Windows\ Fonts folder?

Did you install them via the Control Panel?

[mlittle1105]

Please find my answers to your questions below.

[Guest]

mlittle1105 wrote:

Please find my answers to your questions below.

The answers weren't visible!

[mlittle1105]

It may be the way the fonts are displaying.

I'm not sure what this means.  The fonts are not available as options on  the Type menu in Photoshop CS3.  They don't even appear (even though  they are installed) is what I'm trying to say. 

Are they available to programs like Word or Wordpad or Notepad?

They are available in Microsoft Works.  I  just tried Notepad as well and they appear fine there as well.

Are they present as files in the +Windows\ Fonts+ folder?

Yes,  they are there.

Did you install them via the Control Panel?

I  tried multiple methods.  First, I tried dragging and dropping them into  the Fonts folder of the Control Panel.  When I did this, I got a  message saying that the .PFB for each font could not be installed, but  it installed the .PFM files just fine.  Later, I tried the second method  of going to the folder where the font is stored and then right-clicking  on the font and selecting "install."

[Guest]

Well the fonts are installed then, so I would recommend doing a search for and deleting all instances of adobefnt*.lst (that extension is .LST).

Then look carefully at the long drop-down font list in Photoshop – the actual names are not always the same as the file names.

[mlittle1105]

Correct.  I'm saying that the fonts are not "available," not that they aren't installed.

I have scoured the type/fonts dropdown list in Photoshop very carefully.  Helvetica is definitely not displaying.

I am not clear on the fix you suggested.  I did the search for adobefnt*.lst and got nine results (see below).  You're saying that I should delete all of these files?

[Guest]

mlittle1105 wrote:

I am not clear on the fix you suggested.  I did the search for adobefnt*.lst and got nine results (see below).  You're saying that I should delete all of these files?

Yes – they are multiple copies of the font cache. A fresh one will be recreated next time you start Photoshop.

[mlittle1105]

That did not work.  I closed Photoshop and then I went to delete the files and it said I would need to provide "Administrator Permission" in order to delete them.  I don't know what that is but I clicked ok anyway.

Moved files to Recycle Bin and then I did a permanent delete.  Reopened Photoshop and fonts are still not on the list.

Any other ideas?

[Guest]

mlittle1105 wrote:

That did not work.  I closed Photoshop and then I went to delete the files and it said I would need to provide "Administrator Permission" in order to delete them.  I don't know what that is but I clicked ok anyway.

Moved files to Recycle Bin and then I did a permanent delete.  Reopened Photoshop and fonts are still not on the list.

Any other ideas?

Well, if the cache files are really gone and you still can't see the fonts, and they do appear in other applications, try resetting your Photoshop preferences as described in the FAQ.

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/375776?tstart=0

You either have to physically delete (or rename) the preference files or, if using the Alt, Ctrl, and Shift method, be sure that you get a confirmation dialog.

This resets all settings in Photoshop to factory defaults.

The only other possibility I can think of is a corrupt font causing this.

[mlittle1105]

I will try the new solution you have suggested.  I'll reply back with the results.

I'm not so sure that this can be due to a corrupted font.  It just seems odd to me that this is affecting all Type 1 fonts, but not OpenType or TrueType fonts.  Plus, all of these fonts were on my previous computers (running XP and Vista) with not problems.

Thanks for your continued assistance.

[the_wine_snob]

Did you possibly have ATM (Adobe Type Manager) on your old machine? I know that it is now a bit of a "throwback," but might have been doing some font management for you.

Just thinking here,

Hunt

[mlittle1105]

Thanks for the reply.  Old machine (XP) did not have ATM installed.  I just did drag-and-drop with my typefaces on that unit.

[the_wine_snob]

Thanks for the info. Actually, I was hoping that you did have it, though I have no clue whether any version of it will run on Win7. Adobe dropped it, though ATM-Lite was supported for sometime.

Reason that I was asking was in hopes that you both had it, and that it could work with Win7. It was great for managing Type I fonts, and I still keep a copy of it on XP-Pro (though it is a NT-4 version), just to get 100% use of the old Type I's.

Also, Extensis' Suitcase handles Type 1's well. Again, I do not know if it works with Win7. It also includes a utility, Font Dr., that will check the system for corrupt fonts and will repair most, and offer to Delete the ones, that cannot be fixed. The beauty of Suitcase is that if you have the font files anywhere on your system, it will install, and uninstall them on the fly and to suit.

Now, you mention the Drag-n-Drop installation. Earlier on, you did mention that you had used Control Panel>Fonts>Install New Fonts. Is that correct? The Install New Fonts will update the Registry, and it could be that Adobe programs are looking there first, and if they do not see the fonts in the Registry, will not look any further. I do have to admit that I do not know Win7, and there could well be changes in the way that fonts are managed.

Again, just thinking aloud.

Good luck,

Hunt

PS - there is a free font manager, FontFrenzy, and it comes highly recommended. I do not know if it is ported for Win7 though.

[mlittle1105]

Bill,

Thanks for your thoughtul and thorough reply.

To clarify, I do have a copy of ATM, but just have not installed it on my XP computer or this new one.  It is on my Illustrator 10 install disk.  Not sure if it will work on Windows 7, as Illustrator 10 would not run on the new computer until I set the compatibility to work with Vista and earlier.  I suppose that I could install it and see if it works.  Might be worth a shot.

I will check out the software titles you referenced.

With regard to font installation on Windows 7, there are three techniques as far as I can tell.  They are:

1) Drag and drop method: Works the same as it always has.  Simply drag the typefaces into the Fonts folder or Control Panel > Fonts.

2) You can navigate to where a font file is located (the desktop, for instance) and then right-click on it and choose "Install."  This is what I referred to previously, and I tried it after drag-and-drop did not work.

3) For the third method (according to Windows 7 documentation I found online at http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7desktop/thread/324ecdc6-8574-4527-8099-efc430bf550f), you are supposed to be able to go into the Control Panel > Fonts, press ALT (to display the menu) and then choose File > Install New Font.  You would then be prompted to navigate to the typeface you want to install.  However, this option is not available on my computer.  When I tried it, I can access the File menu, but "Install New Font" is not listed on the dropdown.

[the_wine_snob]

Thank you for updating me on Win7. If I did not use my font managers, I would always do the Control Panel>Fonts>File>Install New Fonts, as I had issues with the Drag-n-Drop, but we're talking about Win2K. After that, it was the font manager, or the Ctrl-Panel route.

I just do not know about ATM and Win7. I have it on one XP-Pro SP3 box, and it works perfectly. Never had Vista, so cannot say. Do not yet have Win7, or I'd try it for you. Even then, it might yield the same bogus results.

Wish that I had some useful ideas. I've had fonts that just did not display in Adobe programs (Isabelle and Isabella are two). I've had some that crashed PS, and more often the Titler in Premiere Pro (much more sensitive to bad/corrupt fonts, than PS). I've just never had the results that you describe, BUT do not have Win7 either.

Best that I can do is wish you good luck, and hope that something drops out of the sky (or into the forum), that will cure the issue. I'll keep thinking, in hopes that I'll have a revelation.

If you get it, please update your thread, as I am very curious and others will likely be helped down the road.

Hunt

[mlittle1105]

Hi Bill,

I'm in the process of downloading a free trial version of Extensis Suitcase right now.  I guess (or hope) it can't hurt.

One of the things that really has me scratching my head is why the File > Install New Font option is not available from the Control Panel.  All of the documentation I've found online suggests that it should be there.  My new computer is a HP Pavilion, so I'm wondering if HP has somehow disabled this function (some of what I've read online seems to suggest that HP has certain options are turned off by default, so that users can't mess up their systems... kind of a misguided effort, if you ask me.  But I'm not 100% certain that this is the case, so I'll reserve my judgement until I can come up with a firm answer.

Will report back with my findings re: suitcase.

Thanks.

[mlittle1105]

Suitcase did not work.

[Guest]

In Windows 7  go to where it reads Category in blue words. Click on the down arrow and choose either small or large icons. Look for Fonts folder. Double click on the folder to open it. In windows 7 you can drag the font to that open font folder or right click on the font you want to install and click install.

With the font folder you can also click on the Blue ? mark for more help.

[mlittle1105]

Not sure what you're talking about re: "category in blue words"

[Guest]

In the control panel top right corner where it reads View By. You said you could not find the fonts folder. You have to change the word Category (written in Blue). look for the little down arrow. Click on the down arrow and choose either large icons or small icons. Fonts folder is listed in there.

[mlittle1105]

I never said I couldn't find the Fonts folder.  I'm not sure where you came up with that.

[ssprengel]

FWIW, I don't have a File / Add New Font or File / Install New Font on my Win7-Ultimate Fonts CP item, either.

I don't have a Type 1 font to test with. Is this Win7-32 or Win76-64 you're having font issues with?

[mlittle1105]

64-bit.

If you want, I can send you a Type 1 file for testing purposes.

[ssprengel]

For sending the testing font, I sent you my private e-mail address via a private forum message just now.