Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 3/31/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have a font installed in the Font book on my MAC, it shows up in Photoshop,
but not in Illustrator.  How can I get the font to show up in Illustrator?

ANSWER: Hi Julie,

Without knowing what version of the Mac OS or Illustrator you are running, there are a couple of things to try. If these do not work, reply back with your OS and version of your software and I can pinpoint things a little more precisely.

You can move the fonts into your system font folder, restart, and see if they appear. If they show up in other apps but not in AI, it could be that you have incompatible fonts with AI. This was a common issue with downloaded fonts in earlier versions of Adobe apps.

The other thing you should do is not use Font Book. It stinks to say the least. If you can get your hands on a professional font management app, such as Suitcase ($95 us) or Font Explorer ($75 us), they will help you greatly with your font issues. 1. It will determine any errors and repair if possible, and 2. will organize your fonts so that all applications can access them.

Thanks

Kevin




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Kevin,
  That didn't work either.  I have a new Mac running OS X and Illustrator CS4.  Thanks for your help, this is very frustrating, the font is part of a logo I need to recreate in Illustrator.

ANSWER: Hi Julie,

If you are running Leopard (10.5.6) and CS4, and you have the fonts in your system folder and they are not showing up in CS4 it may be a corrupted or incompatible font. What is the name of the font you are trying to install and where did you get it from?

Thanks

Kevin



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I'm not sure where I got it from, probably DaFont.com.  The name of the file is CharcoalCY.dfont.  It says it is a datafork true type font.  And illustrator recognizes other fonts with this same extension.  Thanks again.

Answer
Hi Julie,

AHA!

You have a CY font!

You can find your Charcoal CY at the bottom of the font menu. Scroll down.  Its installed and there, just not in alphabetical order. (dont ask me why but all the CY fonts go to the bottom).

Thanks!

Kevin