Expert: Amy - 7/17/2004

Question
Hi there. I have Illustrator 9, and have a question about fonts. I just downloaded a bunch of new fonts and installed them.

Since doing this, when I am in Illustrator, my font list only goes up to the "S" fonts. Then, the little tabs that say "More" with the arrow, stop. It says "More" but there is no arrow to bring up the next list.

It was just working before I had downloaded all these new fonts. I've restarted the program, and the computer more than once.

Is there a limit on the amt. of fonts Illustrator can handle or something like that?

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks!
~Jenn

PS~I'm using a PC.  

Answer
Hi Jenn,

Yes, there is a certain point at which Illustrator's memory is affected by too many fonts.  An exact number?  I've heard 175. I've heard 200.  I really think it depends on the fonts. But if you are a fontaholic and you have 500, yes, try deleting some.

But it sounds like you have some degree of FontList corruption.

First, I'd try throwing away my 'aiprefs' file and restarting Illustrator. If that doesn't work, do a system-wide search for files names Adobefnt*.LST and delete all you find. They will be recreated by their applications. Adobe products like AI use this list to display font choices and that can sometimes get muddled up.

Type1 Fonts
Type1 fonts go in the Program
Files\Common Files\Adobe\Fonts folder, unless you have Adobe Type Manager installed and running. Fonts in that Adobe fonts folder are only available to Adobe applications, by the way.

Let me know if those couple of suggestions don't do it for you!

-Amy