Expert: Scott Valentine - 10/3/2007

Question
This is driving me crazy!  (Photoshop Elements Ver-4)
All I need to know is which SPECIFIC *.ttf font I am using in a particular document.  I am only using 1 font.

In the drop down boxes it says "Swis721 Blk Cn BT", "Black" "75.47pt".

When I go to the actual Windows FONT directory, I see several Swiss721 fonts, more than are showing up in Elements, and NONE of which say "Swis721 Blk Cn BT".

Is there a way in Elements to get the filename of the Font being used.  In this case, I strongly suspect it is "swisscki.ttf", but there appears no way to confirm that.

And I truly don't understand how / why Elements abbreviates the Font name (not actual file name) when it refers to a specific font in the drop down.  Because, if you don't know the rules Elements is playing by, it must be impossible to decipher which font it's using when reviewing the Operating System's name for the exact same font.

This is very aggrevating!   Arrrgh!!

Answer
Fonts can be a tricky issue, Michael, as you've found out. One non-obvious solution is to find a font manager, such as Linotype's Font Explorer. This will allow you to see information about the font files, and to selectively install/uninstall them.

About your specific issue, some fonts carry variations within one file, and others require separate files for different outlines. Swiss 721 appears to be of the latter variety. Try getting a free trial of a good font manager, and uninstall the extraneous versions (may take a few tries). You can also compare outlines here:

http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/bitstream/swiss-721/black/

Search for the additional faces and see what is the closest.

Unfortunately, Elements doesn't have the ability to tell you which font it is using. Some advance layout tools can do this when packaging a project, but even Photoshop doesn't have this ability. Your best bet is to use a manager and do a little hunting. If there is a better answer for you, hopefully someone will be able to post here.

In the mean time, here are a couple of links to good resources:

OSX Font Tools
http://photoshoptechniques.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21081&highlight=font+manag...

Windows Font Tools
http://photoshoptechniques.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18167&highlight=font+manag...

If there's anything I can do to help, please feel free to follow up or ask another question.

Cheers,

-Scott