Font Book not reading .pfm fonts

Question

Level 1

8 points

Font Book not reading .pfm fonts

I have some .pfm PC Type 1 fonts I need to use but Font Book does not recognize them. Can they be converted to another format Font Book can read? Or do I have to repurchase the fonts?

iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS X (10.5.7), 24" screen

Posted on Jun 12, 2009 10:01 AM

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Answer 1

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,596 points

Jun 12, 2009 10:24 AM in response to evintage

PC Type 1 PostScripts have never been able to be used on the Mac. Same is true trying to use a Mac Type 1 PS font on the PC. You have a few options.

1) The Adobe applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), starting with the CS2 suite, can indeed read these fonts. Place them in the /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts/ folder and you will be able to use Windows Type 1 PostScript fonts with the Adobe programs. This is the ONLY place this will work. All other Mac applications won't have a clue what to do with the paired .pfb and .pfm files.

2) Convert them. One of the nicest is TransType. The pro version is more, but don't bother with the light version since it can't save OpenType format. Unless back out to Mac Type 1 PS is fine for you.

3) A free method is to install Font Forge. This is an open source project. I haven't tried it myself, but others here say it works well. It's a full font editor such as FontLab or Fontographer. I would imagine you could save fonts out as Mac Type 1 PostScript or OpenType, but I can't be sure.

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Answer 2

evintage Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 12, 2009 10:41 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Kurt, thank you so much for the thorough and prompt answer. I will start with the immediate concern & the cheapest way - making the fonts available to PhotoShop CS4 through the Adobe Fonts folder- and take it from there. You have made me look very good in front of a client. Much appreciated. 🙂

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Answer 3

evintage Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 12, 2009 10:49 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Kurt Lang wrote:
PC Type 1 PostScripts have never been able to be used on the Mac. Same is true trying to use a Mac Type 1 PS font on the PC. You have a few options.

1) The Adobe applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), starting with the CS2 suite, can indeed read these fonts. Place them in the /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts/ folder and you will be able to use Windows Type 1 PostScript fonts with the Adobe programs. This is the ONLY place this will work. All other Mac applications won't have a clue what to do with the paired .pfb and .pfm files.

2) Convert them. One of the nicest is TransType. The pro version is more, but don't bother with the light version since it can't save OpenType format. Unless back out to Mac Type 1 PS is fine for you.

3) A free method is to install Font Forge. This is an open source project. I haven't tried it myself, but others here say it works well. It's a full font editor such as FontLab or Fontographer. I would imagine you could save fonts out as Mac Type 1 PostScript or OpenType, but I can't be sure.

The Adobe applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign), starting with the CS2 suite, can indeed read these fonts. Place them in the /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts/

Just want to clarify that with CS4 the directory path /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts/ does not exist and I am still looking for a solution.

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Answer 4

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,596 points

Jun 12, 2009 11:31 AM in response to evintage

Just want to clarify that with CS4 the directory path /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Fonts/ does not exist and I am still looking for a solution.

Ah, didn't notice that CS4 doesn't create that folder. Fix is really easy, though. Just go to the /Library/Application Support/Adobe/ folder and create a folder named Fonts there. Put your Windows Type 1 PS in there and they'll work for the Adobe apps.

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Answer 5

evintage Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 12, 2009 12:04 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Thanks for trying. I created a new Fonts folder in /Library/Application Support/Adobe but still can't see the font I need in PhotoShop CS4. I tried FontForge but it is also not reading the files so I suspect corrupt files. Will have to go back to client after all. Appreciate the help anyway.

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Answer 6

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,596 points

Jun 12, 2009 12:21 PM in response to evintage

Hmm, I created that folder just before testing a few PC Type 1 fonts and it worked fine. I suspect you don't have the whole font.

PC Type 1 PostScript fonts are paired. Each individual font typeface has both a .pfm and .pfb file. If either one is missing, they won't work. Make sure you place both into the same folder. The file name before the period will be identical, followed by one each of the suffixes named above. Two examples:

SIG ___.PFB
SIG ___.PFM

QSAO __.PFB
QSAO __.PFM

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Answer 7

Oaksong

Level 1

0 points

Jun 19, 2009 10:56 AM in response to Kurt Lang

I had the same issue with needing some old fonts that I have always used in Windows, and resolved the problem easily by following this thread. I created a new font folder as you suggested, copied both parts of the font into it, and now they are available in Illustrator CS4. Thank you so much!

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Answer 8

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,596 points

Jun 19, 2009 11:53 AM in response to Oaksong

You're welcome, Oaksong. Glad it helped you out.

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