Fonts not available in applications although installed

Hi,

I'm having a complicated problem which no one seems to know of or can fix.
I've tried everything but I'm still hopeing there will be a simple solution for this..

Here we go:

There are a few fonts (OTF/TTF/PSF...) I have installed with Font Explorer X, what won't show up in ANY application.
Even Text Edit won't display them.
However this isn't a problem linked to Font Explorer because before this I had Suitcafe Fusion 3 and had the same problem.
What makes it strange is that there are a few fonts of some families that DO show up although they are JUST THE SAME as the fonts that won't show up and are from the SAME family.

I cleaned my cache numerous times with applications like Font Finagler and checked everywhere for font corruptions or duplicates with applications like Font Doctor but nothing seemed wrong or corrupted.
If I go and check the fonts in System Profiler it clearly says they are valid and enambled.

Now what makes it even more unexplainable is that when I install the fonts trough Font Book and shut down the font manager, they DO show up...
Howevery I'm not really happy abouth that because Font Book is a crappy font manager and I paid money for a good one...

So if there is someone genius that has a solution, I will be a very happy man and be forever thankful.
(and please, I'm not stupid, I've tried everything and looked over the web for solutions for weeks now so the problem probably is't that obvious)

Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Apr 22, 2012 7:51 AM

19 replies

Benny Arts Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 26, 2012 9:09 AM in response to Kurt Lang

No problem,
I'm glad some of the fonts work again 🙂

Thanks for the help!

Oct 3, 2012 4:07 AM in response to Kurt Lang

I'm looking for the answer to a similar problem, with a twist.

I'm using 10.6.8 with Font Book (and no other font manager). I have followed the steps outlined in your long doc on font management to delete font caches and re-set permissions. (App used was Font Nuke.)

This appeared to work. I was able to use the font required (Futura Standard OTF, as it happens). However, after logging out and in again, the font was again unusable. On subsequent logins, sometimes it was usable, other times not.

If this were not odd enough, I find that the font is reliably available to another, little-used user account on this system.

This allows me the workaround of dropping a doc into this user account's Drop Box, editing it, and returning it to main user account for onward transmission to the client. This is not terrible, but it does waste time and suggests an underlying instability that needs to be solved.

Can you help?

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,520 points

Oct 3, 2012 6:45 AM in response to Martin Hayman

Sporadic problems like that can be a real pain to figure out. You mention that the font is always available in a test account, which confirms the issue is confined to your normal account. The question is, what is causing it?

Sometimes it's actually easier to copy all of your documents and preference files into the new account and make that your working account instead of trying to figure out what's wrong with the other one. Something to watch for there is after you copy in the preference files. If the issue returns, one of the .plist files is causing the problem.

You can use that same thought on your main account. Make a new folder on the desktop, move all of the preference files into that folder and restart. The system will be forced to create all new default preferences. Your desktop will look and behave just like a new account. If the font issue goes away, you know it's related to one of the preference files. Start moving preference files back in from the desktop 10 at a time or so (let it overwrite existing default items) and restart. If the issue returns, one of the last group is the troublemaker.

Oct 3, 2012 7:50 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Super-quick response, many thanks Kurt. I will give this a go as and when time permits.

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Fonts not available in applications although installed