khepresh

Q: Some MS Word fonts don't show up in Notes or Scrivener!

Hi all,

 

I'm running OS X El Capitan, and while I can see and use two of my favorite fonts, i.e., Garamond and Candara, on MS Word 2016 (15.19.1), these fonts, oddly enough, don't show up on other word processing apps such as TextEdit, Notes or Scrivener – previously on Yosemite, however, I was able to use these fonts with Scrivener. Since this strange behavior is not limited to a third party app (e.g., Scrivener) and Apple's own Notes and TextEdit don't show the fonts, I was wondering if this was a glitch or a copy right issue. In other words, with El Capitan, is it possible, or better still, logical that now I'm only allowed to use these fonts on MS Word, and not universally as before with Yosemite? Finally, is there a way for me to fix this issue?

 

Thanks.

Pooya

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), MS Words and Scrivener

Posted on Mar 13, 2016 11:36 AM

Close

Q: Some MS Word fonts don't show up in Notes or Scrivener!

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Mar 13, 2016 11:59 AM in response to khepresh
    Level 8 (37,815 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 13, 2016 11:59 AM in response to khepresh

    This kind of behavior is common for a damaged Font Book database. Close all apps. In your user account Preferences folder, put the file com.apple.FontRegistry in the trash and restart.

     

    There are two fonts that have been discovered to be bad in El Capitan. They’ve been there since Mavericks, but the new versions with El Capitan simply don’t work. They are Charter and Seravek. If you try to use these fonts, they won’t show up in just about any app. If you replace them with the versions supplied with Mavericks or Yosemite, they’re fine. Charter belongs to Bitstream, and Seravek to Process Type Foundry. Don’t know what they did to them, but they’re definitely screwed up.

  • by khepresh,

    khepresh khepresh Mar 13, 2016 1:23 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2016 1:23 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Thanks for your response, Kurt.

     

    But I'm afraid I couldn't find the file you mentioned (com.apple.FontRegistry). In User>Library>Preferences, what I found was com.apple.FontBook.Plist. And by way of a finder search which included system files, I also found system>library>LaunchAgents> com.apple.FontRegistryUlAgent.plist. Is either one what you had in mind (I have yet to delete anything because I wasn't sure)? If not, I'd appreciate it if you could give me a more precise direction as to where that file may be located.

     

    P.S. I don't know if this changes anything, but I tried looking up those fonts in the system Font Book, but they aren't there, either.

     

    Pooya

  • by Kurt Lang,Solvedanswer

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Mar 13, 2016 1:40 PM in response to khepresh
    Level 8 (37,815 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 13, 2016 1:40 PM in response to khepresh

    The item I noted is only created if you add fonts to Font Book in the original manner. When you do, it copies the fonts you added to the Fonts folder in your user account, and creates the file com.apple.FontRegistry. If you only use the newer font collection option in Font Book to activate fonts in place, this file is not created.

     

    Do not remove the file com.apple.FontRegistryUlAgent.plist (there are actually two of these in separate locations). Without it, the Mac will not boot. Not even in Safe Mode.

     

    You can try these two steps to see if you can clear up font issues.

     

    1) Startup in Safe Mode (restart and hold down the Shift key). When you get to the desktop, restart normally. Among other things, a Safe Mode startup will clear the Font Book database, and remove all cache files of the user account you boot into in Safe Mode.

     

    2)  Close all running applications. From an administrator account, open the Terminal app and enter the following command. You can also copy/paste it from here into the Terminal window:

     

    sudo atsutil databases -remove

     

    Terminal will then ask for your admin password. As you type, it will not show anything, so be sure to enter it correctly.

     

    This command removes all font cache files. Both for the system and the current logged in user account. After running the command, close Terminal and immediately restart your Mac.

     

    If after this you are still having problems, you may have conflicting third party fonts installed. Or, the OS itself may be damaged and require a reinstall. A somewhat simple way to test that (though not always definitive) is to create a new test account. Login into that and test. If the new account works as expected, then there's a problem somewhere in your normal account. If the new account also does not work, then it's a system wide issue of some kind.

     

    Office 2016 installs over 200 font files within each application package. Only the Office 2016 apps can see them. That's why you can't find many of the fonts the Office apps list in the normal OS X Fonts folders.

  • by khepresh,

    khepresh khepresh Mar 13, 2016 2:12 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2016 2:12 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Kurt,

    I tried the safe mode as well as the sudo command but to no avail. I already use a standard account on a daily basis; the fonts don't show up in the admin account either. So I think we may assume it's a system wide issue. 

     

    The only logical explanation, it seems to me, would be what you alluded to at the end: these two fonts (Garamond and Candara) seem to have installed as part of the MS Word 2016 package, which is why I can't see/use them in any other app. I only find this behavior strange because I am pretty sure in Yosemite I was able to use both these fonts in Scrivener, without having installed them independently or using any other third-party font.

     

    At any rate, thank you for your help.

    Pooya

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Mar 13, 2016 2:19 PM in response to khepresh
    Level 8 (37,815 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 13, 2016 2:19 PM in response to khepresh

    A version of Garamond comes with OS X. Can't remember is Candara does. But likely so if you were using it before installing Office 2016. It's a nuisance to sit through, but try reinstalling El Capitan. If after that there's still a problem, we can at least rule out a damaged OS.

  • by khepresh,

    khepresh khepresh Mar 14, 2016 2:54 PM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 14, 2016 2:54 PM in response to Kurt Lang

    Well, I usually install office right off the bat, so I have no idea if there indeed was a Garamond or Candara on my system beforehand. At any rates, after a simple online search I found this introducing Garamond No. 8 font, which is working fine in Scrivener et al and is closest to the original Garamond – if there was one. But as for fresh installing El Capitan, you're right, at the moment, it really is a nuisance; but when the time comes, I'll keep a vigilant eye on the fonts.

     

    Thanks again.

  • by dianeoforegon,Helpful

    dianeoforegon dianeoforegon Mar 28, 2016 6:54 AM in response to khepresh
    Level 5 (5,372 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 28, 2016 6:54 AM in response to khepresh

    Adding a bit more info on Microsoft Office 2016 fonts. Each Office app is sandboxed.

     

    Microsoft Office 2016 installs fonts in the application package contents.

     

    Office 2016 installs fonts in each application folder not in the usual Fonts > Microsoft folder. Each app has its own fonts for sandboxing reasons. Office 2016 fonts are invisible to Font Book and font management software. Control-Click (Right-click) on Office 2016 app in Applications. You’ll find fonts in this location.

     

    Contents > Resources > Fonts

     

    To use the Microsoft fonts with other apps, copy them manually to your own fonts folder (~/Library/Fonts) or let Font Book import them for you.

  • by khepresh,

    khepresh khepresh Mar 28, 2016 7:24 AM in response to dianeoforegon
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 28, 2016 7:24 AM in response to dianeoforegon

    Thanks so much dianeoforegon! Finally found the fonts, copied them to my font folder and, voila, they now work just fine in other apps – though the fonts I was looking for (Candara and Garamond) were in MS Word > contents > Resources > DFonts, rather than the "Fonts" folder which, oddly enough, contains only a part of the full MS Office 2016 fonts – I'm guessing those common fonts that are not sandboxed.

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Mar 28, 2016 7:43 AM in response to khepresh
    Level 8 (37,815 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 28, 2016 7:43 AM in response to khepresh

    But I'm afraid I couldn't find the file you mentioned (com.apple.FontRegistry). In User>Library>Preferences, what I found was com.apple.FontBook.Plist. And by way of a finder search which included system files, I also found system>library>LaunchAgents> com.apple.FontRegistryUlAgent.plist. Is either one what you had in mind (I have yet to delete anything because I wasn't sure)? If not, I'd appreciate it if you could give me a more precise direction as to where that file may be located.

     

    P.S. I don't know if this changes anything, but I tried looking up those fonts in the system Font Book, but they aren't there, either.

    Just to add a little more information about this. The file com.apple.FontRegistry used to be created whenever you activated fonts in Font Book via its original method. Apple has changed things - again. Instead of creating this file when activating fonts, it now creates the file com.apple.FontRegistry.user.plist when you deactivate fonts from within Font Book. So to clear Font Book's settings (after shutting Font Book down), you now remove these two files from your user account Preferences folder:

     

    com.apple.FontBook.Plist

    com.apple.FontRegistry.user.plist