Italics Formatting in Mail 2.1.1

Question

Level 1

0 points

Italics Formatting in Mail 2.1.1

Forgive me for returning to this topic. But I see the question asked a lot but no conclusive answers for the more nuanced problem.

I have OS 10.4.9 and Mail 2.1.1 (both are the latest versions) running on a new iMac Duo. I am trying to send mail but cannot format words in italics or bold. Underline works. The other two are greyed out. And yes, preferences are set to Rich Text. And yes, the font (geneva) has an italics form.

My laptop uses the same program and the same settings and it works fine. What's up with my iMac? Seems like I'm not the only one with this oddity. Might I have a problem with my application? (I've quit & reopened the program but it doesn't help). I need a Mac genius.

Gary

iMac G4 Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Posted on Apr 3, 2007 6:42 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,023 points

Apr 3, 2007 7:12 PM in response to GCBurge

Sorry, not for Geneva nor Monoco. Geneva/Monoco italics or bold are not supported by OS X. Try using Helvetica instead.

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Answer 2

D.F.

Level 1

30 points

May 8, 2007 10:27 AM in response to GCBurge

Hello,

Same problem here. It appeared after I re-organized my fonts using Font Book. Now the "Bold" and "Italics" options in the "Format menu" won't work, whatever font I choose. I've tried everything. The only way to get bold/italics is to use the font palette (Command-T), but that is longer and less easy.

Does anybody have an idea ? I'd love to use my bold/italics keyboard shortcuts again !... :-(((

iMac G5 20" 2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.9) iPod 60 Gb

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Answer 3

D.F.

Level 1

30 points

May 8, 2007 12:00 PM in response to D.F.

OK, found the bug and how to fix it :
This is a problem related to the "Times" font. I had removed it (without even wanting to...) from my system, using FontBook. If you reinstall "Times", the menus "Bold" and "Italic" in Mail 2.1 will work perfectly again. Not sure why!

I don't know if the bug occurs with another "system font" (i.e. Geneva, Monaco... instead of Times).

Just dropped a mail to Apple to explain the bug.

iMac G5 20" 2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.5) iPod 60 Gb

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Answer 4

May 8, 2007 1:08 PM in response to D.F.

Not a bug.

OS X includes a handful of required fonts that can't be disabled, removed or moved from their proper designated location. Doing so can cause a wide range of problems including applications not launching or quitting unexpectedly.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301332

http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/undofontbook.html

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Answer 5

May 8, 2007 3:02 PM in response to Allan Sampson

I have a problem when other computers open my e-mails. As i am a Spanish speaker i need accents in some words like (Nicolás). I can preview my e-mail in my mail program, but when a pc opens this accents appear as squares. And is confusing for the other people to read.
can some one help me.

I hope i am in the right forum know...

MacBookPro Mac OS X (10.4.9)

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Answer 6

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,526 points

May 8, 2007 3:46 PM in response to nicolastarallo

when a pc opens this accents
appear as squares.

Try using Plain Text. See this note:

http://homepage.mac.com/thgewecke/woutlook.html

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Answer 7

May 8, 2007 4:04 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

I try plain text but it didn't work. Is there other thing i can do?

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Answer 8

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,526 points

May 8, 2007 4:32 PM in response to nicolastarallo

I try plain text but it didn't work. Is there other
thing i can do?

Did you read the link you were given? It has other possible fixes.

Do you know for sure what program is being used to read your mail at the other end?

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Answer 9

May 8, 2007 7:18 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Yes i read it, but i am not very good with computers, and i am afraid to get into the terminal and brake something.

I know the other side uses Outlook.

Thank you for your reply.

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Answer 10

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,526 points

May 8, 2007 8:03 PM in response to nicolastarallo

Yes i read it, but i am not very good with computers,
and i am afraid to get into the terminal and brake
something.

You can also try setting the encoding via Message > Text Encoding just before you send. Try Western ISO Latin-1 or Windows or UTF-8.

Also try Fix C, it doesn't use the terminal either.

If it is too difficult, use another mail program like Thunderbird.

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Answer 11

May 8, 2007 10:43 PM in response to Tom Gewecke

Can i make that permanent? or i hace to do it in every message?
Thank you a lot!

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Answer 12

D.F.

Level 1

30 points

May 9, 2007 3:33 AM in response to Allan Sampson

Not a bug.

Well, the strange thing is that any application other than Mail seemed to run fine without "Times". So maybe it should qualify as a Mail-specific bug.

iMac G5 20" 2 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.5) iPod 60 Gb

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Answer 13

May 9, 2007 4:53 AM in response to D.F.

THIS IS NOT A BUG nor a Mail-specific bug either.

Copied from the first link provided which appears you did not take the time to read.

However, some fonts that you can turn off (disable) may be required by specific applications. For example, Terminal needs the Monaco font to function correctly.

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Answer 14

Tom Gewecke

Level 10

122,526 points

May 9, 2007 6:32 AM in response to nicolastarallo

Can i make that permanent? or i hace to do it in
every message?

You have to do it every message unless you want to use Terminal.

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Answer 15

May 9, 2007 11:29 AM in response to Tom Gewecke

thank you very much

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