can i install fonts from a .afm file?

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Level 1

55 points

can i install fonts from a .afm file?

i have been given a .sit file which contains fonts that i need to install in OSX, i unzipped the file and there are several files with no extension, when i click "get info" it says it's a 'unix executable file' with a size of Zero KB, there are also a couple of .suit files and several .afm files. Font Book won't let me "add" any of these files. have i been given unsupported font files? any feedback would be very helpful!

MBP, 2.33ghz, 2gb, Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Apr 5, 2007 8:06 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Kurt Lang

Level 9

58,008 points

Apr 5, 2007 8:28 AM in response to Greg Jio

It looks like you were sent a set of damaged Type 1 Post Script fonts.

Type 1 PostScript fonts are a set. One file is a suitcase containing all of the low res bitmap screen fonts. The rest are the outline printer fonts. As an example, here's Adobe Garamond.

Adobe Garamond
AGarBol
AGarBolIta
AGarIta
AGarReg
AGarSem
AGarSemIta

The first file which I highlighted in green is the font suitcase of bitmap screen fonts. The rest are the outline printer fonts.

1) The files for a Type 1 PostScript font must have both the screen and printer fonts for a given set in order to work. They also must be in the same folder.

2) The suitcase of bitmap fonts will work alone, but output will be terrible since the system will print the fonts using the 72 dpi screen fonts in the suitcase if the outline portions are missing.

3) Having only the outline fonts will not work. You will get exactly what you are having problems with. You can see the fonts, but Font Book won't load them. That's not a problem with Font Book itself. No font manager will load outline fonts without the matching suitcase of screen fonts present.

So what you have appears to be the suitcase of screen fonts (indicated by the file with a .suit extension), the outline fonts which are bad because they somehow were sent to you as zero byte files, and a bunch of .afm files. AFM (Adobe Font Metrics) files are only useful on the Mac side if you are editing the fonts they are for. You load the AFM file into your font editor so you're using the same metrics as the person who created the font. But otherwise, they have no use.

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Answer 2

Greg Jio Author

Level 1

55 points

Apr 5, 2007 10:36 AM in response to Kurt Lang

so when someone supplies a font, what is the typical file extension or folder hierarchy?

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Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

58,008 points

Apr 5, 2007 11:17 AM in response to Greg Jio

Type 1 PostScript usually don't have extensions. Particularly not the outline printer fonts. As mentioned above, you need both the suitcase of screen fonts and the matching outline fonts. They must be in the same physical folder in order to work.

From what you wrote first, you have them, but the outline fonts are zero byte files. Whoever sent them to you did something wrong. Most likely, the fonts were active/open from a server. If you try to copy fonts that are in use, that's what usually happens.

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Answer 4

Kurt Lang

Level 9

58,008 points

Apr 5, 2007 11:59 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Oh, forgot. When I said, "They must be in the same physical folder in order to work.", I left out a rather important part. They must be in one of the Fonts folders. User either the Fonts folder in your user account, or the main /Library/Fonts/ folder. Either will work just fine. You can put PostScript fonts in their own folder and then place that folder into one of the Fonts folders. Nested folders work in OS X.

If you're using Suitcase or MasterJuggler, then the fonts can be left wherever they are and opened with the font manager. But if they're Type 1 PostScript fonts, the pieces of the fonts themselves still must be in the same folder.

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