Hello,

I have a problem with Inkscape 0.91 and Fonts. When I uninstall a Font in Windows, it remains usable in Inkscape, which is not a big problem in itself.
But I am using the font "Last King Quest" in a personal project, which doesn't have the German umlauts ä, ö, ü. Being German, however, I need them, so I edited the font to have them. Now when I install the edited font, Inkscape still uses the old version and I have no idea how to make it use the new one. Renaming the font and installing it as new helps insofar that Inkscape then recognizes the newly installed font and it can be used... but this is not a good solution since I might want to change the font again in the future (especially since the default version of it has Problems with spacing).

How can I make Inkscape use the installed version of a font? And how can I remove fonts from Inkscape?

Thanks in advance for your help!

edit: It seems to recognize changes on the new font, however, the original remains unchanged, no matter what I do.

Sounds like some kind of caching issue. It might help to check this page on the Inkscape wiki, or just rebuild the font cache directly (see e.g. this page).

In Inkscape, did you check whether there are different styles available for your font? The Text and Font dialog might be useful (Shift + Ctrl + T).

Alright, I just solved it.

It was not a fonts cache problem, and I already tried that without success, but thanks, anyway. Also, newer Inkscape versions don't use a fonts.cache-1 file any more as far as I know, so that wiki page is probably at leas partially obsolete.

But the problem apparently was that for some reason, every time I re-installed the font, windows would create a new file with a number attached to the file name inside the fonts folder instead of overwriting the old one, but Inkscape only seemed to use the oldest one, and since these files also didn't seem to have been removed when uninstalling the font, they still remained available in Inkscape. Now the problem was that when opening the fonts folder in windows explorer, it automatically switches to the fonts control panel instead of showing the actual files it contains. I had to use a different file manager to access the folder and delete the surplus files. Now after deleting all previous versions and re-installing the font everything seems to work again.

I don't know if this can still be viewed as an Inkscape Bug, since all other programs I tried (MS Word, Photoshop, Gimp, etc.) appear to use the latest installed version of a font.

Hi,

I am facing same issue on windows7 system with "Inkscape 0.92". I have tried above solution provided by "Pherim" as well.

Below points have been attempted:

1) Deleted the font from system
2) Clear system cache and
3) Reinstalled Inkscape

but still it shows font in the font drop down list and applies on text as well.

Can someone please help?
--

I have that problem too Shoansa. It's so frustrating because I've designed a font, so have installed it dozens of times! yikes. I can't figure out out to delete them either- not sure what Pherim means by 'using a different file manager'- the only one I know about it what comes in windows (win 7). I've done the same things as Shoansa.
Can someone give us a newbie type step by step instruction please - what file mgr, specifics on how to get to the directory, etc? I use Mozilla Foxfire. Never knew there is a font cache in the browsers - how does one find that to delete it?
thanks much
dee

I can't help Shoansa's question.

But for flamingolady, some questions. (Aside from not understanding why you installed it more than once) I don't understand how it happens that you can have the same font installed twice. Whenever I try to install a font which is already installed, Windows tells me I already have it installed, and asks if I want to replace it. But even when I tried clicking Yes to replace it, I still don't see 2 of the same font. It's still just one.

Maybe we should understand how you're installing it? Maybe there's some way that I've never heard of? Unless you give it a different name each time you install it. That would make sense. But then, you should still be able to uninstall them in the usual way. How do you uninstall fonts?

I think when Pherim said he used a different file manager, he means he had to use something different from Windows Explorer. I'm sure there are loads of file managers out there. Probably even some free ones.

This link was provided in a reply above, to recreate the Windows font cache (I didn't see any reference to a browser cache): http://www.ehow.com/how_7197467_rebuild-font-cache.html I assume that after you delete the file, you'll have to reinstall a lot of fonts. (as far as I understand, this will delete all the fonts on the computer - I'd probably have to be utterly desparate to delete that file!)

I'd suggest doing a search on your hard disk for all fonts that start with the same characters, if refreshing the font cache didn't help. It could still be on the disk.

Brynn, I kept installing my font because I needed to test it after making changes, kerning, line gap, etc, so each font, while having the same name, looks a little different. Also re-install other fonts because they've updated the font. ok, I'm not an expert, but here's what I 'think'.

Font naming is a bit strange, fonts aren't named by the file name, ex., my filename might be Dee Font 1, but its real font name might be Font Sans, you create the name of the font within the program, hence the issue. The Windows font editor knows that this is the same font, (even if you've renamed the file) and even when you choose to override the old font name, it renames the font name, instead of saving over it.
ex. Font Sans becomes Font Sans1, then font Sans 2, and so on - irregardless of the file name. So, even though I no longer want Font Sans or Font Sans 1, it somehow becomes embedded in Inkscape. The thing is - it only seems to happen in Inkscape. When you delete or re-save the filename in the Windows Font Editor, it deletes those back up fonts out of every other program, just not Inkscape. So refreshing the cache does not help. This is probably a bigger issue for font makers, but it's really annoying.
I just don't understand exactly what Pherim did to remove the old fonts out. Where or what file mgr can be used to see those old fonts in Inkscape? They appear to be hidden. I really don't want to delete ALL of my fonts either. It seems like Pherim figured it out, but I just can't decipher what he actually did....

Moini - what do you mean by 'it could still be on the disk'? I use c:\windows\fonts. Where else are fonts stored?

Attached is a prt scrn of some the fonts I can't get rid of, to give you an idea, except for my current one, the fonts that start with 'Plain' are duplicates that need removing.

Did you do a search for the font files on your disk, flamingolady?

Addendum: best search for all files of file format .ttf (or whichever you chose) and only later scan the results - and also search for all files starting with Plain... - it could be that Windows appends something to the file name or to the file extension.

Moini, yes I have. That was a good idea though. Searched .ttf, Plain*.ttf and Plain*.*. nothing of use. Pretty sure this isn't a Windows issue - the fonts aren't being wiped out by inkscape - only. They are gone from Word.
I think Pherim found the hidden file by using some other file mgr - not windows, that's what I 'm trying to figure out. and where does inkscape hide it's font cache? It shouldn't be this hard to figure out, I'm really stumped.

Okay, so the search also does not find hidden files... Wow. I'm not impressed by that operating system... Thought it would - I still believe that Windows just doesn't wipe the font files, but keeps them around for further use/investigation/history/space wasting/...

If there is an option to show hidden files in the file manager, does it help if you use it? If that option exists for the search, try it.
Here are some instructions: https://www.wikihow.com/Find-Hidden-Fil ... in-Windows (cannot test).
Else try it it helps to install a file manager that will show all files.

I just tried to delete a "zombie-font" like flamingo has....

...quite the PITA.

They are odd duplicates (as described) with fontname_n.ttf and the permissions are all clobbered up. Even with administrator privileges, they can't be renamed/deleted/moved via windows, without reg hacking and whatnot.

Unlocker won't do it.

To even see the font(s), one needs to use explorer as a network access to \\COMPUTERNAME\C$\Windows\Fonts\. ("COMPUTERNAME" is whatever yours is.) These are not typical hidden files, which can be shown with a directory (folder) setting.

You can also use the command prompt to navigate to, and display the contents of the font directory: (dir |more)

I used the command-prompt launched as administrator to delete.

Would be nice if the windows builds of Inkscape ignored these zombie fonts like LibreOffice does, but ... bigger fish to fry.

Would be even nicer if Windoze would work right with the permissions.


A live cd\usb of linux would be handy for this.

tylerdurden. Thanks much. Well, the good news is that I can finally see the DOZENS of extra fonts. (doing the happy dance on that one!). I don't use Explorer, so used the command method. But, even tough am logged in as Admin, it won't let me delete - how do you get around that? I even signed in as the PC owner admin, still won't allow deletion. I see what you mean about Windows not acting right on the admin. They keep throwing wrenches in. Did you create a special credential or something?
BTW, you win the font cache prize!! that was a hard nut to crack.
dee

There is much to love about the penguins. Alas, many of us need to stay on the dark side to battle from within. (Many more sci-fi metaphors to be made here.)

Flamingo,

Even when logged-in with administrator rights, windows will require launching some programs "as administrator"... e.g. if you light click a shortcut to a program such as command-prompt, the contextual menu should have an item "Run as administrator".

After launching command as administrator and navigating to the fonts directory, I would (in this case) enter something like this: del Plain*.ttf. That will delete any ttf file starting with "Plain". You could also delete each one-by-one by using each one's explicit filename.


For those folks not inclined to use the command-line (sometimes called "DOS-prompt"), a "live" linux disk or usb can be very handy. These versions of linux don't install on the machine, but instead operate directly from the removable media. They generally operate like Windows with a graphic interface and have file management that is not restricted by Window's permissions settings. (Most computer "rescue disks" are live linux systems.) After removing the bad fonts, the linux disk/usb can be removed and the computer can be restarted in Windows.

I haven't found out why Windows keeps the extra versions of the fonts.

Update - Just spent a LONG time with my computer guy - we tried everything, giving all credentials, changing to the pc owner, yada yada - to no avail. Basically, I'm either going to have to find a program that let's me see the hidden files and use my admin to delete or would have to reinstall the op sys to get control as the system admin (which I'm not going to do for some fonts). Not sure how you'all are getting the right admin access (win 7). Everything we tried said we need admin privileges (which we had full access). He's an IT guy by trade, so we did the thing where he took over control of the pc. Open to ideas. (I did learn that I was thinking Explorer was referring to the Explorer browser only, but it wasn't, it's the Win file mgr, aaarg). At least I learned something new. Still confused, but that will never chg, lol.
______________________


off topic - Cute penguins Moini. I just finished making a couple of ice skating ones a few days ago. BTW, My hubby is (very) german, but sadly his parents were told to not teach it to him, that it would screw him up speaking english. So he learned it a tad bit anyway by hearing it - and I just learned from him that Kiel is a german town (his family was from the Dusseldorf, and i also JUST learned that a dussel is slang for a DUMB person, so he's from the dumb town)!!! if only I knew this 35 yrs ago when we first met, ha ha ha.
But I must be missing something, no idea how penguins relate to the sci fi thing, lol.

Anyway, Tylerdurden. thanks so much. I may have to enlist a computer person - I can't get the DOS cmd to bring up the 'run as admin' prompt. I know there's a back way in, right click on some properties somewhere, somehow, for hidden files, have done it before, so will have to ask someone - have no idea what a 'light click' is, unless a typo for right click. Either way my mind is boggled. but finding that darn cache was the key. kudos!

One more question - I see that along with the fonts, there are a lot of 'font files' - no idea what they are? unless they are the readme files that sometimes get installed along with the font. Do you know what they are, and is it safe to delete those?

dee

Yes, right-click.

I don't know about those "font-files", if you post a screen shot maybe we can solve it.

As for the Dussel, you don't need to worry, flamingolady - the town is written as Düsseldorf (pronunciation: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:De- ... eldorf.ogg, meaning village on the river Düssel), only the dots get lost when the English-speaking write it The penguins got nothing to do with Star Wars, they only come from that same nerdy corner of the mind.
Hope you'll get your font files deleted - the live image thing is a good idea. Here, they often put 'rescue DVDs' into computer magazines, but many computers don't have DVD drives anymore...

Pls see my update section above. Should I throw the towel in yet.....

wwaaayy off topic. Moini - I got to hear Dusseldorf pronounced correctly by my mother in law, straight from the german souce, lol. She came to the US - had to leave Dusseldorf as a teen to avoid being killed by Hilter (no one knew they had jewish blood in them), they were forced by Hitler's group to serve, but their family secretly got people out of germany via the underground. She was traumatized for life, would never speak about it. Came to the US to be safe, lived with some german family, didn't know a word of english when she arrived and started school, and was considered an enemy alien here. oh, My husband had also mentioned the two dots above the u, but I can barely find the regular u, much less figuring out how to get the dots above it, ha ha. yes, it means the river (formally), but also a slang term for dumb, at least it was in her time period.

I'm hating windows admin controls right now. Still wondering what file mgr others have used that worked (I've seen a couple of threads on this same subj), so I must not be alone with drowning in extra fonts. I want to develop a couple more fonts, so I could end up with hundreds and hundreds of extra fonts in inkscape only, which I suspect is why my loading time for the pgm is so long now.

thanks for everyone's input, and tolerating my many questions! Am sure there's more to come!
dee

You're pretty close on your own...

Found this via google regarding win7:

To perform some tasks, you'll need to run it as administrator. On
your start menu, click on "accessories, locate "command prompt", right
click & choose "run as administrator".

(If you will be adding more custom fonts later, might be best to not use the same name on any versions of them. )

Tylerdurden - He did all that, and it still didn't work. I just tried it again to double check it. same error note, need to run as admin - and am running as admin. IT guy said it's some file thingie that was put in when they installed the op sys, have to be run as the sys op admin vs reg admin (well, that's my interpretation of what he said...), and the only way to override it is to re-install the op sys - not going to happen. Still have a shred of hope to find an external file mgr that can delete the files, but no idea what to use.

The strange thing is that I did re-name the font file. It's confusing because the the font name is NOT the same name of the file. Took me awhile to figure that one out. So I kept renaming the file name, but it kept the font name the same (it's named within the pgm). So, I have dozens of diff file names and diff font names, sigh. live and learn.

offtopic: That's a horrible thing that happened to your mother in law... (Düssel does not mean 'dumb person', just the river. Dussel is the dumb person, but usually meant in a kind way... it's not a very harsh word. It's only in the English transliteration, where those two words are identical. They are not in German. To get a u with dots, you can just copy it from another word )
When I was using Windows, I had TotalCommander, but that's so long ago, I have no idea if it's still deemed 'good'...

still offtopic: thx Moini, my hubby kept saying what you did, but I didn't 'get' it about the dots until I saw what you wrote. Took this american a while for the joke to seep in, ha ha.
And yes, it was a horrid thing re: Hitler, she witnessed friends and families within her own apt bldg being hauled off by his guards, never to return from the concentration camps. She was followed by the FBI - even as a teen, her first day of (high) school they arrived and followed her around. I can't imagine.
ok, promise, now returning to regular programming.

If my IT friend can find an alt file mgr pgm to get rid of the files, then I'll post. It's not looking good.

I think it should be fairly easy to find a different file manager (as I posted WAY above).

Let me DDG that for you: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=file+manager&t=ffsb

Do you know why is your guy having trouble finding one?