Windows 7 & Photoshop CS5.1 – “Fonts missing” issue – I have the font!! (sort of)

adobe-photoshop

I've noticed a really aggravating issue with Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 on at least two occasions.

  1. I downloaded a layered PSD file to work with, in the release notes it directed me to a download page for all of the font used, which was Futura Medium Condensed. I chcked and did not have any Futura fonts at all. So I downloaded and installed the font from the source provided by the provider of the PSD. I closed and reopened Photoshop and when I open the PSD file I get an error saying:

    Some text layers contain fonts that are missing. These layers will need to have the missing fonts replaced before they can be used for vector based output.

    I then go to edit the text layer and receive:

    The following fonts are missing for text layer "discount"

    Future CondensedExtraBold

    Font substitution will occur. Continue?

If I click OK, it substitutes Myriad Pro for this layer. Didn't I download the right font? I go into the font dropdown and see I have a font with a slightly different name "Futura-CondensedExtraBold-Th Regular"

  1. I have also seen this issue with Helvetica. I have received a PSD file, same "some text layers contain fonts that are missing These…" error dialog when I open up the file – and when I go to edit a layer with text I get:

The following fonts are missing for text layer "Home":

Helvetica

Font substitution will occur. Continue?

I click continue – it substitutes Myriad Pro – and check my font list and sure enough I have a bunch of Helvetica fonts, none exactly named "Helvetica"

  1. Is this a common issue? Googling it yielded a few people with similar problems (I think all on Macs) but either no concrete help or no response.
  2. Is it that the two font names aren't EXACT matches? If that is the case is there any way of setting up Photoshop to more intelligently substitute or even set up some sort of mapping (if "Helvetica" then substitute "Helvetica Lt Std" ?
  3. Is there anything else, maybe something that I am not thinking of?

Best Answer

Is this a common issue?

Yes. The name embedded in the font itself may vary if the font is from a different provider, or a different version or variant of the font. Some fonts are available with different names, depending on their use (or limitations of the platforms on which they might be used).

Is it that the two font names aren't EXACT matches?

That's exactly it.

There's a few possible fixes.

  • Get the right font. Whoever supplied you with the PSD file didn't supply you with the correct fonts. This is probably best because if the font you have doesn't have close enough metrics, you could end up with subtle changes that can cause problems throughout the entire document. That said, reflow is generally not an issue in a Photoshop document.
  • Substitute the fonts in Photoshop. Select the text layer with the missing fonts (it's going to have an alert flag in the Layer Panel), open up the Character Panel and change the font to the one you have.
  • Create a substitution rule in Windows. This isn't recommended, but if you look in the Registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes, you should be able to take a guess at what do to. (Value Name = Missing Font, Value Data = Font You Have)
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