Why only TrueType fonts?

T

Terry Pinnell

I just noticed that the font drop down list in both Word 2000 (on my
XP PC) and Word 95 (on my W95 PC) do not include anything but TrueType
fonts. Is that as it should be please? If so, why? What about fonts
like MS Serif and MS Sans Serif, etc? IOW, those with an 'A' symbol in
the \Windows\Fonts folder?
 
M

Margaret Aldis

Hi Terry

Word shows the fonts that are available on your printer. So (to take an
example I know something about) if you select a PostScript printer driver,
you will see PostScript fonts available for that printer.

The fonts showing an A are bitmap fonts and I'm not sure what printer
drivers, if any, would print them. (The two examples you give are both
available on my system as TrueTypes, BTW).
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

If you have "Show only TrueType fonts in the programs on my computer"
checked on the TrueType tab of Tools | Folder Options in the Fonts folder,
you will see this result. With this disabled, you should see TrueType,
printer-resident, and PostScript fonts, as appropriate. You will *not* see
MS Serif or MS Sans Serif because these are screen fonts. Word will not (or
only very reluctantly) use screen fonts in a document because they cannot be
printed. Because Word wants to be WYSIWYG, it prefers not to display fonts
that will not print (another font will be substituted in printing). See
"WD97: Some Fonts Are Not Available in Word" at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=163059
 
T

Terry Pinnell

Margaret Aldis said:
Hi Terry

Word shows the fonts that are available on your printer. So (to take an
example I know something about) if you select a PostScript printer driver,
you will see PostScript fonts available for that printer.

The fonts showing an A are bitmap fonts and I'm not sure what printer
drivers, if any, would print them. (The two examples you give are both
available on my system as TrueTypes, BTW).
Click to expand...

Thanks Margaret. As a follow-up, what fonts would I have available if
I didn't *install* a printer?
 
T

TF

Times New Roman and Courier.



:
: >Hi Terry
: >
: >Word shows the fonts that are available on your printer. So (to take an
: >example I know something about) if you select a PostScript printer
driver,
: >you will see PostScript fonts available for that printer.
: >
: >The fonts showing an A are bitmap fonts and I'm not sure what printer
: >drivers, if any, would print them. (The two examples you give are both
: >available on my system as TrueTypes, BTW).
:
: Thanks Margaret. As a follow-up, what fonts would I have available if
: I didn't *install* a printer?
:
: --
: Terry, West Sussex, UK
:
:
 
T

Terry Pinnell

Suzanne S. Barnhill said:
If you have "Show only TrueType fonts in the programs on my computer"
checked on the TrueType tab of Tools | Folder Options in the Fonts folder,
you will see this result. With this disabled, you should see TrueType,
printer-resident, and PostScript fonts, as appropriate. You will *not* see
MS Serif or MS Sans Serif because these are screen fonts. Word will not (or
only very reluctantly) use screen fonts in a document because they cannot be
printed. Because Word wants to be WYSIWYG, it prefers not to display fonts
that will not print (another font will be substituted in printing). See
"WD97: Some Fonts Are Not Available in Word" at
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=163059
Click to expand...

Thank you, Suzanne - all new to me, and very interesting.

On the associated issue raised up-thread, before I went through the
motions of 'adding a printer' to this old PC, which does not
physically *have* a printer attached, (simply in order to check
whether any extra fonts became available), I had pretty well the whole
lot available. Which conflicts radically with the reply I had from TF.
Can you advise please?
 
T

TF

Terry

This article (by Suzanne and Bill Coan) explains this:
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/NoFonts.htm

Word shows only one or two fonts in its Font list

I have a lot of fonts installed. I can see them in the Windows Font folder,
and I can use them in other programs, including other Office applications,
but they are not displayed in Word's font list

Article contributed by Suzanne Barnhill and Bill Coan

Select a different printer, or install one if there isn't one installed.
Word shows only those fonts supported by the current printer.

Because Word aspires to be a WYSIWYG program, it is heavily dependent on the
printer driver. It gets its information about what fonts are available from
the printer driver for the default printer. If you don't have a printer set
as the default or have a Generic/Text Only printer selected, you will see a
very limited font list.

Sometimes this problem will arise even when a default printer is selected.
This may be an indication that the printer driver is corrupted. You may need
to uninstall and reinstall the printer. Sometimes it is sufficient to switch
to a different printer and back.

If you will not be printing from the computer where you are working, install
the driver for the printer you will ultimately be using (it doesn't have to
be attached to your computer); be aware, though, that the font selection
available to that printer will depend on the fonts available in the computer
it is connected to, so, unless you plan to embed TrueType fonts in your
document (and font embedding can be a very complex issue), you should stick
to the Windows core fonts (Times New Roman, Arial, Courier, Symbol,
Wingdings, and so on) or fonts that you are sure both computers share.



Terry (also West Sussex)

:
: >If you have "Show only TrueType fonts in the programs on my computer"
: >checked on the TrueType tab of Tools | Folder Options in the Fonts
folder,
: >you will see this result. With this disabled, you should see TrueType,
: >printer-resident, and PostScript fonts, as appropriate. You will *not*
see
: >MS Serif or MS Sans Serif because these are screen fonts. Word will not
(or
: >only very reluctantly) use screen fonts in a document because they cannot
be
: >printed. Because Word wants to be WYSIWYG, it prefers not to display
fonts
: >that will not print (another font will be substituted in printing). See
: >"WD97: Some Fonts Are Not Available in Word" at
: >http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=163059
:
: Thank you, Suzanne - all new to me, and very interesting.
:
: On the associated issue raised up-thread, before I went through the
: motions of 'adding a printer' to this old PC, which does not
: physically *have* a printer attached, (simply in order to check
: whether any extra fonts became available), I had pretty well the whole
: lot available. Which conflicts radically with the reply I had from TF.
: Can you advise please?
:
: --
: Terry, West Sussex, UK
:
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Since it is "common knowledge" that Word can't function at all without a
*local* printer driver selected, it's a mystery to me how this can happen
(Word not crashing, much less listing a lot of fonts). Perhaps you'd get a
more authoritative answer in microsoft.public.word.printingfonts.
 
T

TF

Suzanne

I haven't experimented with this but maybe Microsoft's fix for the missing
printer crashes is to display the message that Terry P has experienced in
W2003?

Terry Farrell

: Since it is "common knowledge" that Word can't function at all without a
: *local* printer driver selected, it's a mystery to me how this can happen
: (Word not crashing, much less listing a lot of fonts). Perhaps you'd get a
: more authoritative answer in microsoft.public.word.printingfonts.
:
: --
: Suzanne S. Barnhill
: Microsoft MVP (Word)
: Words into Type
: Fairhope, Alabama USA
:
: Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup
so
: all may benefit.
:
: : >
: > >If you have "Show only TrueType fonts in the programs on my computer"
: > >checked on the TrueType tab of Tools | Folder Options in the Fonts
: folder,
: > >you will see this result. With this disabled, you should see TrueType,
: > >printer-resident, and PostScript fonts, as appropriate. You will *not*
: see
: > >MS Serif or MS Sans Serif because these are screen fonts. Word will not
: (or
: > >only very reluctantly) use screen fonts in a document because they
cannot
: be
: > >printed. Because Word wants to be WYSIWYG, it prefers not to display
: fonts
: > >that will not print (another font will be substituted in printing). See
: > >"WD97: Some Fonts Are Not Available in Word" at
: > >http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=163059
: >
: > Thank you, Suzanne - all new to me, and very interesting.
: >
: > On the associated issue raised up-thread, before I went through the
: > motions of 'adding a printer' to this old PC, which does not
: > physically *have* a printer attached, (simply in order to check
: > whether any extra fonts became available), I had pretty well the whole
: > lot available. Which conflicts radically with the reply I had from TF.
: > Can you advise please?
: >
: > --
: > Terry, West Sussex, UK
: >
:
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Yes, I believe I have read that Word 2003 is a bit more helpful in this sort
of situation.
 
B

Beth Melton

Word can function (and use Print Preview) without a printer or printer
driver. I've used this setup many times in training labs since at
least Word 6. If you try to print you encounter a message along the
lines of "Printer is not installed". What it uses for fonts and
pagination I don't know.

This was never an issue until network printer drivers were introduced.
Now Word will crash or encounter an error message if the following is
true:

- You have a network printer set as your default
- The printer driver is installed on the network
- Word is unable to find the printer driver

The 'fix' for Word 2003 is Word will not crash. It still won't start
but you will be prompted with a message along the lines of "Can not
find printer, do you want to locate it". Still a little lacking but at
least it helps pinpoint the problem.

Now why they didn't forego the message and have Word behave as is if
there was no printer available I don't know. :-(

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
T

TF

Beth

Well that message is a perfect solution. Would you expect Word to encounter
the problem and install a driver of its own choice? Or what would you
expect/prefer to happen?

Terry

: Word can function (and use Print Preview) without a printer or printer
: driver. I've used this setup many times in training labs since at
: least Word 6. If you try to print you encounter a message along the
: lines of "Printer is not installed". What it uses for fonts and
: pagination I don't know.
:
: This was never an issue until network printer drivers were introduced.
: Now Word will crash or encounter an error message if the following is
: true:
:
: - You have a network printer set as your default
: - The printer driver is installed on the network
: - Word is unable to find the printer driver
:
: The 'fix' for Word 2003 is Word will not crash. It still won't start
: but you will be prompted with a message along the lines of "Can not
: find printer, do you want to locate it". Still a little lacking but at
: least it helps pinpoint the problem.
:
: Now why they didn't forego the message and have Word behave as is if
: there was no printer available I don't know. :-(
:
: --
: Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
: assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
:
: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: Beth Melton
: Microsoft Office MVP
 
B

Beth Melton

Hi Terry,

The message isn't specific enough. We know what the issue is since we
are familiar with the problem but many users aren't. Most expect the
printer driver to be used only when printing.

Here's a prime example of how most users do not understand how the
printer is incorporated in the Office apps:

And users encountering the printer message reported it as a bug on a
couple occasions during the beta.

Unfortunately it isn't as helpful as we would like it to be. :-(

I would prefer Word did nothing as it currently does when a printer is
not installed. Everything works the same but you are unable to print.
Of course the document layout may not match the printed output and
once you do install a printer the document may change slightly but
it's better than crashing or encountering what most users find is a
cryptic message.

--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email can not be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
T

TF

OK. I see your point.

Terry

: Hi Terry,
:
: The message isn't specific enough. We know what the issue is since we
: are familiar with the problem but many users aren't. Most expect the
: printer driver to be used only when printing.
:
: Here's a prime example of how most users do not understand how the
: printer is incorporated in the Office apps:
: :
: And users encountering the printer message reported it as a bug on a
: couple occasions during the beta.
:
: Unfortunately it isn't as helpful as we would like it to be. :-(
:
: I would prefer Word did nothing as it currently does when a printer is
: not installed. Everything works the same but you are unable to print.
: Of course the document layout may not match the printed output and
: once you do install a printer the document may change slightly but
: it's better than crashing or encountering what most users find is a
: cryptic message.
:
: --
: Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
: assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
:
: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: Beth Melton
: Microsoft Office MVP
:
: Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
: TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
: MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
:
:
: "TF" <terryfarrell%40%6d%73%6e%2ecom> wrote in message
: : > Beth
: >
: > Well that message is a perfect solution. Would you expect Word to
: encounter
: > the problem and install a driver of its own choice? Or what would
: you
: > expect/prefer to happen?
: >
: > Terry
:
: > : The 'fix' for Word 2003 is Word will not crash. It still won't
: start
: > : but you will be prompted with a message along the lines of "Can
: not
: > : find printer, do you want to locate it". Still a little lacking
: but at
: > : least it helps pinpoint the problem.
: > :
: > : Now why they didn't forego the message and have Word behave as is
: if
: > : there was no printer available I don't know. :-(
: > :
: > : --
: > : Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
: > : assistance by email can not be acknowledged.
: > :
: > : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
: > : Beth Melton
: > : Microsoft Office MVP
: >
: >
:
:
 
T

Terry Pinnell

Suzanne S. Barnhill said:
Since it is "common knowledge" that Word can't function at all without a
*local* printer driver selected, it's a mystery to me how this can happen
(Word not crashing, much less listing a lot of fonts). Perhaps you'd get a
more authoritative answer in microsoft.public.word.printingfonts.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the subsequent replies. After much googling I found a
little utility somewhere which thankfully sorted it. Cannot now locate
it on this PC; reckon I must have stored it exclusively on the problem
machine in my shed/workshop. But think its name was something like
FontFix.
 
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