OTF font works fine on the Macs but not PCs - "does not appear to be a valid font"

[Tim-Ellis]

OTF font works fine on the Macs but not PCs - "does not appear to be a valid font"

Hello Folks,

Got a set of branded fonts from a client. A full set of TTF (dated 2016) and a duplicate set as OTF (dated 2018).

Macs and PCs are happy with the TTF but the OTF works fine on the Macs but the PCs return an error message to say that it, "does not appear to be a valid font"

Screenshot attached.

In FontLab Studio on both Mac and PC the font opens just fine.

So it could be a corrupt file or a Windows Permissions thing.

Anyone seen anything like this before?

(since the TTF is ok, all is well. just curious to get a solution if it happens again)

 

[prepressdork]

Did some Googling and one solution suggested right-clicking the font and choosing 'Install for all users'. Perhaps that might work?

pd

 

[Dov Isaacs]

Contact the font foundry and ask them what they know about this. It could be an issue of a digital signature in the font or perhaps even a Windows bug (not unheard of).

What happens if you copy the particular font into one of the Adobe application-specific font directories? Do those applications see the font and are they able to use same?

- Dov

 

[Tim-Ellis]

Did some Googling and one solution suggested right-clicking the font and choosing 'Install for all users'. Perhaps that might work?

pd

Thanks for the tip - I lost touch with PCs after Windows XP, so I can't find that option ...

Not to worry, I know a may who can.

 

[Tim-Ellis]

Contact the font foundry and ask them what they know about this. It could be an issue of a digital signature in the font or perhaps even a Windows bug (not unheard of).

What happens if you copy the particular font into one of the Adobe application-specific font directories? Do those applications see the font and are they able to use same?

- Dov

Thanks Dov,

I didn't know such folders existed. I'll get my PC colleagues to check that out.

 

[buckeye]

Tim-Ellis,

What application are you working in/with?

 

[Tim-Ellis]

Hello Buckeye,

My team are Adobe CC and Mac OSX. The PC boys are using GMC Inspire. But we can't get any of our PCs to instal the font at all.

But FontLab Studio on PC and Mac opens the font without issue. So it looks like a permissions/licence thing.

If we really needed the font we'd be contacting the font foundry. As it happens the TTF versions work just fine.

 

[Ichokuchi]

It is a Permission thing, happens here at work. "Windows states that the font “Does not appear to be a valid font”. This is an issue caused by how the Windows operating system handles font installation. You will receive this error if you do not have system administrator privileges. ... Please refer to your system administrator if you recieve this error." - The way I get around the permissions, and keep in mind it works on 2 out of the 4 computers here for some reason doesnt work on two of them. But if you right click it and open preview and click on the button "Use shortcut" and then install it will work. if you do not have a use shortcut option there is a walkthrough on google on how to get that option. Hopefully that can get it working for you.

 

[Tim-Ellis]

It is a Permission thing, happens here at work. "Windows states that the font “Does not appear to be a valid font”. This is an issue caused by how the Windows operating system handles font installation. You will receive this error if you do not have system administrator privileges. ... Please refer to your system administrator if you recieve this error." - The way I get around the permissions, and keep in mind it works on 2 out of the 4 computers here for some reason doesnt work on two of them. But if you right click it and open preview and click on the button "Use shortcut" and then install it will work. if you do not have a use shortcut option there is a walkthrough on google on how to get that option. Hopefully that can get it working for you.

Thanks Ichokuchi,

That makes sense to me. The PC boys are actually inside the IT department, so I assumed that they had admin permission on their own PCs but our IT Support team might not let them have access to everything. I'll see if our IT Support team can install the font with their Admin log ins.

*** thanks everyone ***

 

[EEM]

Hello Folks,

Got a set of branded fonts from a client. A full set of TTF (dated 2016) and a duplicate set as OTF (dated 2018).

Macs and PCs are happy with the TTF but the OTF works fine on the Macs but the PCs return an error message to say that it, "does not appear to be a valid font"

Screenshot attached.

In FontLab Studio on both Mac and PC the font opens just fine.

So it could be a corrupt file or a Windows Permissions thing.

Anyone seen anything like this before?

(since the TTF is ok, all is well. just curious to get a solution if it happens again)

There is a chance that the said font only has a macOS binary. Whilst, most OTF and TTF work happily on Macs (there are exceptions though), only Windows TTF and OTF work with Windows. A macOS TTF will still show as TTF on Windows, but will not work. You need to get help from an advanced Windows user to check if the font is compatible. I hope it helps.

 

[Tim-Ellis]

There is a chance that the said font only has a macOS binary. Whilst, most OTF and TTF work happily on Macs (there are exceptions though), only Windows TTF and OTF work with Windows. A macOS TTF will still show as TTF on Windows, but will not work. You need to get help from an advanced Windows user to check if the font is compatible. I hope it helps.

thank you ... I will check that out.