Microsoft KB Archive/313487

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Article ID: 313487

Article Last Modified on 3/23/2006


APPLIES TO

  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Word 2002 Standard Edition
  • Microsoft Word 2000 Standard Edition


This article was previously published under Q313487

This article is a consolidation of the following previously available article: 259319

SUMMARY

This article discusses general information and troubleshooting steps for working with fonts in Microsoft Word.

Topics covered:

MORE INFORMATION


Fonts Overview

A font is a graphic design that is applied to a collection of numbers, symbols, and characters. A font describes a certain typeface, together with other qualities such as size, spacing, and pitch. Fonts are used to display text on the screen and to print text. Fonts have font styles such as italic, bold, and bold italic.

Outline Fonts

TrueType and the new OpenType (Windows 2000 and later) fonts are outline fonts that are rendered from line and curve commands. OpenType is an extension of TrueType. Both can be scaled and rotated. Both look good in all sizes and on all output devices that are supported by Windows.

Printer Fonts

Most programs that support printing let you choose among different fonts. Printers that offer the widest assortment of fonts include laser, ink-jet, and dot-matrix printers. They support a fixed set of resident fonts that you can expand by installing font cartridges or loading fonts from software.

Internal fonts (resident fonts) are used most frequently by laser, dot-matrix, and ink-jet printers. Pre-loaded into the printer's memory (ROM), internal fonts are always available for printing.

Cartridge fonts are stored in a cartridge or a card that plugs into the printer.

Downloadable fonts are sets of characters that are sent from the computer to a printer's memory when the fonts are required for printing. Also called soft fonts, downloadable fonts are used most frequently with laser printers and other page printers, although some dot-matrix printers also can use them. Clients that use downloadable fonts and that print to Windows print servers should have these fonts installed locally to increase the printing speed.

For each document that you print, Windows may have to send the required screen and downloadable fonts to the printer. To improve printing times, use fonts that do not have to be downloaded (such as internal fonts or cartridge fonts). Some printers can keep a list of downloadable fonts. If your printer supports this, turn on the feature to increase printing speed. Not all printers can use all three types of fonts. Pen plotters, for example, cannot ordinarily use downloadable fonts. For more information about the types of fonts you can use, see your printer's operating manual.

Raster Fonts

These are fonts that are stored as bitmaps. Raster fonts are designed with a specific size and resolution for a specific printer and cannot be scaled or rotated. If a printer does not support raster fonts, it will not print them. The five raster fonts are Courier, MS Sans Serif, MS Serif, Small, and Symbol. Raster fonts are also called bitmapped fonts.

Vector Fonts

This font is useful for devices such as pen plotters that cannot reproduce bitmaps. Characters are drawn in arrangements of line segments instead of patterns of dots and can be scaled to any size or aspect ratio. The three vector fonts are Modern, Roman, and Script.




Troubleshooting Font Problems

Before You Troubleshoot Font Problems in Word

Basic Font Troubleshooting Steps





Before You Troubleshoot Font Problems in Word

Before you start troubleshooting font problems in Word, review the following general topics:

  • Important: When you work with any version of Microsoft Windows, especially Windows NT-based versions of Windows (Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP), always make sure that you install the latest service service pack. Several font problems were corrected in service releases.

    For more information about service releases for your version of Microsoft Windows, please refer to the following Web address:

    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/
  • The exact number of TrueType fonts that you can install varies, depending on the length of the TrueType font names and file names. For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    131943 TrueType font limits in Windows 95/98/Me

    254766 Unable to open or print fonts correctly

  • When you troubleshoot font problems in Windows, you may have to turn off or disable the Adobe Type Manager (ATM) from Windows. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    69692 Disabling Adobe Type Manager from Windows

    Note If you have a different font manager program installed, you may have to turn off the program.




Basic Font Troubleshooting Steps

When you troubleshoot font problems in Word, follow these basic steps:

  1. Which printer driver are you using? If you are using the generic/text only printer driver, a fax driver, or a similar driver as your default printer driver in Windows, this may be your problem.

    To change the printer driver that Word uses, use one of the following procedures:
    • In Word, click Print on the File menu. In the Print dialog box, change the Name box to an installed printer.

      Note Do not change the Name box to either the generic/text only printer driver or an installed fax driver.
    • Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers. In the Printers dialog box, right-click an installed printer, and then click Set as Default Printer.

      NOTES:
      • In Windows XP, you will have to click Start, and then Printers and Faxes to open the Printers dialog box.
      • Do not set the generic/text only printer driver or an installed fax driver as your default printer in Windows.
  2. What occurs in a new document? Create a new Word document based on your global template (Normal.dot).

    To create a new document based on your global template, click New on the File menu. On the General tab, click Blank Document, and then click OK.

    Based on what occurs in the new document, do the following:
    1. In your new document, use a different font. If you have no problems using a different font, then you may have a problem with a specific font in Windows. Continue troubleshooting by using the following steps.
    2. In your new document, use the font that you used in your original Word document. If the problem is resolved in a new Word document, you probably have a damaged document.

      Note If your problem document was created by using a different template (other than the Normal.dot template), then the problem document or the template that it was created from, or both, might be damaged.
    3. In your new document, if the problem occurs with a specific font, try to use the font in a new WordPad document. To create a WordPad document, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, and then click WordPad.

      If the problems that you experienced in Word occur in the WordPad document, then the fonts are probably damaged. You probably have to remove and reinstall the problem font or fonts in Windows.

      If you determine that the font is damaged, delete and reinstall the font.

      To delete a font, follow these steps:
      1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

        Note In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
      2. Double-click Fonts.
      3. Click to select the font that you want to remove.

        Note To select more than one font, hold down CTRL and then click each font you want to remove.
      4. On the File menu, click Delete.
      5. Click Yes to the following message:

        Are you sure you want to delete these fonts?

      To reinstall the font, follow these steps:

      1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.

        Note In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Control Panel.
      2. Double-click Fonts.
      3. In the Fonts dialog box, click Install New Font on the File menu.
      4. Change the Drives box to the drive that contains the font that you want to install.
      5. In the Folders box, double-click the folder that contains the font that you want to add.
      6. In List of fonts, click the font that you want to add, and then click OK.

        Note To add all the listed fonts, click Select All, and then click OK.

      For help with deleting or installing a font in Windows, contact either Microsoft Windows Technical Support or the vendor that supplies the font.

      For more information about obtaining help with troubleshooting Windows, click Help Topics on the Help menu in Windows Explorer. On the Contents tab, double-click to open the Troubleshooting book. Then double-click to open the Contact Microsoft Product Support Services book to view your support options.

      For Windows XP, click Help and Support Center on the Help menu in Windows Explorer. Click the link Get support, or find information in Windows XP newsgroups to obtain assistance.
      For information about how to contact your font vendor, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

      65416 Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K

      60781 Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P

      60782 Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z

  3. What occurs if you change the way that fonts are printed? You may have to change the way that your TrueType fonts are printed by using your specific printer driver. To do this, follow these steps:
    NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
    2. Right-click your installed printer driver, and then click Properties.
    3. On the Fonts tab, click to select either Print TrueType as graphics or Download TrueType fonts as soft fonts, and then click OK.
  4. What occurs if you change the way that graphics are printed? You may have to change the way that graphics are printed using your specific printer driver, especially if you print TrueType fonts as graphics. To do this, follow these steps:
    NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
    2. Right-click your installed printer driver, and then click Properties.
    3. Click the Graphics tab to change the Graphics mode that you are using. To do this, use one of the following procedures:
      • If Use vector graphics is selected, click to select Use raster graphics.
      • If Use Raster graphics is selected, click to select Use vector graphics.
    4. Click OK to close the Properties dialog box of your installed printer.
  5. What occurs when you print your document at a lower printer resolution? You may have to print your document at a printer resolution that is different from what the printer ordinarily prints. By default, most printers print at either 300 dpi (dots per inch) or 600 dpi. To determine whether the printer resolution is the problem, follow these steps:
    NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
    1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Printers.
    2. Right-click your installed printer driver, and then click Properties.
    3. Click the Graphics tab. Change the Resolution box to a lower setting. For example, change the Resolution box to 150 dots per inch.
    4. Click OK to close the printer Properties dialog box.
  6. What occurs when you print to a different printer? Your installed printer driver may not be able to correctly print your Word document that has the font that you are using. To determine whether this is the problem, set a different printer as your default printer, and try to print your document.

    If you can correctly print your Word document by using a different printer driver, either your original installed printer driver is damaged, or it cannot print the document correctly. To correct this problem, use one of the following procedures:
    • Remove and reinstall your original printer driver.
    • Download and install an updated printer driver for your printer.
    • Use a printer driver that is compatible with your printer.

    For information about how to contact your printer manufacturer to obtain an updated or compatible printer driver, click the appropriate article number in the following list to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    65416 Hardware and software vendor contact information, A-K

    60781 Hardware and software vendor contact information, L-P

    60782 Hardware and software vendor contact information, Q-Z


Making changes that affect Word

To Change the Default Font in Word

  1. In a new blank Word document, click Select All on the Edit menu.
  2. On the Format menu, click Font.
  3. Select the options that you want to apply to the default font. If you selected text in step 1, the properties that you want appear in the dialog box.
  4. Click Default.
  5. Click Yes to the following message:

    Do you want to change the default font to fontname?
    This change will affect all new documents based on the NORMAL template.
    where fontname is the name of the font that you selected.

Any new document that you create based on the Normal template (Normal.dot) will use the new font settings that you selected.

Print a Sample of All Available Fonts in Microsoft Word
You can use a Visual Basic for Applications macro that generates a list of the fonts that are available to Microsoft Word and displays a sample of each font. After the macro finishes, you can print the Word document.

For additional information, click the article number in this section to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
209205 Macro to generate list of available fonts in Word

Set Word to Show the Font List More Quickly

To display font lists more quickly, you can set Word to list the fonts in a standard font instead of displaying each font name as a sample of the font.

Note This setting affects lists that display fonts, such as the Font and Style lists on the Formatting toolbar.

  1. On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click the Options tab.
  2. Click to clear the List font names in their font check box.
  3. Click OK.

Find Fonts That Are Similar

To find similar fonts in Microsoft Windows, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Fonts.
  3. On the View menu, click to select List Fonts By Similarity.

In the List fonts by similarity to box, click to select the font that you want to compare with the others on your computer.

Note Panose font mapping information is stored with the font to describe its characteristics. For example, these characteristics may include serif or sans serif, normal, bold, or italic. If no Panose information is available, the font appears at the bottom of the list, and it does not appear in the List fonts by similarity to box.

Show Only TrueType Fonts in Microsoft Word

Note This settings affects how fonts are displayed in all Microsoft Windows programs. To show only the TrueType fonts in Word, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Fonts.
  3. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options.
  4. On the TrueType Fonts tab, click to select the Show only TrueType fonts in the programs on my computer check box.

You must restart your computer for your changes to take affect. Click Yes when Windows prompts you with the following message:

You must restart your computer before the new settings will take effect.



Do you want to restart your computer now?



After you restart Windows, Word displays only the TrueType fonts that are available on your computer.


Additional Resources

Microsoft provides a typography Web site. The purpose of this Web site is to explain the benefits and features of TrueType, the world's most popular digital font format. The site intends to help people use type in more imaginative and innovative ways across a wide range of media. This may include print, video, and the World Wide Web.
For more information about the Microsoft Typography Web site, refer to the following Web address:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography
The Microsoft Typography Web site includes resources like the following:

  • The Web Embedding Fonts Tool (WEFT) lets you create "font objects" that are linked to your Web pages. Therefore, when an Internet Explorer user views the pages, they see the pages displayed in the font style that is contained in the font object.
  • You can obtain the Font Properties Extension. This adds several new property tabs to the default Properties dialog box. These include information about font origination and copyright, the type sizes to which hinting and smoothing are applied, and the code pages that are supported by extended character sets.



Additional query words: typeface fonts wd2002 wd2003

Keywords: kbhowto kbinfo kbfont kbformat kbdta KB313487



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