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February 23, 2010
Question

Installing type 1 font in Windows 7 - AWEFUL customer support

  • February 23, 2010
  • 2 replies
  • 15865 views

I purchased and installed Helvetica Bold Oblique font this morning and downloaded it to install on my computer. I have @17258182 fonts on my machine, so this isn't my first attempt at installing fonts, but it's certainly been the most annoying and it's exposed Adobe customer support as one of the most incompetent I've dealt with in decades. Let me preface this by saying I've had every version of Adobe Creative Suite software and use the products extensively, but this painfully simple issue of installing ONE FONT has got on my last nerve.

So, when attempting to install the font, it errors and provides the following feedback: The file is a 'PFB' file for a type 1 font and cannot be installed directly. Please install the associated 'PFM' file. I've downloaded the font files twice, and neither includes a 'PFM' file. There's a 'PFB' file and 'AFM' file, but no PFB file. I even tried installing the 'AFM' file, but no luck. After spending over an hour on the phone with a completely computer illiterate foreign support staffer, I'm at the end of my rope. She didn't know the first thing about Windows 7, and starts telling me to look for options that don't even exist in the operating system. I SIMPLY NEED TO INSTALL ONE FONT.

So, is there anyone that can help make this the simple 5 second operation that it should be? I'll have to ask for some latitude on the anger - I'm just blown away at how stupidly difficult this has become, when it should be as simple as flipping a light switch. Any help is much appreciated.

System:

3.2 Xeon Quad core

2x2 TB drives

2x1 TB drives

32 GB RAM

Nvidia Quadro 5600 display adapter

Windows 7 Ultimate

Adobe CS4 Master Collection

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    2 replies

    February 24, 2010

    Been like that since Windows 7 Beta. Here is a link. Might want to keep it book marked. Windows 7 is a lot more simple to add fonts. Just click and drag into the font folder. Easy as cake.

    Also a free converter download is in the thread.

    http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itprogeneral/thread/872a2438-481d-4fb4-bdc5-95797fc307aa

    adobe-admin
    Legend
    February 23, 2010

    I'm sorry to hear about the frustration. I'm not using Windows 7 yet, but it does sound like its font installation process has changed. I did some searching and came up with a free utility to convert the AFM and INF files that come with Type 1 fonts to the PFM file that is needed (along with the actual PFB font file).

    The utility is called AfmToPFM and can be found on this site: http://www.proximasoftware.com/download.htm (direct link at http://www.proximasoftware.com/afmtopfm/)

    I have never tried it, but I did see a couple of references to it being the solution for installing Type 1 fonts into Windows 7.