Unable to open PSD due to missing font (version 22.5.0)

[Peter F-RN]

Hi there,
Firstly, I'm on Windows 10, 64 bit. I discovered a horrible "bug" with Photoshop version 22.5.0 (and I’m not sure if it’s the case with other versions of Photoshop as well). This is also a bug with a font so there could be some OS implications as well. I know this story is longish, so you can see my bolded fix at the bottom if you want to skip the details 😊.

Months ago I downloaded a font Archivo from fonts.google.com and installed it on my system. Everything was seemingly normal when I created templates and populated text into them. PowerPoint was running into issues with embedding the font post PDF generation which was odd. A collegue who was helping me with the issue, was initially having trouble embedding fonts in her Powerpoint to PDF tests but then she uninstalled and reinstalled the font from Google again and it seemed to be fine (which wasn’t the case on my end). Here is where Adobe products get involved...

Fast forward a few weeks to now and I’ve built many of my screens and comps in Photoshop. I then try to create some animated gifs in Adobe Animate and many of the font styles are missing for Archivo… So I uninstall the font again, go to Google to download it, install this new font and Adobe Animate can now see every style of the font. I then go back into photoshop to review the screens for the animation I’m working on and it won’t let me into the photoshop document at all. It completely locks me out after popping up the typical “you are missing a font” screen.

To fix this issue, I had to uninstall the fonts entirely to allow me to even open the PSD files again. I revert the fonts in each smart object/text box in the PSD to default (Myriad), save and close them. I then reinstalled Archivo again (the one I know “works”) and updated the smart objects/text boxes in each PSD. I also needed to change all the linked AI files for each PSD too but those missing fonts didn't prevent me from opening the PSD.

Long and short, if you have any font issues, Photoshop may lock you out if a font got corrupted, renamed, changed in any way and you need to uninstall it. I’m not sure if this is just a version 22.5 thing, but keep this in mind if it happens to you. I'm just making sure Adobe is aware of this issue in case someone else gets it. It could have been a corrupted/broken font file that made Photoshop behave this way, but Illustrator and InDesign didn't give me the any grief when I tried to open them with the font inactive/active other than missing styles like Animate did.

[War Unicorn]

Strangley, Archivo Black is available on Adobe Fonts but not the other variations.

[eric_floch]

Hey Peter:

My name is Eric Floch, and I work on the Photoshop team. I'd love to try to get to the bottom of your issue so we can make sure no one else hits it...

Corrupted fonts can do very strange things to computers, but I haven't seen a case recently where a file with a missing font completely locks you out from editing the file. What actually happens when you open the file? Does the file open, but then you get the missing font dialog? Or do you get an error message when opening the file? If so, what is the message?

If the file will open and you get the missing font dialog, does it fail on Replace, or Manage Missing Fonts? In either case, is there an error message that pops up? I HAVE seen a case recently (that we have a bug open on) where a file created on Win and opened on Mac had a missing font that the Manage Missing Fonts dialog couldn't resolve. When I would try to edit the text, it was popping a message saying: "Could not use the type tool beacuse the following fonts are missing for text layer..." Is THAT what you're running into?

In any event, it would be immensely helpful for us to take a look at the problematic file. Do you still have the old version of the file around? If so, could you upload it here? If not, even the new version of the file might be helpful in trying to recreate the problem for us.

We take users being locked out of their files VERY seriously, so I would love to try to get some more specifics and a test file if possible.

Thanks for any help!

-Eric Floch

Photoshop Senior Quality Engineer

[jane-e]

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-Eric Floch

Photoshop Senior Quality Engineer

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Hi Eric, since it appears that you are a legitimate employee without an "Adobe Employee" badge, I have requested one for you.

~ Jane

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[J453]

fixed.

[Peter F-RN]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for digging in. I've resolved the issue so I can't really replicate any longer (since I erased the errant font), but I'll answer your questions as best I can:

• What actually happens when you open the file? Does the file open, but then you get the missing font dialog? Or do you get an error message when opening the file? If so, what is the message? 
  When I double click the file from my system (which was a network drive if that matters) nothing happens. It doesn't even switch to Photoshop the application like it has in the past if there was an issue with a file. Literally nothing happens. If I go to "File>Open" and select the PSD, it gives me an error message stating that there is a missing font and that you need to change the font but when I close the dialog (sorry i don't recall the error dialog text verbatim), nothing else happens. If there were font issues in the past, it used to at least let me open the file and change them but not in this case. 
• If the file will open and you get the missing font dialog, does it fail on Replace, or Manage Missing Fonts? When I uninstalled the font (that presumably had issues) it let me open the PSD files normally and use Manage Missing fonts, but only one file had issues with this and I needed to do everything manually. This outlier file had more smart objects than the others so perhaps that was a factor. 
• In either case, is there an error message that pops up? 
  In all cases a dialog does appear, but when the errant font was installed it wouldn't open Photoshop, sadly I don't recall if there were any error codes. 
• I HAVE seen a case recently (that we have a bug open on) where a file created on Win and opened on Mac had a missing font that the Manage Missing Fonts dialog couldn't resolve. When I would try to edit the text, it was popping a message saying: "Could not use the type tool beacuse the following fonts are missing for text layer..." Is THAT what you're running into? This wasn't the issue, I just couldn't open the file at all to change the font while that "issue font" was active in Windows. Also, this file was never opened on a Mac (or by any other computer but my own. It was created and always opened on Windows 10 64 bit. That said, it was opening it from a network drive if that is a factor.
• In any event, it would be immensely helpful for us to take a look at the problematic file. Do you still have the old version of the file around? If so, could you upload it here? If not, even the new version of the file might be helpful in trying to recreate the problem for us. I wish I kep the file/font but I didn't, I just needed to get the project done. If it helps, the font had a different name from the Google font I recently downloaded. It came in as "ArchivoRoman Regular, Bold, ExtraBold etc." It seemed like the font name changed at some point on my system which was probably part of the "corruption". When I downloaded the new file "Roman" was not in the name. 
• I appreciate you looking into this and your quick response. I do wish I had more information for you as I know how frustrating not having all the assets to test can be. I will say, I've never had a problem with Photoshop before like this so it was a jaw dropping moment LOL. 

[eric_floch]

Hey Peter:

The file not opening Photoshop when you double-click it is an interesting behavior I haven't run into before. Normally, when you open a file with missing fonts by double-clicking in Finder/Windows Explorer, it'll launch PS and open the file. So that's a strange one.

As far as the disappearing fonts on open, we DO have an existing bug (related to content copy & pasted from Illustrator) where Type layers can disappear. Our team thinks it's related to a foundational compositing component called CompCore.

If you ever run into this issue again with another file, you might try turning off comp_core_gpu under Preferences > Technology Previews and see if that makes any difference. If that happens, please post here and let us know what's going on.

Also, if one of the folks you were working with still has the problematic file, I would love the chance to take a look at it.

Otherwise, I'm glad you're working again. So sorry you hit such a huge speedbump with Photoshop. Please reach out if you have any new information. Thanks!

-Eric Floch

Photoshop Senior Quality Engineer

[SamuelPaulSkillington]

Hi eric,

I am experiencing a similar issue. I try and open a psd file I was working on yesterday that has several artboards set up. When I try to open it from within photoshop or double click on the file itself I get this error - "selected font failed during last operation. If problem persists please disable font".

One problem is I don't know which font it is refering to so at all. I've put many hours work into those art boards.