topic AC12 MAC problem with Fonts in Installation & update

AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:03:26 GMT

Hi,

I'm on AC12 on several macs in a work environment. Our problem is, we always used the font called Tahoma on PC with Archicad. This font contains letters for the hungarian language too. (eg: éáőp...)
I've read on this forum that if I install the tahoma true type font into the Mac HD:library:fonts and restart the machine, AC 12 should see the font....

I've tried and checked everithing but the tahoma true type font will not appear in the list in AC.

Please help It's very important.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Eduardo Rolon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:14:27 GMT

"Mac HD:library:fonts" is one location were Fonts reside in Mac OS, this is not your user folder and that is the reason why it does not show up.

You should have installed the font using the Font Book application, dropping the font in the folder does not means that it is installed correctly. Either open Font Book and select "File -> Add Fonts" or Double click the Font file and Font book should Open and let you import it.

BTW Tahoma is a Microsoft font that is usually distributed with MS Office, if you don't have Office or a License of Windows you might not be licensed to use it.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Thomas Holm — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:27:43 GMT

In addition to what Eduardo says, you might have to use some utility to clear OSX's font caches. Font Cache Cleaner, or OnyX will do it.

Then use Disk Utility to Repair permissions.

AppleJack is another good utility that can fix various issues.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:57:40 GMT

Thank you, I've intalled the font via Fontbook checked it It's up and running in iWork and in Office for mac 2008 too. But it is not showing up in AC yet. Downloading fontcache cleaner atm.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:08:44 GMT

Cleared up the cache files all of them.. restarted even twice. Tahoma is ok in office and iwork and in fontbbok but still nothing in ac

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Eduardo Rolon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:19:06 GMT

PulaiG,

You are correct, mine does not show within AC though it is available to other software. I am at a loss here, nothing on the Wiki either.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:43:51 GMT

I'ce installed the font Tahoma on my mac mini right now and Ac is recognising the font. The font file is located ONLY at Macintosh HD:Users:....:Library:Fonts folder. It is recognised by all the applications and Fontobook too. The question is, HOW CAN THIS BE??? The same thing is on my mac pro and macbook pro but i can not see the font in ac there.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:02:56 GMT

Hey, has anyone solved this yet?? I have the exact same problem. I use Tahoma for everything, every program on my Mac can use this font except this product. This is a real problem for me. Since purchasing AC 6 years ago, all of my templates and projects use Tahoma and all previous versions of ArchiCAD never had a problem with it. have been blaming companies of some of my add-ons, but after installing AC12 on a clean Mac, I see the problem is Graphisoft. I have used Font Cache Cleaner and OnyX, but they do not work -- because Mac is not the problem!

This is what I have found:
I took my Mac to an Apple Store and they noticed that AC12 is recreating a new file every time it opens called "cadi_FontsPool.txt". It places that file in "Applications:Graphisoft:ArchiCAD 12:ArchiCAD Data Folder". That file becomes the font override for the entire program -- NOT your loaded fonts or their location on your HD. This file is the new source file AC12's fonts. I have tried deleting it, overriding it, locking it so it cannot be altered, but AC either overrides it or struggles to work unless this file is created every time upon opening and used by AC. My problem is Tahoma, but this is not the only file that AC12 will not recognize when it creates "cadi_FontsPool.txt".

Someone at Graphisoft needs to fix this ASAP! Someone please help.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Rod Jurich — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:53:12 GMT

SmileyMan wrote:
/........"cadi_FontsPool.txt". /...

Smiley, do you have any Cadimage software loaded?
I am almost certain that it is a file they create, along with different
fills/lines/zone categories etc.
I doubt very much GS has any control over this annoying practice
by 3rd party developers.

You can have Tahoma in AC.
You just need to move the font in Font Book to your USER folder.

-o0o-

Just tested to see what, if any files as you describe, are created in
the ArchiCAD Data Folder and there was not.

All my Cadimage software is presently not loaded!!

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:05:53 GMT

Yes, I had some CadImage software loaded. But that is not it. I uninstalled everything AC related -- all add-ons included -- back to a native Mac with Leopard.

Unfortunately I still have font problems. In the process I found that the cadi_FontsPool.txt file is not the issue. You were right to suggest that it is a CadImage file, but the problem still exists when AC12 is installed without any add-ons or 3rd party software.

I have been on the phone with Graphisoft most of the day, have been on the phone with Apple, and spent time with their techs in the Apple Store. I have also had help from CadImage Solutions, who have been very helpful. We can recreate the problem by just installing the product for the first time on a new Mac with Leopard. Interestingly the problem does not happen every time, but it does happen. The best suggestion came from a flippant ending comment by an Apple technician, who happens to create fonts for his graphic design business on the side. Apparently Apple significantly changed how they cache font files in 10.5. Since AC12 was created initially for and works seamlessly with Tiger 10.4, this does not mean they took the time to properly update and identify the subtle operating system changes new in Leopard 10.5.

To some degree, this is making sense. I have no problem with AC12 on my Tiger computer, but I do on Leopard. CadImage Solutions found similar problems. For the computers where there was not an immediate problem upon install on Leopard, the problem seemed to still exist, but be lying dormant until a 'trigger'... either an AC12 update, goodies added, or 3rd party software.

I am still in talks with Graphisoft and will post any further information when I get it.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Ralph Wessel — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:16:46 GMT

SmileyMan wrote:
Yes, I had some CadImage software loaded. But that is not it. I uninstalled everything AC related -- all add-ons included -- back to a native Mac with Leopard.

I think you're right to conclude that this arose from a change in Leopard. If ArchiCAD doesn't pick up all the fonts, neither will 3rd party software such as CADImage's. The fact that it is missing from their list is just another symptom, not the cause.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:24:21 GMT

Thanks Ralph. Well put. And the thing is, I am not asking for the program to read some ridiculously crazy font. When I first purchased and installed AC six years ago, Tahoma was the default font! EVERYTHING I have done for the last 6 years (templates, projects, objects, favorites, dims, modules, etc.) has been done with their original default font.... which now does not work! I have also taken Rod's suggestion and put the font in all Font Folders on the computer -- nothing! This is a huge problem for me. I am trying like hell to upgrade all my equipment and software, only to find that Graphisoft did not properly test their product on the new operating system.... which looks like it will move to "Snow Leopard" (or 10.6) by January '10. I am very frustrated and still stuck on my old system. If anyone has an "in" with someone at Graphisoft, I would appreciate some help.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:39:44 GMT

Okay! The Graphisoft tech support guy called a couple hours ago and noticed something by accident. On some computers he was having a problem, on others he was not. For whatever reason, he noticed that Tahoma (and some others that would not show) are Windows based fonts. The computers where Tahoma was showing up had MS Office installed and the ones with font problems did not!! This was also the difference between my two computers, too. Since I never use MS Office, I decided not to install it on my new system. However after installing it on my new computer, ALL of my fonts are now available!! Unbelievable!!

If anyone else is having a problem with fonts, try installing MS Office. That should make them ALL available.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Eduardo Rolon — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:41:29 GMT

I have MS Office installed in the system and it does not show.
- Copied the font to my User folder and logged out, does not show either.
- My version of Office is X running in rosetta.

I think that a reinstall of Office and a restart might do the trick.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Rod Jurich — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:41:37 GMT

SmileyMan wrote:
/........ I have also taken Rod's suggestion and put the font in all Font Folders on the computer -- nothing! /.....

Smiley, look again at my screen shot. It needs to be in your USER collection in Font Book.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Anonymous — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:12:49 GMT

Rod, I DID that and it did not work! After installing MS Office, everything has worked perfect.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Greg Kmethy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:19:19 GMT

The Tahoma.ttf that comes with your Mac in default is a windows true type font which ArchiCAD can not handle. Office for Mac installs another Tahoma font which ArchiCAD can use. (It sits in /Library/Fonts/Microsoft). If you copy this font to a machine not having MS Office, Tahoma *might* start working correctly in ArchiCAD. On my Mac it does, but on some machines the 'old' Tahoma still wins. In this case the sure way to get Tahoma working is to delete the original Tahoma font, which is redundant anyway. To be perfectly honest, I was not able to figure out the logic how one or the other takes precedence over the other. There are three locations you can keep fonts (Library/Fonts, System/Library/Fonts, and Userhome/Library/Fonts) but it did not seem to matter where the font files are located. ArchiCAD checks all three of them.

Greg

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Thomas Holm — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:23:54 GMT

gkmethy wrote:
The Tahoma.ttf that comes with your Mac in default is a windows true type font which ArchiCAD can not handle.

Greg, please elaborate a little on this.
- Is this a problem regarding this specific Tahoma edition, or is it something concerning all Windows TTF fonts?
I'm asking because I tend to use some other windows ttf fonts on our Macs, and we haven't had issues with them AFAIK.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Greg Kmethy — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:39:54 GMT

This problem is probably not Tahoma-specific but neither does it apply to all windows-fonts.

The technical background is that the Tahoma font provided by Apple as part of the standard installation does not have a mac-format "font names table" in it. In other words, it is a purely Windows-format font. Some text engines can still use it, so you might be able to use such fonts in some applications but not in others. The Tahoma font suitcase provided by Microsoft for Office does have the mac-style font names table, therefore ArchiCAD can recognize it. Many other fonts on Windows are also compatible with ArchiCAD on Mac. Really the only way to find out is trying.

Re: AC12 MAC problem with Fonts

Thomas Holm — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 15:18:43 GMT

Thanks Greg for that info!

All I can add is that all .ttf Windows fonts I have tried up to now (since 2002 or something) have worked in MacOSX as well. No experience with Tahoma, though.