WTF? Mac OSX: Flash CS3 Font Install Issues

Filed under Flash by Chad | 20 comments

So, Flash CS3 on a Mac requires you to logout and log back in in order to use a newly installed font… Why? Am I on crack here? I tried installing some fonts with Font Book yesterday and finally needed to completely logout of my user session before Flash saw them. I thought was strange and maybe a fluke, but no same thing this morning.

What’s the deal? Illustrator and Photoshop seem to have no problems with this. Why Flash, why?

Posted on May 14, 2007

20 comments

1. Steph Nov 19

   I can install fonts on other macs and use them fine in Flash CS3, but when I attempt to do this on my home mac, it will not allow me to use the font. I have installed like three times, and tried logging out or shutting down before attempting to use the font in Flash, but still nothing works.

   I wish Adobe didn’t outsource their customer service to India.

2. Jules Jan 20

   Hi Chad and Steph,

   I have the same problem with my mac. The font I’ve installed and would like to use works in PS but not in Flash. Very frustrating… any help?

3. Jesse Jun 4

   I’m having the same problem with Windows XP as well. It shows up in PS, but not Flash and both are CS3… so frustrating.

   Dugg by the way

4. Fernando Jun 10

   Yep, i´m having the same problem .. i need to use the types on Flash. I copied the files to all the “Font” folders and nothing seems to work.
   HELPPPP!!!!

5. Glen Jun 26

   Try installing the font for ‘computer’ instead of ‘user’. You can change this in Font Book’s preferences. This puts the font into the /Library/Fonts folder instead of ~/Library/Fonts folder.

6. Michelle Jul 9

   I realize this is probably an old post that I’m reviving, but I came across it today in my research on this issue.

   I’m using a MacBook provided by my company and after reading Glen’s reply above about make sure the fonts are in the /Library/Fonts folder, I had my IT people install all of my fonts there instead of in my User folder. (IT has us locked down from the root info without Admin privileges.)

   All of my fonts are in the root now but still many of them will not show up in Flash CS3. They work fine in PS CS3, ILL CS3 and ID CS3 - but now I need them in Flash.

   Any thoughts or further resources I can hit up about this?

   Thanks so much!

7. Chad Jul 9

   Michelle,
   You may want to try rebooting, and also try using a tool like Onyx to clean any application caches if that doesn’t work.

8. Michelle Jul 9

   I’ve rebooted several times to no avail. I’ll have to look into Onyx and see if our IT department will be willing to do anything with it (they’re rather stingy ).

   Thanks so much for such a quick response!

9. Nikita Aug 7

   Hi there,
   I’ve go the same problem as anyone with reading fonts in Flash CS3.
   Have anybody resolved this issue, please?

10. hei Aug 22

    hi there,
    i had the same problem.
    but I have found the font now.
    I installed a font called VAG Rounded.
    but it is now called “B VAG Rounded” for bold.
    and “L VAG Rounded” for light version.
    hope it helps

11. Panagiotis Spiliotis Sep 9

    Problem solved!
    I had the same problem on mac osx leopard with flash cs3 installed.
    There seems to be an issue with the font cache especially if there is a large amount of fonts installed on the system.
    I installed FONT NUKE in order to clear every font cache it could find. After the required restart the font I wanted finaly showed up in flash cs3.

12. chase Sep 18

    Here’s how I got it to work (basically same as previous replies):

    • used linotype font explorer to clear application cache, and to clear system cache.
    • reboot
    • re-activate fonts needed
    • log out… log back in… and maybe flash will see the fonts.

    if there’s still a prob. Use Fontbook and install the fonts, activate, and then log out and back in. and then open flash again.

    Terribly frustrating.

13. Skoolbus Nov 6

    hey guys,,,,

    Solution… you need to convert your OpenType to Postscript for Flash CS3 to see. You can do this by using the program called Transtype… I use it daily. I’m 100% it works, if it doesn’t for you, read the manual.

    OpenType has many variations that Flash cannot see. So separating them out as Postscript 1 files is the way to go.

    Also, for newbies, if you get a Postscript from another platform than then one you’re using (i.e. Mac to PC or PC to Mac). The origin of the files need to be zipped. Then you could use CrossFont to convert the files.

    Good Luck!

14. orionblu Nov 12

    i don’t have a solution to all the issues, but…
    I couldn’t see all the fonts in Flash/Fireworks CS3 on mac osx 10.5.5. I moved them from library>fonts to library>application support>adobe>fonts. All fonts now appear in Flash/Fireworks - but now they don’t all show in Illustrator/Photoshop CS3 (they did before the move). Would be nice to see some more font xplorer support for this stuff, though it’s a great program.

15. rdstudios Jan 21

    You need to load your fonts in the computer font folder, not the user font folder. This is why you cannot see them in Flash. Once you move them into the computer font folder, you will see them.

16. erik Jan 26

    well i had the same exact problem until today… it was driving me crazy, i restar de computer, uninstall and reinstall flash, same with the fonts and nothing for a long time!!!

    FONT NUKE did the trick!!! great

17. B Apr 1

    I had the same problem getting fonts to appear in Flash CS3 in mac os 10.5.6, even after using FontBook to add fonts to “Computer” account. I ran Font Nuke and the problem was solved!

18. Jeremy Jun 8

    Found this thread after having this problem. I’m managing fonts w/ Font Explorer X on OS 10.4.11.

    I tried:

    * Clearing system and application font caches from within Font Explorer. Nope.
    * Moving Font Explorer library to system library rather than user library. Nope.
    * Viewing font conflicts … hmm. Finally found a way to remove a bunch of duplicates - sweet! Along the way, I noticed that the font I was looking for was missing its printer-font files. Once I resolved that issue & restarted Flash - boom! It worked. Huzzah. In Font Explorer: View -> Show Conflicts. At bottom of page, select “Conflict: fonts with missing printer-font files”.

    Hope this helps someone.

19. banner generator Jun 13

    I have the same problem with fonts. It is very frustrating. Any solutions yet?

20. Tim Jun 18

    Font Explorer did the trick for me on Flash CS4 with a restart! Major thanx for the people above who shared some really helpful advice!

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