downloaded .afm font from adobe store .. cannot install ???

Hi guys

I purchased helvetica light bold from the adobe store and made sure that I chose the mac font option and after I unzipped the folder it was in a .afm format which I cannot seem to use?

I use Linotype font manager and it tells me there is no usable info in the file?

Pls. help

Corey

corey,

It sounds like you purchased a Type 1 font, not the cross-platform OpenType. AFM (font metric) files are not used by Macintosh for most applications. You do not need to install them. You do need to locate and install the bitmap and printer fonts.

Neil

If that doesn't help... what are the complete contents of the ZIP
file?

Aandi Inston

HelveNarBol.AFM

this is the name of the file .. there is a link to supposed directions that say:

Mac OS X has native support for Type 1 and OpenType fonts, which can be installed just like other font type on OS X. However, fonts installed in OS X system locations are not available to “Classic” applications (see section below). Fonts installed in the OS X native environment can be accessed by (a) any user or (b) just by an individual user.

Only I dont know why I cannot copy and paste or drage the files and have them work....?

An AFM font alone is not a complete font. It is only the metrics, an ASCII file (you can open it in a text editor) that shows the width, kerning, and some other information on the font. There are two other font files that Type 1 fonts use. In the PC world, one is pfm and the other is pfb, if I remember correctly. You need both of these, and not the afm one at all, if you want the font to work. I can't remember the Mac situation, but I seem to remember it also needed two files.

Don,

Macs only need the printer font(s) and at least one size of the bitmap font. They do not use AFM files (font metrics/true of almost all applications) and there are no "pfm" or "pfb" files.

Neil

I remembered the need for two things ... printer and bitmap ... just couldn't place what they were. My brain kept gong back to resource and data forks, from the old Mac OS, but I understand that is all history now.