Fonts without file extension, install on Windows?

I have received a folder of fonts which I need to install on Windows. The problem is, they do not have file extensions. For each font there are two files. One of those two gives some info when opened in WordPad. On a Mac, opening up this folder shows the fonts immediately and gives the option to install. But I need them on a PC where I have Illustrator CS3.

Here is one of the font file pairs to show as an example:

File 1:

Name: ._GothaBla

Extension: None

Size: 35 KB

WordPad output: %!PS-AdobeFont-1.0: Gotham-Black 001.00

%CreationDate: 03/31/03 5:09:15 pm

And a bunch more information/gibberish.

File 2:

Name: GothaBla

Extension: None

Size: 0 KB

WordPad output: None

My question is, what are these files, and can I install them on my Windows Vista machine to use in Illustrator CS3?

Thanks!

Solution 1:

I downloaded the trial version of CrossFont – that did the trick.

I only had to open the folder with the .-FontName files add the output folder and convert them one by one.

In this solution there's no need to rename any of the files.

Solution 2:

This is a Mac OS 9 style font file that stored all font information in the resource fork of the file, that appears as a dot-underscore file when moved to Windows.

It is identified as a PostScript font by the file header, and you might be able to rename the file to .pfb or .otf, but it's not guaranteed to work without conversion.

Solution 3:

Looks like you have PostScript fonts (based on having two files, plus the "PS-AdobeFont" tag)

The two files should have the extensions .PFM and .PFB

Windows has had support for PS v1 fonts since Windows 2000, so you should just be able to install them via the regular font install method(s).

For Vista:

1. Select “Control Panel” from the Start menu
2. Select “Appearance and Personalization.”
3. Select “Fonts.”
4. In the Fonts window, Right Click in the list of fonts and choose “Install New Font.”
5. Navigate to the folder that contains the fonts you want to install.
6. Select the fonts you want to install. You can click to select one font, Control-click to select several fonts, or Shift-click to select a contiguous group of fonts.
7. Press the “OK” button to install the fonts.
8. Close the Fonts control panel when you are finished.
9. The fonts are now installed and will appear in the font menus of your applications.

More info available at Adobe's site.

Solution 4:

If there are two files it is a postscript font rather than TrueType or OpenType.

The only way to use Postscript fonts designed for the Mac on a PC is to either purchase the PC equivalent font or use a utility like Fontographer to convert the files to Windows compatible fonts.

No amount of file renaming will change the fact that they just won't work on a Windows box as is. The opposite is true also. You cannot install Windows PostScript fonts on a Mac and have them work.