Installing Fonts into Macintosh™ systems

Minimum System Requirements

Macintosh OS X required (Mac OS 9 not supported)

Note: Ascender can only provide customer support only to users of current operating systems and applications. If you have an older system you may need additional software, such as Adobe Type Manager (ATM) 4.6, or may not have access to extended features of the font.

Uncompressing a font

All fonts downloaded from Ascender are in a compressed format. You first need to uncompress the files before installation. Simply double-click on the .zip or .sit file to uncompress it. We recommend that you save the uncompressed file to your desktop. If this does not work you will need to get a free utility to unzip the files, such as WinZip or StuffItExpander. Note: On certain Macintosh systems the download package with be automatically uncompressed.

About Font Formats

If you have any questions about OpenType, TrueType, PostScript ® or Type 1 font formats, read more on font formats.

Macintosh OS X

1. Before installing any new fonts you should quit all open applications.

2. Double-click on a font in the Finder. This will open Font Book and you will see a preview of the font.

3. Click Install Font. The font is automatically installed in the Library folder of your home folder.

4. To make the font available to all users of the computer, drag it to the Computer folder in the Collection column of Font Book.

Macintosh OS X - "Classic" environment

If you have an older version of Mac OS X, or want to install fonts for use in Classic mode applications, you can simply drag and drop your new fonts into the Macintosh system Fonts folder. You will want to open two folders: the folder with your new fonts and the system fonts folder.

Note: For OpenType-PostScript ® (.OTF) fonts in Classic mode, you will first need to download and install Adobe Type Manager (ATM). The free ATM Light software can be found here.

1. Before installing any new fonts you should quit all open applications.

2. Open the folder with your new OpenType fonts.

3. Go to the Finder, on the desktop open the Macintosh Hard Disk.

4. Open the System Fonts folder (with the 9 icon).

5. Select your new OpenType font files, then drag them to the Fonts Folder. (the fonts must be loose and not in a subfolder)

Mac OS X Notes:

- You can also install fonts into the Library/Fonts folder for use in OS X applications (you must be logged in as an "Administrator" to place fonts in this location).

- If you have a large library of fonts you may want to explore the use of a font management utility to help you organize and manage your fonts.