I wrote a post a few months ago about using SkyFonts to install new fonts in Inkscape, a freeware graphic design package that is a great substitute for Adobe Illustrator and Corel Draw.
When a client was asked me about this, I directed them to my original post, only to discover that those instructions no longer work. Typical!
The question then, is how to solve this persistent issue with Inkscape when the SkyFonts (which I find has become unreliable and unstable) workaround doesn’t work?
The new solution involves nothing more complicated (on Windows) than installing them in the standard fonts directory (C:WindowsFonts) but it also seems that in some cases this also fails to work.
In my client’s case, it was because the fonts were not installed for all users.
This means when you have downloaded a font, instead of double-clicking then clicking Install you have to right-click and choose Install for all users instead.
Fine, but my client didn’t have this option!
If this is the situation you find yourself in, here are instructions for adding new fonts that will be read by Inkscape (and Gimp). If they work for you (or if they don’t!), drop a comment below.
Step 1: Download and unzip your new font files.
When you download a new font, it usually comes as a zip file. Download the zip files then extract all the files.
Step 2: Install the fonts.
2.1. Navigate to the folder containing the new font files. These will usually be in TTF format
2.2. Select all the files, then right-click and click Install.
If you see a shield icon next to the Install instruction you will be installing it as an administrator and the font will installed for all users by default.
If you do not see this option, try holding Shift when you right-click, the choose Install for all users. As above, you should then see the shield icon next to this instruction.
Finally, if this doesn’t work, move the fonts folder you created to somewhere on your C drive (I suggest C:Temp) and then repeat this step. This will remove the fonts from what may be a user-specific directory.
Step 3: Open Inkscape and use your new font!
If you had Inkscape open, close it, then launch it again. Your new fonts should be listed.
If you’ve not heard of this software before, it’s worth a look. You can download Inkscape from here and Gimp (like Photoshop but without the price tag) here.
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