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I do a lot of custom text (true type fonts) and importing of images and I'm having a problem with the TrueType fonts.
2 CommentsSorted by Oldest First
I did enjoy working with FAB 3000 however, I do a lot of custom text (true type fonts) and importing of images. The image importing seemed to work OK but the text seemed to give me trouble no matter what I tried. I did speak with a support person about this early on but it never seemed to work correctly. I could place as much text as I wanted within one session but as soon as I would close the project or close the program and then reopen it later all the text that I had previously placed would turn into rectangle outlines of the text boxes.
FAB 3000 is a gerber editor, and since the "gerber format" doesn't directly support TrueType fonts, FAB 3000 must break down those fancy curves and details defined in TrueType fonts into simple X, Y coordinates along with spacing.
Whenever FAB 3000 comes across a TrueType font that is not part of the standard 64 default fonts (like Arial, TimesNewRoman, etc.), FAB 3000 will create & compile it's own unique font file (*.fnt) - which contains all the X,Y coordinates & spacing used to properly place your truetype fonts inside FAB 3000.
If after saving your Workspace, and then re-opening the fonts appear as square blocks means that FAB 3000 was unable to save it's newly created font files (*.fnt) on your computer. Typically FAB 3000 stores this data in your "<Roaming Folder>/Numerical Innovations/FAB 3000V5/fonts".
There are two simple solutions:
1. This is most commonly caused by Windows Vista or higher not granting FAB 3000 permission to store information in the Roaming folder (due to User Privileges, etc.). To resolve the problem, when starting FAB 3000 - right click over the Icon and choose "Run as Administrator" and this will allow FAB 3000 to save it's font files in the Roaming Folder.
2. Another solution is to change the location of the <Roaming Folder> to some other folder that you have write permission -- Such as MyDocuments/FAB 3000. To change this create the new folder, and the go to FAB 3000 menu: Setup | Preferences..., click option "App Data Folder", and choose that new folder location.
As always feel free to send any sample workspace that isn't loading correctly: support@numericalinnovations.com , and we can instantly determine the problem.
FAB 3000 is a gerber editor, and since the "gerber format" doesn't directly support TrueType fonts, FAB 3000 must break down those fancy curves and details defined in TrueType fonts into simple X, Y coordinates along with spacing.
Whenever FAB 3000 comes across a TrueType font that is not part of the standard 64 default fonts (like Arial, TimesNewRoman, etc.), FAB 3000 will create & compile it's own unique font file (*.fnt) - which contains all the X,Y coordinates & spacing used to properly place your truetype fonts inside FAB 3000.
If after saving your Workspace, and then re-opening the fonts appear as square blocks means that FAB 3000 was unable to save it's newly created font files (*.fnt) on your computer. Typically FAB 3000 stores this data in your "<Roaming Folder>/Numerical Innovations/FAB 3000V5/fonts".
There are two simple solutions:
1. This is most commonly caused by Windows Vista or higher not granting FAB 3000 permission to store information in the Roaming folder (due to User Privileges, etc.). To resolve the problem, when starting FAB 3000 - right click over the Icon and choose "Run as Administrator" and this will allow FAB 3000 to save it's font files in the Roaming Folder.
2. Another solution is to change the location of the <Roaming Folder> to some other folder that you have write permission -- Such as MyDocuments/FAB 3000. To change this create the new folder, and the go to FAB 3000 menu: Setup | Preferences..., click option "App Data Folder", and choose that new folder location.
As always feel free to send any sample workspace that isn't loading correctly: support@numericalinnovations.com , and we can instantly determine the problem.
Interesting. What is the default location of the <Roaming folder>? I would like to check and see if there is anything there. I am using XP so the "Run as Administrator" solution wouldn't be likely. Just out of curiosity, what are the 64 standard fonts? Do you have a list?
For Windows XP it may be somewhere different other than the roaming folder, to determine the location of the Fonts folder, start FAB 3000 and go to menu: Setup | Preferences... , and view the option "App Data Folder". Then go to the child folder named "fonts", and it will display the default fonts.
Note: One other suggestion is, if you know you're going to be using certain fonts to can Compile them (i.e. convert to Vector font *.fnt) in advance. Start FAB 3000 and goto menu: Help | Compile TrueType Fonts...
Then when you check inside the FAB 3000 fonts folder you should now and extra font file (*.fnt).
Note: If there is any problem feel free to send us support@numericalinnovations.com any sample font or
workspace, and I'll be happy to take a look for you.
Numerical Support Team