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I have downloaded some fonts and installed them by double-clicking to open them, then clicking "Install font". Word and other Windows programs can see them, but GIMP does not list them in the text tool. Why is this?

These are TrueType fonts (packaged in .ttf files). I'm using Gimp 2.8.2

Yamikuronue
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7 Answers7

31

I am also using Win10, and here's a better solution.

In Gimp 2.8.22:

  1. Go to EDIT --> PREFERENCES --> FOLDERS (expand this) --> FONTS
  2. Click on FONTS
  3. On the right side of the window it will display FONT FOLDERS
  4. Add your C:\Windows\FONTS folder using the ADD button (icon on the left that looks like a page), and select the folder (open folder icon on the right)
  5. Press OK, etc. until all the windows are closed
  6. Exit out of GIMP and restart the application (this is what I did)

Now, you need to add all these FONTS to your toolbox.

  1. Click on the Tool options triangle at the upper right
  2. ADD TAB (expand)
  3. Select FONTS

Check out an image of these menus expanded HERE.

Now all your system fonts should be visible and available for use.

random
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RichieMN
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    Windows lets you install fonts on a per-user basis. This is the default if you click on "Install" in the font viewer, and fonts installed this way aren't stored in the main Windows font folder. To have Gimp use these fonts, also add the "C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts\" folder in step 4. To install a font for all users, right-click the font file and select "Install for all users". – GatesDA Jan 22 '19 at 19:43
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    One of two additional things were required for me after clearing cache folder: delete one folder listed in Gimp Font Folder page that didn't exist (marked red circle) or copy the fonts from Windows font folder to /Users/[username]/.gimp-2.8/fonts/ folder. I did both then it worked finally. – Steve Seeger Mar 26 '19 at 19:00
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    @GatesDA This was the only solution that actually worked. It deserves its own answer. Shame the question was locked. – user1132363 Mar 27 '19 at 08:28
  • Thanks for letting me know, and glad that it helped! – RichieMN Mar 27 '19 at 19:28
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    For me gimp errored when loading some of the windows fonts, unfortunately the font I needed was after the error, so I moved my fonts from the windows folder to the gimp roaming folder and it worked – Max Carroll Sep 14 '19 at 11:45
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    @GatesDA of course! I feel like such a dummy right now. Though would it be too much to expect GIMP to look there by default? – Bob says reinstate Monica Jan 16 '20 at 18:05
  • @GatesDA - This is the definitive answer. Thank you – Ray Mitchell Nov 07 '20 at 01:31
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After checking a few similar posts elsewhere, it is usually fixed by clearing the font cache of GIMP. Although for some people even that does not work, and the case remains unsolved.

To clear the cache, browse to:
- XP and older:
Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Temp\fontconfig\cache
- Vista and newer:
Users\[username]\AppData\Local\fontconfig\cache

And delete the files there.

http://www.gimptalk.com/index.php?/topic/29683-font-loaded-not-showing-in-gimp-windows/
http://www.gimpchat.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6615
http://gimper.net/viewtopic.php?t=644

Juha Untinen
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  • I can't go to that folder, it says access denied. Google reveals that "C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp" should be the same, but I don't see a fontconfig folder there. – Yamikuronue Aug 28 '13 at 12:07
  • You probably need to login as admin – Juha Untinen Aug 28 '13 at 12:08
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    I found a "C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\fontconfig\cache"? Is that the same? – Yamikuronue Aug 28 '13 at 12:11
  • Apparently it is, since deleting the files there worked. So yay. – Yamikuronue Aug 28 '13 at 12:14
  • `Documents and Settings` was renamed to `Users` in Windows Vista and Windows 7. @Yamikuronue. (Actually, [apparently](http://4sysops.com/archives/documents-and-settings-in-vista/) it was split out into two folders: `Users` and `ProgramData`.) – TRiG Aug 28 '13 at 12:47
  • Instead of pointing the different paths in different versions of Windows, just go to `%LOCALAPPDATA%\fontconfig\cache` and you will find the right folder. – Diego Queiroz Apr 14 '18 at 04:05
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    On Windows 10 Enterprise 1709 64-bit, the cache was in `%UserProfile%\.cache\fontconfig`. Deleted it, restarted gimp and it reappeared as soon as gimp loaded. Had a `.cache-7` extension. – EchoLynx Jul 22 '19 at 21:20
  • The path to the cache seems to be set in `%ProgramFiles%\GIMP 2\etc\fonts\fonts.conf` under `` – EchoLynx Jul 23 '19 at 14:39
  • @EchoLynx is correct, the accepted should be updated. – bers Jun 02 '20 at 08:54
  • Found mine in `%localappdata%\fontconfig\cache` but it didn't help reloading fonts I had installed in `C:\Windows\Fonts` – so_ Aug 19 '20 at 18:37
12

On Windows 10 I had to copy TTF file in C:\Program Files\GIMP 2\share\gimp\2.0\fonts

Vladimir Pekez
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  • Thanks - that was what I needed. I was going nuts as to why it wouldn't see thew new font! On the old version it worked by just adding to the overall windows fonts. – Andrew Newby Apr 29 '19 at 06:44
3

I'm using GIMP 2.8 on Windows 10, and I tried the currently accepted answer from Juha. While GIMP did rebuild its font cache when I reloaded the program, the fonts I wanted were still not available.

In the end, I had to copy the .ttf files to C:\Users\[username]\.gimp-2.8\fonts

HorusKol
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2

In Windows, if you install a font by just double-clicking it and then choosing install...

enter image description here

... it will install it for the current user only.

GIMP however only sees fonts that are installed "For all users".

To install a font for all users, right-click the font, then select "Install for all users":

enter image description here

tmighty
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0

TLDR: C:\Windows\Fonts is not a real folder. It's simulates a folder, and using it as the GIMP location will not work. The quickest solution is simply to copy this folder over to another location and use that secondary location, i.e., C:\Windows\Real-Fonts. Doing this, and then the Preferences->Folders->Font folder location, and then restarting, solved the problem for me.

Reasons I have for believing C:\Windows\Fonts is not a real folder:

  • The display mode (which is excellent for reviewing fonts) displays the actual font, which is not an option for display in any other folder on your OS.
  • Dragging and dropping a file into this folder initiates an OS admin install prompt for installing the font into the OS. (Dragging files elsewhere in Windows does not prompt OS updates.)
  • And, of course, the reason for the original post: Using the C:\Windows\Fonts folder in Gimp will not allow Gimp to see the files there, because it's not a real folder.
HoldOffHunger
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  • Do you have evidence that adding this folder won't work? Like can you take screenshots or something showing the process? I have changed computers three or four times since I posted this, so it's possible things may have changed since I accepted the answer. – Yamikuronue Apr 17 '23 at 15:07
  • @Yamikuronue: Hey hey. My evidence is that I had this problem and I did this and it solved the problem entirely. I get that my karma is low here, but it's high on SO: https://stackoverflow.com/users/2430549/holdoffhunger But anyway, what would screenshots solve? Screenshot1: My Font folder, Screenshot2: Those fonts available in gimp. That wouldn't convince me personally. I'm just giving my 2-second solution, not trying to take your acceptance vote. – HoldOffHunger May 02 '23 at 02:30
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You need to add all font locations. For instance, if you downloaded a font, and it's in the download section, simply installing it through windows will not be sufficient. You also need to add the folder the .tff file is located in. Hence why some people are just moving fonts to gimp\2.0\fonts instead.

The Hyper Sloth
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