Fixing Font Issues in CAD

• Important definitions for this page
• "Error creating text style" error message
• Text spilling out and around box/font area
• Fix corrupt fonts
  • Fix #1: Edit the Registry listing for the problem font, and reboot the computer
  • Fix #2: Delete corrupt versions of the problem font
• Font not showing up in your drawing, or error messages "Font file does not exist" / "Font file not installed" / "Bad argument: consp nil"
• SHX fonts behaving strangely or disappearing
• Fonts are coming in italicized (and you don't want them to)
• Text Manager does not allow you to add a new font
• Related Webinars

Are your fonts not showing up or not displaying properly in AutoCAD? Having TrueType font problems? Here are the solutions to a few common issues you might face with your AutoCAD texts and fonts.

Important definitions for this page

Text Styles: Our software includes several default Text Styles. Each Text Style is applied automatically when you place text in a drawing using one of our tools. (Many of our Text Styles apply to several Land F/X tools.) For example, the Schedule Text style controls the text within your Plant Schedules, Irrigation Schedules, Reference Notes Schedules, etc. You can configure these Text styles to use your chosen font, point size, and other custom settings.

 

Fonts: A font is a unified set of characteristics applied to letters, numbers, and other characters. Well-known fonts include Arial, Helvetica, and Courier. In the context of our software, a "font" is one of several settings that you can apply to a Text Style. So if you want your schedule text to appear in Arial, you would assign the Arial font to your Schedule Text style.

"Error creating text style" error messages

You might see an error message that begins with "Error creating text style" and includes the name of a font.

 

 

 

For the solution to this error, see our Error creating text style: Font file not installed article.

Text spilling out and around box/font area

Text that's spilling outside a text box (such as a callout box) usually results from a problem defining the Land F/X Text Style that's assigned to that particular usage of text in your drawing.

 

For example, if you see text spilling out and around the text box of a plant label, you'll want to check the settings for CALLOUT LIGHT, which is the Text Style assigned to plant labels and other specific types of callouts.

 

You can make changes to Text Styles from the General Preferences screen. Open the Preferences screen:

 

 

 

 

Fix corrupt fonts

If you've opened a drawing and your font corruption is preventing you from operations such as placing a schedule, the issue may be resulting from a corrupt font on your computer, or from a corrupt font entry in AutoCAD.

 

In creating a Text Style, you can specify the font name, or the font filename. Our software can only access the font Name by reading the font file itself. Adding to the misery, the Windows Registry only stores the font Abbreviated Name with the filename – not the full name.

 

Additionally, Windows 7 users often experience another headache, where successive attempts to uninstall or reinstall the same font will result in the font filename changing automatically upon reinstallation. This filename changing is the biggest nightmare with fonts in many a year. For example, since Windows 3.11, Arial's filename has been arial.ttf, plain and simple. But now with Windows 7, the filename can turn into arial_3.ttf on some machines when Arial is reinstalled.

 

Therefore, when working with our software – especially in a multi-user office – you'll need to confirm that the font filenames are the same.

 

Fix #1: Edit the Registry listing for the problem font, and reboot the computer

The registry settings can be found in the folder path in the Registry Editor:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/Fonts 

 

If you're unfamiliar with the Registry Editor, you may want to ask your IT administrator to perform these steps.

 

To access the folder path shown above, open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows and R keys (Windows) or the Command and R keys (Mac using Parallels Desktop).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Registry Editor will open. Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder by clicking the arrow to the left of the folder name.

 

 

From the folder HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, continue expanding folders to navigate to the folder path Software > Microsoft > Windows NT > Current Version > Fonts.

 

 

The fonts that are installed on your computer will be listed in this folder. Each font's filename will appear to the right of the font name. In our example, the filename of the font Arial (TrueType) is arial.ttf.

 

If you see the problem font listed with an abbreviated filename that includes "_0," "_1," etc., change the font's filename to the correct one. This can be as simple as deleting the extra characters (underscores, numbers, etc.) from the filename.

 

Restart your computer to enact the changes.

 

If editing the registry listing for the problem font hasn't worked for you, it's time to move on to Fix #2.

 

Fix #2: Delete the corrupt versions of the problem font

Important: You'll want these steps open on another computer or phone, as you'll be restarting the machine with the issue and will not be able to view them there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The * in the copied and pasted text is used to truncate after the last letter in the fontname it will return – which we want, since we're looking for _1 and _2 versions of that font – for example, calibri_1, calibri_2 etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Type exit at te command prompt and press Enter, which will close the command prompt.

 

 

 

Font not showing up in your drawing, or error messages "Font file does not exist" / "Font file not installed" / "Bad argument: consp nil"

A font may not be showing up in your drawing at all.

 

In addition, you might see one or more of the following errors when attempting to place text:

• (**font name**) font file doesn’t exist (where **font name** is the name of the font assigned to the Text Style you tried to place)
• Error: 'bad argument type: consp nil
• Font file not installed

 

 

When Windows 10 deletes fonts, it places them as hidden objects. The font may have been reinstalled numerous times, which can also create problems.

 

In any of these cases, you'll need to remove the font(s) in the Command line within the Admin Console.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Follow our steps to open the Registry Editor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Once you've selected the Fonts key, you'll see a list of keys for all the fonts you currently have installed.

 

To delete a font's key, right-click the key (example: Wingdings), then select Delete from the menu.

 

 

10. Reinstall each deleted font. If you're able to place the font in an AutoCAD drawing without seeing an error, you've resolved the issue with that font.

Follow our steps to install fonts on your computer. If you do not use this installation method, our software will be unable to read the font on your computer.

SHX fonts behaving strangely or disappearing

SHX font styles, such as 4-Text, have a few quirks that can make them problematic to work with in CAD. For example, you might be having trouble getting a certain text style to show up in your details. The text style might be present in the detail file but doesn't show up in your sheet layouts – even when all layers are on and unfrozen.

 

 

First, check whether the layer containing the text is frozen or turned off in the Layer Properties Manager. If so, unfreeze the layer or turn it on. Then check whether your font is showing up.

 

 

If not, your next step will be to check the font's settings in the AutoCAD Text Styles dialog box. Here's how to open it:

 

ACAD Manage ribbon, Text Style button

 

 

Click the small arrow in the bottom right corner of the Text pane on the AutoCAD Annotate ribbon

 

 

or type Style in the Command line

 

 

The Text Style dialog box will open. Select the problematic font from the Font Name menu (example: italic.shx). Make sure the Use Big Font box is unchecked, then click Apply. Odds are, your font is behaving normally now and can be visible in your drawing.

 

SHX fonts are potentially problematic because they allow this box to be checked accidentally, which can cause problems like the one you are experiencing. It's another great reason to use TrueType fonts rather than SHX fonts.

 

More information on customizing your Land F/X Text Styles

Fonts are coming in italicized (and you don't want them to)

Did you place a Text Style or font in a drawing and it came in italicized? If so, see our Text Styles or fonts coming in italicized article for the solution.

Text Manager does not allow you to add a new font

The Text Manager may be preventing you from adding a new font. When you click Add New below the list of fonts in the Text Manager and then attempt create and name a new font, it does not show in the list of fonts.

 

 

 

 

If this is the case, you do not have Write or Modify permissions for the _fonts_.xml file in the directory LandFX\Fonts\

 

Follow our steps to change user permissions for this file, setting your (or the user's) permissions for Write, Modify, or Full Control.

After setting the permissions, close and reopen CAD and try adding your new font again.

Related Webinars

• Making Text Work in CAD: Join us to learn the essentials of how to use letters, numbers, and other characters effectively in CAD, including how to work with Text Styles and the Text Manager. (1 hr 4 min)