Overview of fonts and how to troubleshoot font problems in Microsoft Word. 11/4/2019. 10 minutes to read. Applies to: Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010In this article SummaryThis article contains an overview of fonts. Additionally, it describes how to troubleshoot font problems in Microsoft Office Word 2007 and later. More Information Overview of fontsA font is a graphic design that is applied to a collection of numbers, symbols, and characters. A font specifies qualities such as typeface, size, spacing, and pitch.
Fonts are used to print text on various output devices and to display text on the screen. Fonts have font styles such as italic, bold, and bold italic. Outline fontsTrueType fonts and OpenType fonts are outline fonts that are rendered from line commands and from curve commands. OpenType is an extension of TrueType. Both TrueType fonts and OpenType fonts can be scaled and rotated.
TrueType fonts and OpenType fonts look good in all sizes and on all output devices that are supported by Microsoft Windows. Screen fontsClearType fonts are screen fonts that are optimized for an LCD screen. On an LCD screen, ClearType fonts use sub-pixel information to smooth out the fonts' jagged edges. Printer fontsIn most programs that support printing, you can select among different printer fonts. Printers that offer the widest assortment of fonts include laser printers, ink-jet printers, and dot-matrix printers.
You can divide printer fonts into the following three categories:.Internal fontsInternal fonts are also named resident fonts. Laser printers, ink-jet printers, and dot-matrix printers frequently use internal fonts. Internal fonts are already loaded into the printer's read-only memory (ROM). Internal fonts are always available for printing.Cartridge fontsCartridge fonts are stored in a cartridge or in a card that plugs into the printer.
To expand a printer's set of internal fonts, you can install font cartridges. Or, you can load fonts from software.Downloadable fontsDownloadable fonts are also named soft fonts. The computer sends downloadable fonts to the printer's memory when the fonts are required for printing. Laser printers and other page printers frequently use downloadable fonts. Some dot-matrix printers also use them. To increase printer speed, you should install downloadable fonts locally on client computers that print to Windows print servers.For each document that you print, Windows may have to send the screen fonts and the downloadable fonts that the document requires to the printer. To increase printer speed, use the following techniques:.
Use fonts that do not have to be downloaded, such as internal fonts or cartridge fonts. Some printers have a feature that enables the printer to keep a list of downloadable fonts. If your printer has this feature, make sure that you turn on the feature.Not all printers can use all three types of fonts. For example, pen plotters cannot ordinarily use downloadable fonts.
For more information about the types of fonts that you can use, see the printer's documentation. Raster fontsRaster fonts are also named bitmapped fonts.
They are stored as bitmaps. A bitmap is a pattern of dots. Raster fonts are designed with a specific size and with a specific resolution for a specific printer.
You cannot scale or rotate raster fonts. If a printer does not support raster fonts, it will not print them. The following fonts are the five raster fonts:. Courier. MS Sans Serif. MS Serif.
Small. SymbolVector fontsVector fonts are useful for output devices that cannot reproduce bitmaps. For example, pen plotters use vector fonts. Vector font characters are drawn with lines instead of with patterns of dots.
You can scale characters to any size or to any aspect ratio. NotePanose font mapping information is stored with the font to describe the font's characteristics. For example, these characteristics may include serif or sans serif, normal, bold, or italic. If no Panose information is available, the font appears at the bottom of the list, and it does not appear in the List fonts by similarity to box. How to troubleshoot font problems in Word 2007 and Word 2010 Before you start to troubleshoot font problemsBefore you start to troubleshoot font problems in Word 2007 and Word 2010, review the following general topics:.Always make sure that you have installed the latest service pack for your version of Windows.
Several font problems have been corrected in Windows service packs.The exact number of TrueType fonts that you can install depends on the length of the TrueType font names and of the TrueType file names.Basic steps to troubleshoot font problemsTo troubleshoot font problems in Word 2007 and Word 2010, follow these basic steps:.Make sure that you are using the correct printer driver.Your problem may be that the default printer driver in Windows is a generic/text only printer driver, an installed fax driver, or a similar driver. To change the printer driver that Microsoft Word uses, use one of the following methods.Important Do not select a generic/text only printer driver or an installed fax driver as your default printer in Windows. In Word, click the Microsoft Office Button or File Tab (Word 2010), and then click Print.
In the Namebox, click the name of an installed printer. Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes. Right-click an installed printer, and then click Set as Default Printer.Check to see whether the problem occurs in a new document.Create a new Word document that is based on the Normal.dotm template. To create a new document that is based on the global template, click the Microsoft Office Button, and then click New.
Click Blank document, and then click Create.Based on what occurs in the new document, follow these steps:. In the new document, try a different font. If you have no problems when you use a different font, the problem may be related to a specific font in Windows. Go to the next step to continue to troubleshoot. In the new document, use the font that you used in the original Word document.
If the font problem no longer occurs in the new Word document, the original document is probably damaged.Note. If you used a template other than the Normal.dotm template to create the original Word document, the original document may be damaged. Or, the template from which the original document was created may be damaged. It is also possible that both the original document and its template are damaged.If the problem with a specific font persists in the new document, try to use the font in a new WordPad document. To create a WordPad document, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click WordPad.If the problem that you experienced in Word persists in the WordPad document, the font is probably damaged.