Invisible Text - issue with PC to Mac sharing?

[Anonymous]

Hi!

I am using Autocad 2014 for Mac and my boss and colleagues are on PCs.

My boss gave me a font family (Knockout) to use on our drawing sheets. They were given to me as "PostScript Type 1 outline font" files and as Font Suitcases. At first I couldn't get them to load into CAD at all (didn't show up in "STYLE" dialog and when they did any text written with that style just doesn't show up. I can write text and highlight it but then it acts like an empty text box (and at no point are the letters actually visible). I can use the font normally in Illustrator and InDesign.

I'm using MTEXT but I tried other text commands and it wouldn't work that way either. I attached a screenshot of what I see while typing in MTEXT.

I'm wondering if I installed them wrong or if this is a PC-Mac issue or something within CAD. I'm frustrated and I can't work on these sheets until it's resolved! I'm not advanced in AutoCAD but I've never had this issue. Any advice would be welcome. Thanks in advance. 

[jggerth]

The last Autocad version that supported Postscript Fonts was R13, back in 1997 or there abouts.  IAnd even then there were issues....

You'll need to get TrueType versions, but!! OpenType formats based on Postscript Outline fonts won't work in Acad either.  You _may_ be able to convert them with some 3rd party software.  But in the long run, you and your boss will be ahead if you use standard windows TTF fonts or standard autodesk .SHX fonts on your CAD files.  anything else greatly impedes portability and collaboration.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FontForge for info on a 3rd party conversion software.  Do be aware that converting a proprietary font is probably a license violation.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick reply JGerth!

That makes sense. I do have the ttf fonts that my coworkers are using successfully on their PCs, but they are distorted and truncated when viewed on my Mac (screenshot included - this is how the fonts look when installed, it's not just a thumbnail issue). I understand this may be veering away from Autodesk Help territory but I've spent many hours unsuccessfully trying to find the answer online...just taking a shot!

As far as I can tell, my options are:

- convert Windows TTF fonts to Mac TTF (if a conversion issue is the reason the fonts appear truncated)

- convert Mac OTF fonts to TTF (so they can be used in AutoCAD)

I have looked into third party conversion software but I'm wondering if there is a better way to resolve this because I don't think I can spend money on this. Anyone else ever had this problem? Thanks again for the help JGerth!