[paperladee]

Does anyone here use ATM (Adobe Type Manager) on his (her) Mac? Friend has tried re-installing for months and her fonts still won't show up properly all of the time in the editing program we use on that machine, whether Quark or a writing program. Any ideas on what else to do? Thank you!!!

[JayTheHun]

I'd first make sure that the version of ATM is supported under the version of OS X that she's using. Much changed with Jaguar.

[paperladee]

Jay, she's using OS9, and she's smart on these things, so I know she's choosing the right version. Any other ideas? Please?

[JayTheHun]

No, sorry, other than the radical changes that the OS underwent with the OS 9 upgrade.

Sorry...

[toeknee]

Did she get this resolved?

[paperladee]

No, Toeknee, she doesn't. Boss won't upgrade our system to accommodate OS 10, and with these old systems we aren't even able to open some websites we need to visit (government type sites). He said it'll cost $50,000 to upgrade. I'm on a G3 and she's on a G4. He has a G3 and some others are older than that, one is newer. I don't know if the server will upgrade or not, but it will take OS10.

[toeknee]

couple different things-- first off, G3s will run OS X just fine, as long as they have 128MB of memory. $50,000 is a wild figure, I can't imagine what he's talking about.

But this is not an OS X problem-- and it's extremely common problem with designers who keep a lot of fonts on their system.

Fonts get corrupted from time to time, and that is the most common cause of these types of problems but there are also often font conflicts. Is she using any type of font management tool? Those usually will resolve font conflicts. The best way to troubleshoot is remove unnecessary fonts and see if that solves the problem. (Note: you have to quit all open programs before removing fonts).

If not, then remove all but the base fonts (Times, Helvetica, etc.) The Mac might not let you move a few others out because it needs them, but it will tell you.
Also, here by 'remove', I mean create a 'fonts-removed' folder, don't actually delete all the fonts.

It should work fine then. If not, one of your base fonts is corrupt. This would often cause other operating problems, though, so if she hasn't noticed other things, it's not likely).

Then reinstall the most important fonts one at a time and test. Best would be to install them from the original CDs, but those are not always available.

And then, as you said, she is probably running the latest version of ATM Light is 4.6.2a, downloadable from Versiontracker. It never hurts to reinstall it.

Good luck, T

[paperladee]

Wow! T, you sure are smart! That sounds like it would indeed fix the problem. Never thought of that, and your explanation is right on! Me, I would not have thought of (I'm an old nana, ie: grandmother) who would have just gone in haram-scaram without thinking of making a deleted fonts folder. BTW, the old OS 8.1 that I run on my work puter won't support a high enough Navigator Communicator. (At least that's what I'm told). Any suggestions there? (Hey, I'm brain picking while the brain picking's good and your brain's good!) We are on DSL at work and I do believe it's slower than the dial-up I use here at home. I can multi-task here with the greatest of ease, but not there. Again, thank you for being so smart and sharing your wealth of knowledge.

[mbechard]

You need to be aware that there are 2 versions of ATM. There is ATM Light and ATM Deluxe. ATM Light allows fonts to be display properly on screen, with scaling. ATM Deluxe Does the same as the light version but also allows font management.

To fix your problems, I would start by going into the system folder, Prefence folder, and delete the ATM Database.

Next, in the system folder, Fonts folder, I usually move all fonts out except Chicago, Charcoal, Geneva, Monaco.

Then I would reinstall ATM.

Add your fonts, slowly. Don't add all at once. I have seen corrupted font crash ATM when loading it.

If you have the cash, buy FontDoctor. This program Rocks. It cleans your fonts and diagnoses fo problems. It also alphebetically organizes them by a - z. Font Doctor runs on Both OS 9 and OS X. you can buy it at
http://morrisonsoftdesign.com/

I am a BIG fan of Suitcase. Suictase is like ATM, but it is better in my opinion than ATM becuase it has auto activation of fonts. So if you open a quark or Illustrator file, It will open the fonts up if it is in your font database. The Newer versions come with a free copy of Font Doctor.

ATM does not work with OS X. Suitcase does.

Matt

[paperladee]

Thank you, Matt! I need all the help I can get. This made much sense as well. One computer in our system has Suitcase, but the old 'puters most of us are using have either OS 8 and OS 9. I never thought about Suitcase and didn't know that it did the same as ATM. Thanks! Maybe if this hasn't fixed her problem, the boss will spring for another Suitcase. Thanks!

[mbechard]

One more thing, when using Suitcase with OS 9, you still need the light version of ATM. This will allow the fonts to draw smooth when magnified in graphics programs.

[paperladee]

Thank y'all, thank y'all, thank y'all!!!!!

[prepress]

after installing os x and upgrading to version 10.2.8 and upgrading
the java....when classic 9 kicks in i get a bus error...
the only way i can use both systems if i disable atm light....and we all
know i need it...is there any known conflict??? i searched everwhere and i disabled a few things but no luck...is atm the ONLY font smoother out there ???
help someone please....thanks !!!

[mbechard]

I think I have seen this issue. Delete the ATM pref's in the sytem folder (mac os 9), restart calssic. It might be another preference as well, someting like mac os pref, or finder prefs. I can't remember. It shouldn't hurt to delete most of them anyway. With classic, most of the prefs are used any more anyways.

[prepress]

THANKS SO MUCH...IT WORKS !!!! THANKS FOR YOUR TIME, REPLY AND EXPERTISE....
PEACE <><