33

I own both a Mac running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and a PC running Windows 7.

On my Mac is a font called "AmericanTypewriter.ttc". I'd like to use that font on my PC, for a specific creative project. I was able to copy the actual font file over to the PC, but when I try to install it into the Windows Fonts folder I get the following error message:

Cannot install (FONTNAME).ttc - The file '(FONTNAME).ttc' does not appear to be a valid font.

"Cannot install (FONTNAME).ttc - The file '(FONTNAME).ttc' does not appear to be a valid font."

Can *.TTC format font files be installed on Windows? If so, how? Thanks!


UPDATE: I downloaded the source code for a simple ttc2ttf utility (ttc2ttf_AA.tar.gz) found at this Japanese page and compiled it under cygwin via g++. The resulting executable extracted a single file, "AmericanTypewriter.ttf", from the TTC / True Type Collection. (Why have a collection with only one file!?)

However, I still get an error message similar to the one above when I try to install the resulting AmericanTypewriter.ttf onto Windows. I'm stumped again.

p.s. I no longer need this font on Windows, but now I'm determined to figure out why & how-to :-)

7
  • Any luck trying another TTC font?
    – Arjan
    Mar 19, 2010 at 10:20
  • 1
    Note that the online convertor from Stefan's answer gets you all TTF fonts from the collection: superuser.com/questions/114603/…
    – Arjan
    Mar 20, 2010 at 11:44
  • 1
    Thank you Google for this result, and what a surprise that it is relatively fresh :) Mar 23, 2010 at 4:02
  • @Arjan Yes I was able to install some other TTC fonts (e.g. Optima, MarkerFelt) without a problem. Only AmericanTypewriter.ttc was causing the error; just my bad luck that was the one I wanted! Also, re: SEO. Yes, I aim to write my questions with that in mind. (I also run a StackExchange-based site and recognize the value of SEO.) Mar 23, 2010 at 23:50
  • 1
    +1 for posting the exact question about the EXACT FONT I'm trying to install in my Windows 10 VM! Feb 4, 2017 at 7:46

7 Answers 7

50
+100

Convert ttc to ttf with onlinefontconverter.com (developed by me), like:

One TTC gets one multiple TTFs

11
  • I actually tried that earlier, to see if it would act as an online validator. But somehow onlinefontconverter.com/myfonts.php won't let me select /Library/Fonts/AmericanTypewriter.ttc (while other fonts from that folder are no issue). However, trying again with a copy of that font in another folder, indeed let me select it, and results in 6 TTF fonts. Nice!
    – Arjan
    Mar 20, 2010 at 11:31
  • (Too bad "converting" from TTC to TTC does not change the font, or does not add the result to the result list.)
    – Arjan
    Mar 20, 2010 at 11:43
  • 2
    Great, but this doesn't working for me :( "ERROR: Not loged in" after font uploads May 16, 2012 at 4:29
  • 5
    Unfortunately when I upload a ttc, it only converts one font to ttf and I cannot control which one. Any suggestions?
    – cdonner
    Mar 13, 2013 at 20:12
  • 1
    This site doesn't appear to work at all for me on any browser Aug 21, 2013 at 9:48
7

This information is based on information that I have gleemed from many different sources, including Adobe's support documents... So any corrections, and changes, are appreciated...

The full document is here... http://www.schollnick.net/wordpress/systems-administration/fonts/

But, What fonts can the Macintosh use?

  • .dfont
  • Multiple Master (Mac OS X 10.2 and later only)
  • OpenType (.otf) *
  • TrueType (.ttf) *
  • True Type Collection (.ttc)
  • Type 1 (PostScript) *

What fonts can Windows use?

  • OpenType (.otf)
  • TrueType (.ttf)
  • Type 1 (PostScript)

Please note, that Windows does not directly support TTC fonts, according to Adobe... So, you could probably use an Font manager to assist with the TTC.. But natively, Windows doesn't support TTC's...

Font Creator allows you to crack open the TTC archive, and extra specific fonts out of it. http://www.high-logic.com/fontcreator/manual/index.html?truetypecollection.html They do have a trial edition, but purchasing it would be $79...

I haven't been able to find a free converter at this point...


Copy the extracted Font to the Macintosh.... Double Click on the font, and font book should open giving you a preview of the font. Choose to install the font.

You should now have the full display of font book, listing all the fonts installed on the system. Find the font you installed, and choose File --> Validate font.

That will give you an report listing any issues with the font. And that report will be able to give you a starting point on what needs to be fixed, and/or if it even can be.

6
  • Thanks! I'll look into tools that can extract from a TTC. Nice to know it's an archive format. Mar 2, 2010 at 18:36
  • See my note above in my question update. While I got a TTF from the TTC, Windows still complains the TTF is invalid. Mar 18, 2010 at 15:30
  • Chris, take the TTF that you got from the converter and install it on the mac, and see what Font book tells you when you do an validate font on it. Mar 19, 2010 at 1:56
  • 1
    Apple refers to TTC as Microsoft fonts. I guess Adobe is a bit off then? See support.apple.com/kb/TA22195
    – Arjan
    Mar 19, 2010 at 10:10
  • Nice! I just used your website. Super handy.
    – benjismith
    Jun 9, 2010 at 3:19
6

I guess you're just out of luck with this specific font (without converting it).

On a Mac, the font in /Library/Fonts/AmericanTypewriter.ttc is identified as:

$ file /Library/Fonts/AmericanTypewriter.ttc
/Library/Fonts/AmericanTypewriter.ttc: TrueType font collection data

Indeed, the first 4 bytes are the magic number for ttcf:

hexdump -C -n 4 /Library/Fonts/AmericanTypewriter.ttc
00000000  74 74 63 66                                       |ttcf|

So, this surely is a file claiming to use Microsoft's TrueType Collection format. According to Wikipedia:

They were first available in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean versions of Windows, and supported for all regions in Windows 2000 and later.

Mac OS included support of TTC starting with Mac OS 8.5.

And according to Apple:

Mac OS X also works with font formats used by Microsoft Windows. These fonts have all their data in the data fork and do not have the additional resources found in Macintosh fonts.

So: copying to Windows should not yield any data loss, as there is no hidden resource fork to forget. And hence, this should install fine on Windows...

A quick test using Microsoft's Font Validator tool on Windows XP does not show any errors. But a full test shows, among many rendering errors, some things I don't know how to interpret. Note that E2132 and E1607 might indicate the validation tool is outdated, possibly also causing some of the other errors:

  • E2008 The PostScript string is not present for both required platforms MS Postscript string is missing, but Mac Postscript string is present
    OpenType fonts that include a PostScript name for the font must include names for Platform 1 Encoding 0 (Mac) and Platform 3 Encoding 1 (Microsoft).

  • E2132 The version number is invalid 4
    The current version of the OS/2 table is Version 3. Versions zero (0, TrueType rev 1.5), one (1, TrueType rev 1.66), and two (2, OpenType rev 1.2) have been used previously.

  • E2127 The table length does not match the expected length for this version
    This error indicates a structural problem with the font. Structural errors may be caused by: a font tool incorrectly generating the font file; a person altering the contents of a valid font file; or some other corruption to the font file. Regenerate the font, or contact the font vendor to obtain a valid version of the font.

  • E1305 Font checksum is incorrect 0x25a37feb
    This error indicates a structural problem with the font. Structural errors may be caused by: a font tool incorrectly generating the font file; a person altering the contents of a valid font file; or some other corruption to the font file. Regenerate the font, or contact the font vendor to obtain a valid version of the font.

  • E1303 Non-linear scaling flag (bit 4) is clear, but hdmx table is present
    Setting bit 4 of the flags field to clear indicates that the advance width of glyphs will scale linearly because hinting instructions will not alter the advance widths.. The presence of the hdmx table indicates that the advance width of glyphs within this font may be affected by hinting instructions. Set this bit to indicate that the advance widths might not scale linearly.

  • E1410 The xMaxExtent field does not equal the calculated value actual = 1130, calc = 1855
    The value of the xMaxExtent field should equal Max(lsb + (xMax - xMin)). This value should be computed using only glyphs that have contours. Glyphs with no contours should be ignored.

  • E1607 The table version was not 0 version = 1, unrecognized version #, no further tests can be performed
    Version 0 is the only version of the kern table currently defined. Correct this field using a table editing tool, or a kern editor that creates a valid kern table.

  • E2014 No Microsoft unicode version strings were found
    Name strings are required for both platforms. Use a table editing tool to add name strings for Windows.

Also, it shows many informational messages, like:

  • I0040 Not an OpenType table, contents not validated This table type is defined in the Apple TrueType spec.

So, if Microsoft's Font Validator is right, then I assume Apple did a bad job implementing the specifications. (And maybe even on purpose, to stop distribution of the font to Windows?)

2
  • Good information. Thanks! I gave you +1. But I did workaround this issue using the online font converter in the other answer, which I've accepted. Mar 23, 2010 at 23:51
  • @Chris, no sweat about accepting it, that's why I added the screenshot, and it was my choice for the bounty as well -- see the revision history superuser.com/posts/121746/revisions to prove that ;-)
    – Arjan
    Mar 24, 2010 at 7:36
6

I found http://transfonter.org/ttc-unpack and it worked. Unpacked a ttc file allowing me to download the 4 ttf files I was after.

1
  • My copy of Menlo Regular version 17.0d1e1 has 3157 glyphs. When I used this method, the resulting file has number of glyphs that were hundreds lower, so I do not trust this method. I recommend using DfontSplitter and CrossFont as I described above, though unfortunately CrossFont costs US$79.00 unless you are converting a monospace font as I was.
    – S. T. Lee
    Jun 18, 2023 at 5:08
2

I don't think you can. This page claims you can by simply copying it into the Windows Fonts folder:

Copy and paste the font file (fonts typically end with the extension .tty, .ttc or .fon) into the C:\WINDOWS\fonts folder.

(my bold).

However, I'm guessing that this doesn't refer to Mac TTC fonts, but True Type Collections. Mac TTC fonts will be stored in a format that Windows doesn't understand.

This page has a list of font converters including TTConverter that is:

Chris Reed's free utility for Mac users that converts PC TTF format to Mac TrueType and vice versa.

I've just discovered that most of the links for that program are now broken, so are less than useless. You need to find something like this tool for doing the conversion.

4
  • (The TTConverter link is broken.) Feb 28, 2010 at 20:22
  • @Chris - sorry, I did have chance to double check the link. I've just checked and a lot of the links appear to be broken. I'll remove the link.
    – ChrisF
    Mar 1, 2010 at 10:24
  • What is the "Mac TTC fonts" you are referring to? I think TTC is a Microsoft format by definition. (And on a Mac, TrueType Collections do not use the data fork, hence copying from a Mac to a PC should not yield any problems; see support.apple.com/kb/TA22195)
    – Arjan
    Mar 19, 2010 at 10:10
  • 1
    @Arjan: I think you meant that they don't use the resource fork. If it they didn't use the data fork, copying from a Mac to a PC would instead not yield any bytes. (Would be nice and quick, though!)
    – SamB
    Aug 25, 2010 at 1:41
2

If you install Dfont Splitter

Then you can actually open a TTC file to extract individual .TTF font files for installation on Windows.

Another more complicated issue is if you are faced with a Mac "Font Suitcase". In Windows these files show as being 0KB - yet there are font files inside. To open these requires a two step solution as shown by this very helpful tutorial. (Using a Mac's 'Terminal' to extract files, followed by using Peter Upfold's DfontSplitter)

These solutions are completely free and very very helpful.

1
  • Unfortunately, while this does create TTF files for each font in the collection, and they look fine in OS X, they still aren't recognized as valid fonts in Windows 7. Jul 15, 2015 at 13:11
0

Who got the following error message when installing the font:

"Cannot install (FONTNAME).ttc - The file '(FONTNAME).ttc' does not appear to be a valid font."

If you have having a such problem while installing the font in Windows 10 you just need to double click into downloaded font and should follow the steps as appear in the screen. Do not copy and paste the downloaded font if you do so then above error message may appears.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .