Forums > MaxMSP

Fonts in an external max app


jit.mushrooms
Nov 16 2011 | 10:28 am

Hi all,

My questions relates to the use of downloaded fonts in a max patch built as an application. In essence I am using a font I downloaded from the internet within the interface of my object, and I would like for it to be usable on various computers without having to download the font.

The project I am working on is software version of Max Neuhaus’ Silent Alarm Clock (just as an exercise), and the "display" for the time is this faux liquid crystal font.

I currently simply using a comment box as my display, and sending it the ‘fontname’ message along with the name of my font. This works fine on my computer, but on other computers, it doesn’t. This is essentially the same problem that web designers have, but I’m assuming that there is a way around this as I don’t imagine software always has to rely on pre-loaded fonts?

Any help would be appreciated. I search the forum, but I didn’t find any threads related to this. If any threads have answered my question, feel free to direct me there. Thanks a lot.


encephalous episkopos
Nov 17 2011 | 12:31 am


jit.mushrooms
Nov 18 2011 | 5:15 am

I’m sorry, for some reason your post isn’t displaying? If anyone has any ideas about this, or even if its not possible, or easy to do, it would be great to let me know. Thank you.


bkshepard
Nov 18 2011 | 6:06 am

Fonts are dependent on the individual computer. If a program tries to use a font that isn’t installed on the computer, it will try to substitute with another font. If you want to guarantee that people see your liquid crystal font, capture it is individual graphics and load them as images.


jit.mushrooms
Nov 18 2011 | 7:22 am

Ahh, that was my concern. I would prefer not to do that, so perhaps I will use another more common font. I’m considering whether to use video instead, however, I’m not particularly crazy about the idea. Thank you, though.


jit.mushrooms
Nov 18 2011 | 7:30 am

Is there a means of checking whether or not a certain font is installed? It might be worthwhile to have a series of fonts that could be substituted, in similar manner to CSS.


Peter Castine
Nov 18 2011 | 10:25 am

You can include fonts in a Standalone application. There is an archived post with the specific details of precisely where in the MacOS app bundle the font needs to be. Off the top of my head it’s something like MyApp/Contents/Resources/Fonts/, but search the archives if that doesn’t work and you don’t want to spend a long time experimenting.

I expect there’s a similar solution for Windows standalones, but I don’t know it. I’d like to, though.


jit.mushrooms
Nov 18 2011 | 8:52 pm

Thank you very much Peter!

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
Forums > MaxMSP