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This FAQ is part of the Code Style Help and FAQ section. Join our premium content service for full access all FAQ answers.

Font availability

Q: Where can I get Apple fonts for Mac OS?

A: The Apple fonts Gadget, New York, Techno and Sand are only supplied with Mac OS and are not currently available for retail. The Apple Web site says they are developing an online font outlet, but for now you will need to find your Mac OS installation discs. Unfortunately, it seems only the Mac OS core fonts are available independently on these discs, fonts such as Sand require a full system installation.

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Q: How do I install Mac fonts from a SIT file?

A: The .sit file extension indicates a compressed file format most commonly used for Mac file downloads. You need a utility program like Stuffit Expander that will de-compress the .sit file to its original format.

To install downloaded fonts, you must first double-click on the font icon to preview the font in the Font Book program. The preview should display "Not installed" in the bottom left hand corner with an "Install Font" button on the right. Click the install button and the main Font Book application window will open with the newly installed font and variants listed.

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Q: Is there a printer font available for Papyrus?

A: Yes, this font was created by Chris Costello in 1983 and is available directly from the International Typeface Corporation Web site. This font is similar, but not the same as the Windows font of the same name by the Esselte Corporation, 1997.

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Q: Where can I buy the font Desdemona for my Mac?

A: The Desdemona TrueType font is copyright 1992 by The Font Bureau and portions by Microsoft, but was never completed. The font is not available to purchase online but can still be purchased directly by phone; see The Font Bureau Web site for current details.

See Anchor Points: Font foundries & sources for more font links.

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Q: Is Brush Script only available for Mac OS X?

A: Brush Script MT is only distributed with Mac OS X, not earlier versions, but it is available separately from AGFA Monotype.

See Anchor Points: Font foundries & sources for more font links.

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Q: I'm looking for Futura fonts for Macintosh...

A: See the AGFA Monotype or Adobe Type Web site.

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Q: Is it possible to get Tempus Sans on this Mac?

A: Yes, Tempus Sans is available from the International Typeface Corporation.

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Survey fonts

Q: Is Shelley the complete font family name?

A: Yes that is correct, the font family name as reported by the font survey applet is "Shelley" without any qualifiers. The foundry or package this is released with is not indicated, it may be the Linotype Shelley® Script Std Regular or Shelley® Script Regular possibly. It only occurred in 12 submissions over the two years from 2007 to 2009. The only other Shelley font reported to date on Mac is "Shelley Script LT Std".

There are many more Shelley variants listed for Windows, but mostly one case of each:

  • ShelleyAllegro BT
  • ShelleyAndante BT
  • Shelley-AllegroScript
  • Shelley Volante AT
  • Hu-ShelleyAllegroBT
  • Hu-ShelleyAndanteBT
  • Hu-ShelleyVolanteBT
  • Shelley Allegro Script
  • Shelley Andante Script
  • Shelley-Allegro HU
  • Shelley-Andante HU
  • Shelley-AndanteScript
  • Shelley-AndanteScript Cn
  • Shelley-AndanteScript Wd
  • Shelley-Volante HU
  • Shelley-VolanteScript
  • ShelleyAllegro AT
  • ShelleyAndante AT
  • ShelleyVolante AT
  • ShelleyVolante L2

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Default system fonts

Q: What are the default fonts for Mac OS 8.x?

A: The core fonts available independently on the Mac OS 8.5 installation disc and 8.6 update are listed below.

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What are the default fonts for Mac OS 8.x?

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Q: What are the default fonts for Mac OS X?

A: The fonts installed by default with Mac OS X are...

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What are the default fonts for Mac OS X?

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Q: What are the new fonts for OS X 10.6, Snow Leopard?

A: The new Snow Leopard fonts are the monospace font Menlo fantasy font Chalkduster, the Chinese sans serif fonts Heiti SC, Heiti TC and Hiragino Sans GB. At the time of writing in June 2010 these fonts were reported at 37% to 44% frequency amongst all Mac font survey submissions.

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Q: Is American Typewriter a monospace font?

A: No, the American Typewriter font has the name and visual appearance of a monospace font but is actually a variable width proportional font. If you compare narrow letters i and l with wide letters m and w the spacing varies to make the narrow letters sit closely with their neighbours.

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