Using Extra Fonts

I claim the copyright to this tutorial.  You are free to do whatever you please with what you make, but please do not take my tutorial.  Do not send the tutorial through email.  Only share my link.

This tutorial is intended for a beginner to learn about using extra fonts.  If you have any questions, please feel free to Email  me.

To do this tutorial you will also need Photoshop CS.  You may download a free trial at Adobe.

The first part of this tutorial may be used by both Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro users:

When you download extra fonts that did not come originally with your Windows, how do you use them? 

Well, the simplest way is to copy & paste that folder into your Windows > Fonts folder.  However, if you are involved with graphics, you could easily download thousands of fonts, and loading them all in the Windows > Fonts folder will cause your Windows to load slowly when you start up the computer, or even to crash.

So BEST TIP:  Download fonts into a different folder, one that you set up to store your extra fonts.  Inside this folder, it would be a good idea to have subfolders, for different font categories, such as  Gothic, script, fancy, dingbat, fat, etc.  Then use a font folder to load them for Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro.

But if you're like me, you didn't plan ahead, and you just have thousands of fonts in one folder.  The font viewer program will load slowly if your folder is like mine.  So what I did was create a new folder, labeled FontTemp folder.  When I want to use a font in Photoshop, I copy it from my extra fonts folder and paste it into this FontTemp folder.  This is extra work, and would be much easier had I thought ahead and used the BEST TIP!

You need a Font Viewer Program.  I use X-Fonter, and that's what this tutorial is written for, but there are others.

You can download X-Fonter here.

Once you have moved the font you want into your FontTemp folder, OPEN up X-Fonter.

You can see that it automatically opens the Windows Font Folder.

You need to switch to your FontTemp folder:  Click on the Browse Tab at the top.  Browse to find your FontTemp folder.  I keep mine on my desktop for easy search.

Once you click on that folder, the fonts in the folder will list in the bottom left pane.  Click on the one you want to use.

Now that font is loaded in Photoshop and Paint Shop Pro, as long as you keep X-Fonter open.

Part 2:  Font trick for Paint Shop Pro

You can temporarily load fonts in PSP without using a font viewer program.  Just double-click on the font you want to use (from your extra fonts folder).  It will open up and show font sample.  MINIMIZE that window to your taskbar.  As long as that window is open, the font is available in Paint Shop Pro.  (Sorry this does not work for Photoshop).