This is the list of problems with which we are familiar. You can scan down the page, or click on the title that looks like the problem you are having. If you are having one of the problems that we have fixed, and have a CD or DVD older than the date it was fixed, you need an upgrade. See Prices, Licensing, and Upgrade Info.
Microsoft’s “update" to version 16.78 about August 1, 2023 caused all our Mac fonts (which were in Mac suitcases since we started the company in 1993) to no longer be visible in any Microsoft apps. We consider that to be yet another “feature” (bug) that Microsoft introduced. The fonts show up in FontBook, Pages, TextEdit, OpenOffice, … just not Word. We solved the problem by changing all 1,000+ Mac fonts in the installers to individual TTFs, and released our DVD with the fix on 12/27/23.
If you have an older DVD, it has individual Windows TTFs, which work fine(!). They are in the Windows\RawFonts folder. Here is a link to a PDF that describes where to find them and how to install the Windows fonts. Install Windows TTFs on your Mac Silicon
If you don’t have a DVD, then, sadly, you must Buy Newer Version/ Replacement DVD, $20 for a Single User, $100 for a Site License. Please direct your anger toward the perps, not us.
10.7 and Newer Won't Let Me Install! - Unknown Vendor!!
What a Protective Little Nanny the Mac OS is being. Apple wants us to pay them a fee to be a known vendor, change all our installers so that they know us, and then extract another fee to be downloadable from the app store. We decline. Apple makes a lot more money than we do. Here is how to install:
To override your security settings and open the app anyway:
1. In the Finder, locate the app you want to open. Don’t use Launchpad to do this. Launchpad doesn’t allow you to access the shortcut menu.
2. Press the Control key, then click the app icon.
3. Choose Open from the shortcut menu.
4. Click Open.
The app is saved as an exception to your security settings, and you will be able to open it in the future by double-clicking it, just like any registered app.
Note: This won't change your security settings for anything but our installer. This is a good thing.
The Cursive doesn't connect!
No, it will not automatically connect unless you run the LinkLetter program on it. That is normal. Please READ the User Guide (EFI User Guide.pdf), Pages 5-6. It is on your DVD, and in the downloaded file.
Need to do a SafeMode restart?
If you Mac is not working as usual, try a Restart. That usually gets everything working properly again.
But there will be times when a rogue application, a misbehaving service, outdated caches, and other issues will cause your Mac to slow, stop starting up or exhibit other unwanted symptoms. Thankfully, Apple has provided a way to boot macOS computer in safe mode.
If our fonts don't show up after you installed them and have done a restart, try a Safe Mode restart.
The Mac support site has information about Safe Mode, including how to tell whether you have a Silicon or an Intel computer.
Wait for your Mac to shut down completely. A Mac is completely shut down when the screen is black and any lights (including in the Touch Bar) are off.
Press and hold the power button on your Mac until “Loading startup options” appears.
Select a volume.
Press and hold the Shift key, then click Continue in Safe Mode.
The computer restarts automatically. When the login window appears, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.
Start up your Intel-based Mac in safe mode
Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key until you see the login window.
Log in to your Mac.
You might be asked to log in again.
On either the first or second login window, you should see “Safe Boot” in the menu bar.
Don't try to do anything while in Safe Mode, because a lot of things will not have been loaded. Just Restart normally. If your fonts still aren't showing up, and you are sure you went through the whole install, call us. 1-800-806-2155.
Microsoft Word AutoFormatting Problems
Microsoft Word 98 and higher (Word 2000, 2001, X) have a feature called AutoFormat, which automatically changes some of what you type. Unfortunately, this feature causes problems, particularly with our ruled fonts.
If you get underlines instead of blank rules, some words become italic (even though you didn't type them in italic), or words unexpectedly end up bold, you have been done in by this feature.
Because of the problems with blank rules, we added another way to make blank rules starting in August 2003. If you have a newer CDs, use the bar character (|, shift backslash, above the Enter or return key on your keyboard) instead of the underscore character (shift minus) for blank rules.
To turn off AutoFormat in Word 2011:
1. On the Format menu, click AutoFormat.
2. Click Options.
3. Uncheck *Bold* and _italic_ with real formatting and Symbol characters (--) with symbols (-).
4. Click OK, close Word, and reopen Word.
To turn off AutoFormat as You Type in Word 2011:
1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect.
2. On the AutoFormat as You Type tab, uncheck *Bold* and _italic_ with real formatting and Symbol characters (--) with symbols (-).
3. Click OK, close Word, and reopen Word.
In Word 2019, these features are on the Tools menu.
Microsoft Word - i Gets Changed to I
Every time that you try to type the single letter i, it gets changed to a capital I. You've encountered the "helpful" Microsoft Word AutoCorrect feature.
To turn it off in Word 2011 and 2019:
1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect.
2. On the AutoCorrect tab, in Replace text as you type, scroll down the left column until you find i (which is replaced by I), and delete the entry.
3. Also uncheck Capitalize first letter of sentences.
4. Click OK, close Word, and reopen Word.
Microsoft Word - The First Letter of Every Line Gets Capitalized
You've encountered another Microsoft Word AutoCorrect feature. Microsoft programmers really don't understand spelling lists.
To turn it off in Word 2011 and 2019:
1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect.
2. Uncheck Capitalize first letter of sentences.
3. Click OK, close Word, and reopen Word.
Word 2019 Problems
Word does not correctly display or print any of our GDI Thin Cursive variations. They work in Pages, OpenOffice, and TextEdit.
When you run Undo LinkLetter QM on QMC Cursive Outlines 2 Rul, Word puts a bizarre font on the clipboard, and UndoLinkLetter can't process it. Change the font to another QMC Cursive font, undo, and change the font back to QMC Cursive Outlines 2 Rul after it is unlinked.
Word sometimes doesn't like the fonts named Mont PreC Regular and Mont Manu Regular. It drops the Regular from the names, and they don't display or print correctly.
Word drops the "s" at the end of the EFI Copperplate with Rules font when you Paste it back into Word after running LinkLetter CP or UndoLinkLetter CP. You have to Select the text and change the font name to the correct one.
Word incorrectly unlinks Benson fonts that have the letter "o" in them. The letter comes back as a ‹.
My Linked Bold Cursive Has Small Gaps
Have you used the Bold feature on the linked text in your word processor? That doesn't work. Just turn Bold off.
InDesign, fi, fl Combinations Don't Display
InDesign may have typographical "Ligatures" set to ON. You're working with handwriting fonts, which should not ligate like typographic fonts. Try to turn them off.
InDesign, Question Mark Appears When Relinking
InDesign (CS4, CS5, CS6) has a bug, which was first seen in August, 2012, and reported to Adobe, wherein the dagger character (a beginning stroke on letter "s" in many of our cursive fonts) is replaced by a question mark when relinking cursive text. To get around this bug, just retype the word that begins with letter "s" and link it.
InDesign, LinkLetter Doesn't Work
Ah, you just think it doesn't! There is a very strange default setting in InDesign, that when you do a Paste, only TEXT format gets used — all your formatting gets lost, including the font, frequently. There is an easy fix for this (from the InDesign Help system):
"To preserve formatting and information such as styles and index markers, open the Clipboard Handling section of the Preferences dialog box, and select All Information under Paste. To remove these items and other formatting when pasting, select Text Only."
OpenOffice Problems
When you relink cursive text with certain letters at the beginning of a paragraph, the letter does not get linked to the letter following it. The letter will also be a much smaller size than the rest of the paragraph. The letters that do not correctly link are not the same in each font family. Run UndoLinkletter, correct the size, as needed, of letters at the beginning of the paragraph. Then run LinkLetter.
If you have a document with fonts from different font families (for example, HWT Cursive and GDI Cursive), OpenOffice can get confused when you relink or unlink the document. If what you see does not look correct, undo the Paste and relink the text for each font separately, or just relink words that you have changed instead of the entire document. Or don't mix fonts from different families in the same paragraph.
Copying linked text from an OpenOffice document to a document in another word processor might not work well, depending on the font and the actual text. This problem was reported to the OpenOffice people in 2006(!), and it has not been fixed.
