Adding And Removing Font Files In Ubuntu Linux

Linux Platform, Computing
Adding And Removing Font Files In Ubuntu Linux
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Fonts in Ubuntu

Ubuntu comes with a set of fonts already installed, but it is possible to add more. In particular users can add the standard Windows fonts via a single download.

Start the Synaptic Package Manager via the System / Administration menu and type ‘msttcorefonts’ into the search box. It should find the core font package. Click in the check box to select the package for installation and then click ‘Apply’. The fonts should be downloaded and installed.

To add individual TTF font files, locate them on your system or the internet. On Windows systems they are located under Windows / Fonts. Copy or download them to a location where Ubuntu can find them. Then start the Nautilus file browser and go to your home directory. From the View menu select ‘Show Hidden Files’, and when these appear, look for a folder called ‘.fonts’. If this doesn’t already exist you can create it with File / Create Folder.

For the next step you will need superuser privileges. Open a terminal window from Applications / Accessories and type ‘sudo nautilus’. This will prompt you for a password and then open the Nautilus file browser. Navigate to the /usr/share/fonts folder. You will see several folders representing different types of fonts. Open the ‘truetype’ folder and use the file menu to make a new folder with an appropriate name – ‘mynewfonts’, perhaps. Copy your TTF fonts into the new folder, then reboot your PC.These fonts will now be available to your applications.

For CMap fonts or Postscript Type 1 fonts, just add them to a new sub folder in the appropriate directory under /usr/share/fonts. Unwanted fonts can be deleted using the same method, but you will need superuser privileges for this too.

Working with fonts is easier if you have a dedicated font management program. There are several of these for Linux but the most useful is probably Fonty Python, which shows a folder by folder preview of fonts in the directory. Fonty Python can be installed via the Add / Remove programs menu option under Applications.