Ok, geek that I am.....I just went and spent forever looking at some font sites and when I found one I liked, I just hit download. I looked for the font folder on my computer and saved them there and it said they were zip files.

Now, I'm stuck. They aren't in the font folder. Not that I can find anyway.

I came here and did some looking through old posts to see if someone else had already asked this and I find that I should have created a totally different file???

I know they are on my system here somewhere....because I have searched for a few of the names that I can remember. I don't remember all of the names of the ones I downloaded though.

Apparently I don't have them actually installed......

What should I do to find them all and relocate them in another file and then install them???

Please help me

My system is XP and it's new to me....I have only had this system for a short time and I'm not too UP on computers to begin with.

Thank you Thank you if you help me.............

Zip files are compressed files. You will have to unzip them before you can install them. Luckily, Windows XP has a built in un-zipper. If you can find the files ..

Usually, if you are using Internet Explorer, it will remember the last place you downloaded something to. So, one simple way to find the files might be to download one more, and see the default folder it asks you the put the new file in. I'll bet you'll find your other files there too. If that doesn't work, try searching for all files named *.zip. Search the entire c:\ drive -- ***uming that's your only / main drive. That may take awhile, but when the list comes back, you can sort by date and probably find them that way too. If you have to do that, and need more detailed instructions, just let me know.

Now, once you find them, I would move them to a special folder, particularily if they are in your FONTS folder. Maybe make a special folder on your desktop called ScrapFonts. Then, double click on the zip file, and XP should ask if you want to extract the files in the zip file. The actual font file will probably be called *.ttf.

Extract all of the ttf files into a special folder. Then, you can decide if you want to install all of the fonts, or not. If you decide to install them, you can do that under start / control panel / fonts. However, some people (me included) keep a lot of the scrapbooking fonts uninstalled, and use software like The Font Thing to view, install and uninstall the fonts. Too many installed fonts kind of trips Windows up.

The Font Thing

I know all of this information was pretty high-level. Let me know if you need more detail on anything.

HTH.

JanetC

Ok, so far so good..... I did the search for the zips and found them. Thank you.

Then, I made a folder on my desktop named ScrapFonts like you said to do. I moved the zip files from the search to this new file.

I went in and started double clicking and extracting the files and it's doing it....but.....

When I have it opened there is also the zip left there.......why do I need an open one and a zip one? Does the system just keep the zip file indefinetely? Am I doing something wrong?

I will look into the download for The Font Thing......Is it hard to use? I'm lost at how you can use the fonts if they aren't installed on your system.

Thanks so much for all your help. ~Christina~

Sounds like you're doing great. Windows will keep the zip file after you do the extract. But you can delete it after the extract if you want. It will probably be less confusing if you delete it.

The Font Thing is free, and pretty simple to use. It will read all of the fonts you have installed and let you look at a sample of the font in any size you pick. It will also let you navigate to a folder somewhere -- like Desktop / ScrapFonts -- and view the fonts there. Then, it has a button on the toolbar to install or uninstall the font. I usually install it, do my thing, and then uninstall it when I'm done.

The Font Thing also has some cool options where you can create font collections, and group fonts together. I'm just starting to do that. Sounds like you've already experienced the addiction -- you start to look around those font sites, and then the next thing you know, you've got tons of fonts. I think those collections will be nice.

Another way to use uninstalled fonts is to double click on the ttf file you extracted. When you do that, Windows will open a window displaying the font. You can then minimize that window, and open your scrapbooking software. Notice that you have to open the font before you start your software. If you do that, the font is not installed, but will be available to the software.

However, I use DIP 9, and it appears to have a bug. When you try to use the uninstalled fonts in a regular text box, you can select the font from the drop-down box, but the text you type in isn't visible. That's why I started using The Font Thing.

Another gotcha is that even when using The Font Thing, you need to install the fonts before you start your scrapbooking software.

JanetC

Thank you JanetC. You have been a blessing to me today for sharing all this information!!! You explain things very well, and make it easier for me to understand. I really appreciate it ~Christina~