INSTALL A FONT ON A PC

Operating system tested: PC, Windows 11

Date tested: 10 October 2024

Font file types to use: TTF, OTF

Before you can use fonts in a design program, you need to install them to your computer. Fonts aren’t installed into specific programs; they’re installed to your full system so that all programs can use them.

First, you’ll want to download a font from the internet. If you’d like to test this, you can grab my freebie Spicy Sketcher. There’s a link at the bottom of the page to download a ZIP file from Google Drive.

Most sites and marketplaces will have you download a ZIP folder – this will contain not only the font files, but additional documents like a copy of your license or a guide to how to use the font.

Once you have the file downloaded, you’ll want to unpack it. A ZIP file is like a stuffed suitcase; everything is crammed in to take up as little room as possible. Extracting the contents is like unpacking that suitcase and fluffing out the clothes; they’re now full-size and ready to use.

To extract a ZIP file in Windows 11, you don’t need any additional software; Windows has a built-in way to do it. Just select the ZIP file, then go up to your menu bar and select “Extract all.”

You’ll get a pop-up asking where you want to extract the files to. I generally leave this at the default setting, which is to unpack into the same folder the ZIP file is sitting in. In this case, it’s my Downloads folder. Click on the “Extract” button at the bottom, and Windows will do its thing.

Once everything is unpacked, you’ll now have two file folders side-by-side: the one with the zipper on it (the original ZIP file), and one where you can see some of the contents in it, which is the unpacked folder.

Double-click on that folder to go in and look at its contents.

Once you’re in there, you can see a whole bunch of things. In the Spicy Sketcher example, those files are:

A copy of the desktop font license, which explains what you can and cannot do with the font;
A guide on how to workaround the current Cricut Design Space glitch with these fonts (I cover the same information on the Cricut Design Space page at this website);
A general guide to single-line and hairline fonts;
Two TTF font files, one with the number 1 indicating the single stroke version, and the other with the number 2 indicating the double stroke version;
An SVG file of the full alphabet of the font, for those who can’t use the installable fonts;
An OPF font file, which can only be used in a couple of programs;
And a character guide containing the alternates and ligatures of the font, for those who are using programs that don’t have direct access to the full glyph set.

To install the font, you’ll right-click on the TTF font file you need. If your software can handle the single stroke version, right-click on the version ending in the number 1. If your software uses the double stroke version, right-click on the version ending in the number 2. Note: most common design programs need the double stroke version, so that’s what we’ll go with here.

After right-clicking, you’ll get a menu of options. Choose “Install” near the top. The font will be installed to your computer. Now you’re ready to open up your design program and get to work!

If you’re using Windows 10, you may see two installation options: “Install” and “Install for all users.” If you have those two options, always choose “Install for all users.” Some programs (I’m looking at you, Silhouette Studio) may not properly see fonts if you use the simpler “Install” option.

There’s also a method of installing fonts that involves dragging and dropping font files into your Windows > Fonts folder. However, I’ve had more than one situation where someone installed one of my fonts that way, and then their software didn’t see or recognize it. I have no idea why! But that’s why I always recommend using the right-click and Install method.

If this program has been updated since this test and this guide no longer works, please drop me a line at the contact form so I can update this page!