How do I add a new font, preview my fonts, or figure out which font I used on an old project?

How fonts work here

The software does not have its own font library to import into. The font list in the text tool shows the fonts installed in Windows, plus a set of single line engraving fonts. So adding a font is a Windows job, not a software setting.

Add a new font

1. Download the font from a font site.
2. Install it in Windows. Downloading the file is not enough. An educator who covers this stresses that the install step is the part people miss.
3. Open the text tool and pick the font from the list. It is then available to any program on that computer that uses fonts.

Preview before you choose

• Type your word into a font preview website that displays it in every font installed on your computer at once. Educators mention Wordmark for this.
• When choosing a script font for a customer, preview the actual name on a font site, then offer three options at most. More choices slow the decision down.

Find a font you used before

1. Take a screenshot of the old project or a photo of the sign.
2. Upload it to a font identification site. One educator names WhatTheFont.
3. For a one-off job where you cannot get the font, generate sample text online, import the image and use Trace Bitmap to make vectors.

Inside the text tool

• Fonts whose names start with @ are drawn vertically downward and are always left justified.
• The Single Line option switches the list to engraving fonts that are very quick to cut.
• Recently used fonts are listed at the top of the font box. The number shown is set by Recent Font List Size under Edit > Options.
• The text tool remembers the last text height used, but there is no true default that carries across sessions.

Pro tips

• Some fonts contain loops and overlaps that need fixing in Node Editing before they toolpath cleanly. Script fonts usually need welding where letters overlap.
• See the entries on picking a font that carves well and on script fonts that carve wrong where letters overlap.
• If a font you already installed turns into Arial when a file moves to another computer, see the entry on text changing font on another computer.