Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

System Font(s) disappear after starting Affinity Designer


Recommended Posts

I have just installed the application, and am new to the software. The first time I opened the program, I could not see any fonts either in windows screens (file/open - window), nor will any fonts display within the program using the text tool. After quitting the program, the fonts associated with the icons on the desktop, as well as, the start menu test all disappeared. Restarting the computer fixes the issue, until I open the program again.

I have attached some screen shots. One of the text tool shows that text has been received in the Layers tab, but doesn't display. The other is the open window that shows no fonts, just icons. This is also true for the desktop, start menu, etc...

 

image.thumb.png.e810647dc4d40e739a4012e4113c3083.pngimage.thumb.png.a60d80fbd36dd902d09a9ea79fb3ec9c.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the forums @BSDesign,

I'm not sure what's going on with your font issue. Do you have a Font Manager installed?

  • What version of Windows are you running?
  • What graphic card(s) are you running? Are the drivers up to date?

There are problems with the new Hardware Acceleration, OpenCL Compute feature. Can you go to Edit>Preferences>Performance and uncheck the box beside the Hardware Acceleration, restart Designer and see if that corrected your problem.

In your second screenshot, it looks like you're trying to open a file. Affinity will not allow you to access the Windows>Fonts folder. Even though to open a file in one of the Affinity programs, it relies on Windows Explorer, it also limits access to some critical system files.

You can download the Beta version, which have some of these Hardware Acceleration problems fixed. The betas run alongside the retail versions, so no need to uninstall it.

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/33-designer-beta-on-windows/

Affinity Photo 2.5..; Affinity Designer 2.5..; Affinity Publisher 2.5..; Affinity2 Beta versions. Affinity Photo,Designer 1.10.6.1605 Win10 Home Version:21H2, Build: 19044.1766: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz, 3301 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s);32GB Ram, Nvidia GTX 3070, 3-Internal HDD (1 Crucial MX5000 1TB, 1-Crucial MX5000 500GB, 1-WD 1 TB), 4 External HDD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
    Laptop 2: Windows 11 Pro 24H2,  16GB memory, Snapdragon(R) X Elite - X1E80100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM) 12 Core CPU 4.01 GHz, Qualcomm(R) Adreno(TM) X1-85 GPU
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.7, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.7

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/15/2021 at 7:31 AM, Ron P. said:

Welcome to the forums @BSDesign,

I'm not sure what's going on with your font issue. Do you have a Font Manager installed?

  • What version of Windows are you running?
  • What graphic card(s) are you running? Are the drivers up to date?

There are problems with the new Hardware Acceleration, OpenCL Compute feature. Can you go to Edit>Preferences>Performance and uncheck the box beside the Hardware Acceleration, restart Designer and see if that corrected your problem.

In your second screenshot, it looks like you're trying to open a file. Affinity will not allow you to access the Windows>Fonts folder. Even though to open a file in one of the Affinity programs, it relies on Windows Explorer, it also limits access to some critical system files.

You can download the Beta version, which have some of these Hardware Acceleration problems fixed. The betas run alongside the retail versions, so no need to uninstall it.

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/forum/33-designer-beta-on-windows/

I'm running Windows 10. Geforce gtx 660m. No font manager. The 2nd screen shot is of the open window yes, but the are no fonts being displayed. Just icons.

The option for Hardware Acceleration is already unchecked.

After opening the program, all system fonts disappear, not just in the program. Obviously this was not the case before installing, and a restart brings them all back, until I restart the program.

Edited by BSDesign
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/15/2021 at 8:17 AM, walt.farrell said:

 

This has some similarities, but I can't even select a font in the drop-down and see text I'm typing. If I enter text, see screen shot, you can see it knows what I'm typing in the layer tab as it names the layer what I typed. However it won't display in the program/file.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Staff

A few threads on the web point to the Font Cache. I wonder if using the --disable-font-preview-cache flag makes any difference? Restart Windows so the fonts reappear and then press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog and then type CMD and press Enter. This will launch Command Prompt.

Presuming you have the app installed in the default location, type in cd "C:\Program Files\Affinity\Designer\" and press Enter. Now type Designer --disable-font-preview-cache and press Enter - the app will now launch. Did it happen again? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 4/1/2021 at 11:57 AM, elleirbagluar said:

im currently facing the EXACT same problem. i tried uninstalling and reinstalling, but its not helping. Af Photo worked perfectly before the current update. i dont know what to do.

Yeah, my problem persisted after a the initial install. I can get it to work if I open an existing file (PSD or AI), but if I create a new file and try typing, nothing happens. There is a new version that I am going to try and update and see if that fixes the issue.

No the new updated didn't resolve the issue. I'm at a loss as well. Leigh was talking about a editing the program from DOS, but the information was incorrect, and seriously, making those kind of changes is really sketchy and unprofessional. Also, looking for others having similar issues, Leigh offered the exact same fix for completely unrelated issues. As if that is a fix-all, and the method isn't even correct. You can't type in run that way, it is not a recognized internal or external command.

Edited by BSDesign
Updated info
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/1/2021 at 11:57 AM, elleirbagluar said:

im currently facing the EXACT same problem. i tried uninstalling and reinstalling, but its not helping. Af Photo worked perfectly before the current update. i dont know what to do.

Hey elleirbagluar, I just ran Windows' "Troubleshoot compatibility" (right click icon, and the option should be available), and it has fixed my issue, at least for the moment. It loaded, I have fonts/text in application, and my system fonts haven't disappeared. I haven't stress tested this solution as of yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, BSDesign said:

Hey elleirbagluar, I just ran Windows' "Troubleshoot compatibility" (right click icon, and the option should be available), and it has fixed my issue, at least for the moment. It loaded, I have fonts/text in application, and my system fonts haven't disappeared. I haven't stress tested this solution as of yet.

Yeah, not a fix. Went right back after restart. But that did do something. Maybe the dev team can figure it out. As for now I'm tired of fooling with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 3/19/2021 at 5:31 PM, BSDesign said:

Sorry Leigh, that is not a recognized internal or external command. What is the operable function/program or batch file?

You can't use spaces in command.

Perhaps you misunderstood. Those instructions work fine for me. And yes, you can use spaces in a Windows command window.

Command-Prompt-open-Designer-wo-Font-Preview-Cache.thumb.png.0d8ae112469aab3ceaaf4f74c0c35520.png

 

Designer opened - and no font previews appeared, because the Font Preview Cache was disabled.

Designer-w-No-Font-Preview-Cache.png.ee075e9ea50975dca773a7eba38ca096.png

 

But this really does not matter as I do not think this is the issue.

I think @walt.farrell was on the correct path - this appears to be a permissions/ownership issue.
The fonts are still there, just something is now preventing access, and it is triggered by starting Designer.

When this happens try starting Designer as an administrator, which should get around most permissions/ownership issues.
Right-click on the Designer icon and select Run as Administrator.

It also may prevent the disappearance of the fonts. So also try opening Designer as administrator after reboot.

Please let us know if either method works.
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, BSDesign said:

Yeah, not a fix. Went right back after restart. But that did do something. Maybe the dev team can figure it out. As for now I'm tired of fooling with it.

thank you for your reply! first ill try your Troubleshoot compatibility ... and then il try the admin peoples reply to your post.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, LibreTraining said:

Perhaps you misunderstood. Those instructions work fine for me. And yes, you can use spaces in a Windows command window.

Command-Prompt-open-Designer-wo-Font-Preview-Cache.thumb.png.0d8ae112469aab3ceaaf4f74c0c35520.png

 

Designer opened - and no font previews appeared, because the Font Preview Cache was disabled.

Designer-w-No-Font-Preview-Cache.png.ee075e9ea50975dca773a7eba38ca096.png

 

But this really does not matter as I do not think this is the issue.

I think @walt.farrell was on the correct path - this appears to be a permissions/ownership issue.
The fonts are still there, just something is now preventing access, and it is triggered by starting Designer.

When this happens try starting Designer as an administrator, which should get around most permissions/ownership issues.
Right-click on the Designer icon and select Run as Administrator.

It also may prevent the disappearance of the fonts. So also try opening Designer as administrator after reboot.

Please let us know if either method works.
 

Yeah, it doesn't work for me. Copy and pasted just as you have it, and get the same error message.

However, I do agree with you that this has something to do with permissions. I can run the program as admin and/or with trouble shooting, and the fonts work. Just a shame there is no solution as of yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, BSDesign said:

Yeah, it doesn't work for me. Copy and pasted just as you have it, and get the same error message.

However, I do agree with you that this has something to do with permissions. I can run the program as admin and/or with trouble shooting, and the fonts work. Just a shame there is no solution as of yet.

Hmmmm ... the fact that you get an error when trying to run those commends also indicates a permissions issue.

Is your normal user an "admin" user?
(not the same as Run as Administrator, but with more permissions than a non-admin user)
If No, you may want to enable that, if you can.

The fact you can Run as Administrator without font issues also indicates permissions/ownership issues.
You don't have one of those "S" versions of Windows do you?
Where it will only install apps from the Microsoft Store.
IIRC some Windows "S" users solved their fonts issues by taking ownership of the Fonts folder.
Do you have a normal Windows 10?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.