Adobe Cloud Fonts Disappear at Random

[Lizatar]

I have a subscription to the adobe creative cloud and use a lot of typefaces from their library. On activating them, they appear in my affinity programs with no issue. Almost at random some fonts I have active will desync or disappear even if I have them favorited and use them often. Just to check, I've opened Illustrator and the fonts appear there, along with an active status in the creative cloud which leads me to believe it's an issue within Affinity (specifically designer as that's what I mainly use). I love the suite of Affinity products, and use them pretty much exclusively but this issue is causing a serious snag in my workflow.

Thanks in advance. 

[stokerg]

Hi @lizatar and Welcome to the Forums,

Which operating system are you running Affinity on?  Also can you name one of the fonts this has happened with?

I've had some fonts from Adobe active in Affinity for the past 4 hours on MacOS 11.5.2 and the fonts have remained active the whole time.  I'm going to leave them active for the remainder of the day, to see if that changes.  But so far, i've not been able to replicate the issue on my setup.

[Lizatar]

6 hours ago, stokerg said:

Hi @lizatar and Welcome to the Forums,

Which operating system are you running Affinity on?  Also can you name one of the fonts this has happened with?

I've had some fonts from Adobe active in Affinity for the past 4 hours on MacOS 11.5.2 and the fonts have remained active the whole time.  I'm going to leave them active for the remainder of the day, to see if that changes.  But so far, i've not been able to replicate the issue on my setup.

For a while I had been working on a Windows Surface Book 2, running Windows 10 but recently made the switch to a desktop also running Windows 10. I've had the issue on both devices. As far as the fonts it affects, it seems to only do it with fonts directly tied to the Adobe Creative Cloud.

For example: Any fonts installed directly on the device, whether by default or external, never have this issue. I first noticed it with Futura, specifically because it's just overall my favorite typeface; so when it went missing it stood out. After a while, I'd load documents or projects anywhere from days to months old and see that fonts were completely missing even though I knew I specifically had them active.

I've noticed there's no amount of time that coincides with the issue and a font activated that same day might "desync" by the end of the day. I've also noticed whenever this issue happens, it always affects an entire font family and never one typeface. Every time I check the Adobe Creative Cloud for the fonts that are missing in Affinity, it always shows no issue and that they are active (as stated before pulling up an Adobe program like illustrator also shows no issue and the fonts appear there as normal).

The only remedy seems to be to deactivate and reactivate the font families through the Creative Cloud, which wouldn't be much of an issue, honestly, if I knew what fonts went missing when they "desync". Sometimes when designing things for a client I like to browse through my font catalog to jog the creative process. Sorry for the info dump, I just want to lay out everything I know in case it helps. Thank you for checking in to it!

[lacerto]

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[Lizatar]

On 9/1/2021 at 1:13 AM, Lagarto said:

Just to make sure: I wonder if this could have anything to do with the kind of Internet connection you have? I mean that Adobe apps probably keep the fonts active at least during the session they are open, even without Internet connection, but I'm not sure how the fonts stay in font lists in other apps if the connnection drops (and for how long the connection must be lost)...

I have not had problems with Adobe fonts and Affinity apps (or any non-Adobe apps), neither on macOS or Windows, and therefore do not think that the problem could be related directly to Affinity apps. I occasionally need to reactivate Adobe cloud fonts, but when this happens, I've been logged out a while from Creative Cloud (not intentionally but probably because of an unexpected break in Internet connection, or possibly e.g. after system update or similar reason), and the fonts are missing then from Adobe apps, as well.

Check this Adobe fonts troubleshooter for possible other reasons (especially if the Windows block for "untrusted fonts" could explain this):

https://helpx.adobe.com/fi/fonts/kb/troubleshoot-font-activation.html

 

I have a stable ethernet connection and all applications involved are up to date. This problem has persisted through two computers now; first my laptop and now my new desktop workspace. The desktop is brand new and had everything installed fresh when I was setting it up for the first time about a month ago. I'll admit this issue feels like it's becoming more and more frequent over the last few weeks.

I spent yesterday reaching out to Adobe. The representative I spoke with claimed third party software cant use fonts from the Creative Cloud despite their FAQ saying otherwise and the fact that I actively do so all the time. The only thing I can see that is somewhat relative is a feature in Adobe fonts that "auto deactivates" fonts not used after 150 days in their software suite or 60 days in third party apps. When this happens, the font will still show up as active on the Creative Cloud, but will now have a small cloud shaped icon next to it notifying you that the font files are no longer installed due to the pervious statement.

The thing is though, yesterday I was actively working with a typeface on a project (in Affinity Designer) and when I revisited it today the font was missing in Affinity. Not only do I have the font favorited, but when I went to check the Adobe Creative Cloud the font shows an active status with no irregularities yet still won't load in Affinity.

[lacerto]

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[Lizatar]

1 hour ago, Lagarto said:

This is false information. 

Yes, this is really strange. Do you have any font manager installed that could complicate the problem? One thing that comes to mind is that if you have another font (e.g. physical font) using the same name installed on the computer, many kinds of problems can arise, starting from the "duplicate" font failing to show properly on the font lists, ending up problems with proper rendering or embedding of the font. Could this be the case (just a though, as you mentioned Futura, and might well have styles of Future from other manufacturers installed with slightly different name, but possibly causing conflicts specifically when usign Affinity apps. E.g. Adobe apps enumerate fonts a bit differently and might be able so resolve name conflicts better, which would explain why the problem does not show when using Adobe apps.

But this is just guessing. It does not seem that the problem could be explained by any of the causes mentioned in the Adobe font troubleshooter (e.g. the problem with Windows blocking possibly unsafe fonts).

EDIT: Sorry, did not check properly your screenshot: obviously there is no name conflict. Just to ensure: do you have any kind of limit on usage of Adobe fonts? (Sometimes there were limits in certain subscriptions, but I suppose this is no longer so.)

No font managers or installed fonts that could cause conflicts. Checking my subscription also has no mention of limitations. It's all really bizarre.

I don't know if this helps but here are some more things I've noticed:

Sometimes during this issue, when multiple typefaces are missing, deactivating and reactivating one typeface or font family will fix multiple missing ones. For example; I had a document that I had set up using multiple fonts. I noticed three out of nine fonts (Futura, Parkside, and Eurostile) were having the issue described previously. When opening Adobe Fonts, all typefaces were active, but after deactivating and reactivating ONLY Futura, all the other fonts populated in Affinity. Almost as if this manually refreshed/reestablished whatever synchronization the two apps had.

Additionally, this same document gave me the first instance of one specific typeface missing while the rest of it's respective font family remained. I had an artistic textbox that was using Parkside Bold. Like I stated earlier it was missing, yet when I went to the font dropdown menu (in Affinity) all other versions of Parkside were present; Hairline, Thin, Light, Regular, and Black.

Thank you for giving this thread attention and being infinitely more informative and helpful than the galaxy brain Adobe rep that took 40 minutes to come up with the brilliant plan to just restart my computer.

EDIT: I just saw your last edit. The file I mentioned above was relatively simple compared to projects I've worked on in the past and consisted of nine versions of the same simple vector logo (four curves) and different font options (one text box with one word) next to each. No other files opened at the same time either. As for fonts installed I count 201 in my control panel settings and that seems to include system default fonts. I will say I don't see any of the Adobe fonts in this list but I can't remember if Creative Cloud fonts show up here or not.

[lacerto]

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[lacerto]

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[Lizatar]

2 minutes ago, Lagarto said:

I am continuing asking frustrating troubleshooting questions: you do have Adebe Creative Cloud desktop app installed on both affected computers, don't you (i am not sure if fonts can also be activate from mere browser connection but it seems it is crucial that the desktop app is installed and running and not blocked by any security feature).

Don't hesitate ask away! I do have the Creative Cloud desktop app installed. I checked and it is up to date (I also have auto update turned on in the settings). To clarify, I'm only working on this desktop. The windows laptop was a temporary workspace while this computer was set up and is no longer used for design work.

[lacerto]

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[Lizatar]

1 minute ago, Lagarto said:

More: Have you tested if having any Adobe app accessing fonts running (not necessarily perfroming any taks but just running in the background; if this does not have any effect, what if you leave it in state of accessing fonts, e.g. having a text box active, having the Character panel active, etc.); if this works this would of course be just a workaround, but that's better than nothing.

Yes, I've tested opening Illustrator and trying to access fonts that are missing in Affinity. They seem to mostly open fine here while simultaneously being unavailable in Affinity. As far as I can tell, no font has disappeared in the middle of me using it on an open file. They only seem to go missing when a document is closed and opened at a later date. What worries me is hypothetically opening an old file from say, a year ago, and not noticing a font is missing because it isn't obvious/the amount of time since I last worked on it has made me lose familiarity with the design.

[lacerto]

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[lacerto]

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[Lizatar]

22 hours ago, Lagarto said:

Thanks for the update. Do you have other Affinity apps than Designer (I am not sure if this is even relevant question as they might be using common font cache; however they do need to build their own font lists and it would be interesting to know if the problem appears in other Affinity apps, as well, when you notice the problem e.g. when opening Designer). Also, while you mention that you do not think you have ever lost a font while you are using it (or having a document open), when you revisit an Affinity app, do you mean the app has just been e.g. minimized without any document being open and you activate it, or that you relaunch it (I ask because Affinity apps build their font menu lists at program start up so if the cloud fonts do not get enumerated at that time, the problem would indicate another kind of problem than just fonts no longer being listed).

I do not know enough about operation of Adobe fonts but while googling out possible causes in one Adobe post it was mentioned that Adobe app font lists get refreshed and fonts becoming available only "on demand", when fonts are accessed, to preserve resources. Now I wonder it this could be rather an CC cloud (desktop app related) feature rather than just Adobe app specific feature, and if this could possibly then affect also 3rd party apps not trying to access and refresh the font lists. Affinity app font lists get updated on fontchange system notifications while they are running so if Adobe CC specific font manager notifies of font deactivation, that would cause these fonts becoming dropped from the font lists of Affinity apps. too, while accessing the fonts from within 3rd party apps would not necessarily cause Adobe fonts  to become available again... Just guessing. But please confirm if it is enough to just close and restart an Affinity app to get the missing fonts listed on font menus, without reactivating the fonts from Adobe CC. 

I've been holding out for a chance to test the two things you mentioned but haven't explicitly noticed any fonts go missing again. Like I said before, the biggest frustration is not noticing a font issue because it isn't incredibly apparent on first glance of a document.

As for the programs, I have all three but never checked Photo or Publisher when a font is missing. I'll make sure to do so next time. 

To clarify on how I use Designer, I typically keep it running even if there is no document open (though this is rare and usually only for a few moments as I'm on the app most of my work day). I usually leave the computer in rest mode and restart it every 1-2 days. Next time I have an issue, I'll try restarting Designer. I want to say I've tried this but I honestly don't remember if I did/the results.

21 hours ago, Lagarto said:

I have multiple Futura fonts installed (even if using different family name), so this may be just my system, but I just noticed these notices on the Adobe Fonts (Desktop CC) font manager:

...yet all of these marked fonts continue to be listed on both Adobe and Affinity font lists, and not just listed but accessible and exportable to PDF. When you have reactivated the fonts that were missing, did you ever notice these red bullets being shown? I'm going to track the behavior of this font and see the cause for rerported name conflict (as it is odd both because such conflict should not exist and because the alleged conflict has no effect on the font's availability).

 

I haven't seen this Font conflict icon at all which makes sense because I have only a handful of non native fonts installed and they are all open source display fonts that aren't found on the Creative Cloud. I have had issues in the past when Adobe has changed the file name of the font ever so slightly and it throws Affinity off. For example, FuturaPT changing to Futura PT with a space in the middle. It's really odd whenever Affinity asks to resolve font issues with a prompt before opening the document and it recognizes a typeface with a pretty significant name change yet sometimes it won't recognize fonts where the names are almost identical and instead recommends replacing it with Arial.

[lacerto]

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[Lizatar]

On 9/4/2021 at 12:21 AM, Lagarto said:

Thanks for the additional information. I have continued watching the behavior of my Futura PT installation, and have not experienced any problems so far, while trying to have my Adobe apps not been run, and having Designer running but without any documents open. Each time I have tried and created a new Designer document and tested availability of Futura PT (or any other of my Adobe Fonts activations), all styles have been available without issues. As for the problem related to name conflicts, Adobe Fonts no longer complains about any, without my intervention whatsoever (so I never clicked the suggested Retry button, nor have I deactivated/reactivated any of the previously installed Adobe fonts). So I'm afraid my efforts have not been helpful at all, so far.

On the other hand, this has helped me to educate myself of the possible perils that can be involved in usage of cloud-based fonts, and confirmed that a policy of using only physical fonts in any job that might need further reproduction or editing in the future is well based. Cloud fonts are handy when there is need to preview a design with different fonts, but it might be a good idea to purchase all fonts that end up being used in final designs that have any importance (and charge accordingly, if possible). 

This is strange (as is changing of names of any of Adobe Fonts), considering that it is not likely that any true name conflicts can exist (in my case this could be possible because of variation of Futura fonts that I have physically installed). It is also possible that the issues with Adobe cloud fonts are actually caused by a secondary problem in font enumeration and caused by other fonts, but shows sporadically and possibly not only when listing cloud fonts -- font related problems can be complex.

I figured out a fix, and of course its as simple as can be. In any instances where the computer is coming out of rest mode, restarting, or powering on for the first time; Adobe Creative Cloud has to be opened before any Affinity programs. For whatever reason beyond my understanding, the cloud fonts will not sync if the Creative Cloud is opened afterwards. This also seems to be something that affects Affinity only, as other third party programs and Adobe programs don't need to do this for fonts to sync.

Thank you again for the help!

[lacerto]

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[reliefmap]

Thank you for sharing your fix! I was struggling with the same issue but it was PowerPoint where my fonts kept disappearing. After reading your post I made sure to have Adobe Creative Cloud opened first, and lo and behold, all my fonts were available again! 

I can't thank you enough. This issue has been plaguing me for months.