I work mainly in Paint Shop Pro and was wondering if I can append a font name, not the file name. I understand, for the protection of the designers, font names aren't to be changed but I'm asking only to be able to append the name. Reason being, as far as I know, PSP doesn't have an internal font organizer. Fonts are all listed alphabetically, which doesn't help when trying to quickly locate a particular theme. For example, if I'm looking for a retro font, the font "great_lakes" would be much easier to locate if I could rename it to "retro_great_lakes". The designer's font name stays with the font and I've categorized it for easy searching.
Thanks

I am not sure I fully understand what you want to achieve.
PSP shows the font family name in the list of available fonts (under Windows 7 that is installed fonts unless you use a tool to temporarily install fonts). That means you can only use one face of the font family at a time.

So when you want to see and be able to use all available faces of a font family with PSP you will need to rename each and every face, changing the family name, with the use of a font editor.

For example, the Arial. Family name is Arial. Sub names are Narrow, Bold, Italic, etc.to name a few. If you need to use all these faces at the same time in PSP you need to rename Arial (sub Narrow) to Arial Narrow as the family name etcetera.

Most font licensed forbid this sort of renaming. So be careful.

koeiekat - Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm not sure I'm following you. I probably didn't explain well enough..
When I click the Fonts menu in PSP, I'm looking at an alphabetical list of all my installed fonts (C:\Windows\Fonts). If I'm looking for a retro font I have to practically get out a magnifying glass to peruse the entire list since I don't have them all memorized as to what theme they are.

What I would prefer to see is an alphabetical list that looks something like:

animals_WW Safari
brush_Dry Brush
brush_EDO SZ
calligraphy_Bradly Hand ITC
retro_BoecklinsUniverse
retro_ChocolateBox
retro_ChocolateBoxDecorative
retro_Freehand521 BT
square_Squared Display
western_Rio Grande

I don't want to change the designers' font names nor anything else associated with the font, other than appending it with my own category.
Due to the fact that I'm in the process of rebuilding after a recent hard drive crash and my installed fonts aren't in the hundreds, it's a perfect time to do this. I understand that there are licensed fonts I won't be able to do this with (Arial being one) but just being able to organize the fonts I download in this manner would be a huge help. Is this do-able?

Thanks again.

As said, PSP shows the font family names (in alphabetical order). To achieve what you want you will need to (must) change the font family name with a font editor. As said most font licensed forbid this sort of renaming. So be careful.

I see. I thought the font name and file name are separate.
I certainly don't want to change anything that's illegal to change.
Thanks for your help.

You can change the file name but it is not advisable to change the font name.

What you need is a font manager. I do not know which one is good as I don't use one but there are free versions out there. Add +free to the URL below to focus the search to free font managers

http://www.google.com.ph/search?q=font+manager

Font (family) name and file name can be but do not have to be the same. PSP is showing the font (family) name not the file name.

toto - Thanks for that info. I assume you're saying that font names can be changed within a font manager and by "not advisable" you mean because of possible infringement. I'm aware of piracy. Unlike many who would take advantage of generous designers, I have a conscience. I donate when I can and my websites include a 'credits' page. I have no problem posting a link to dafont designers. Everyone should. Free is hard to find these days.

Thanks again. I'll check out the available font managers. Hopefully what I'm trying to do is not an infringement.

Artgal, are you a real blond one or just having a blond day?

Let us make this clear, the name of the font file is its filename, like fontsname.ttf or fontsname.otf. When the term font name is mentioned we refer to the internal font name like those you see in the font selection menu of PSP.

You can change the filename to whatever you want (like fontsname.ttf to favoritefont.ttf) and there is no restriction about that, with the exception of when the font is being used by an application at the time of renaming. Note that renaming the filename will not in any way affect a font's name shown in the font menu.

As for the internal font name, I will give you two reasons why it is not advisable to do that. I am sure there are many more but 2 reasons you should consider are:

1. LEGAL ISSUE The publisher of the font (foundry/designer) most often prohibits the modification of a font in any manner. If you do that, you will at least lose the license to use the font. Remember that you do not become the owner of the font when you purchase a font. What you paid for is a license to use the font and one of its restrictions is the ability to modify the font.

2. COMPATIBILITY A conflict will arise if you share files between computers. If the internal font name of Freehand521 BT is renamed to retro_Freehand521 BT in your computer, files formatted using Freehand521 BT in other computers will likely appear as one of your default fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, etc) when you open the file in your computer since your application couldn't find a font named Freehand521 BT because you renamed it to retro_Freehand521 BT. To your system, Freehand521 BT and retro_Freehand521 BT are two different fonts. It will also affect files you formatted in retro_Freehand521 BT that you share with others.


When you tinker with fonts in the Windows font folder (installed fonts), ask yourself first if you installed that particular font. If you do not know or can't remember or in doubt, stay away from that font. That is likely a font placed there by Windows or one of your installed applications. Those fonts need to be in the same state as they were when installed. It is better safe than sorry. And if you will do some renaming, do it on a font outside of the Windows fonts folder.

Use a font manager and group fonts according to themes without renaming fonts. Try out the free font manager and see if it does what you want them to do. The ladies in some font groups love The Font Thing. A friend has a licensed Printers Apprentice. All of them love their respective font managers. I do not use one so I really do not know.

Hey koeitkat .. I heard that! No, actually I'm not a dumb blond but it's true that I don't know a lot about how fonts are licensed and managed. So that's why I'm asking questions which are no doubt elementary to you. You must have been born knowing everything the topic. Impressive.

toto - Thanks again for the in-depth explanation. I do understand the difference between font name and file name of a font, as well as not messing with a file name (especially installed fonts). Your compatibility explanation was really helpful. So bottom line: font names shouldn't be changed for both legal and compatibility reasons. That tells me what I wanted to know.

I've never used a font manager either but from what I'm gathering, it's really the only way I can categorize my fonts by theme. I guess those who do use them will keep the manager open along with their design program for the fastest way to locate specific font themes. With as many fonts as you guys must have, I'm a little surprised you don't all use font managers.

Thanks a bunch ..much appreciated.