Custom font in a Cocoa application

Question

I know you can customize fonts by using Interface Builder and selecting a font. However, I'm curious if I can use a custom font that's not included by default on systems. Is there a way to include a custom font in my application?

@poke: This is not a duplicate, this is for **Mac**, as clearly outlined in my tags. Please read more carefully. — sudo rm -rf, Mar 12 '11 at 16:01
Guess this would be the better possible duplicate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2444717/embed-font-in-a-mac-bundle – can't change my close vote now though :/ — poke, Mar 12 '11 at 16:10
@poke: That looks perfect. I hadn't seen that even though I searched for it. :) On a side note, would it be even legal for me to try to embed Calibri in my application? — sudo rm -rf, Mar 12 '11 at 16:13
It's unlikely, being a MS font. You should check the license agreement. — Rob Keniger, Mar 12 '11 at 22:39

score 46 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 12 '11 at 19:13

46

While the manual font activation procedure is one option, you might also consider the ATSApplicationFontsPath Info.plist key:

Information Property List Key Reference:

"ATSApplicationFontsPath (String - Mac OS X) identifies the location of a font file or directory of fonts in the bundle’s Resources directory. If present, Mac OS X activates the fonts at the specified path for use by the bundled application. The fonts are activated only for the bundled application and not for the system as a whole. The path itself should be specified as a relative directory of the bundle’s Resources directory. For example, if a directory of fonts was at the path /Applications/MyApp.app/Contents/Resources/Stuff/MyFonts/, you should specify the string Stuff/MyFonts/ for the value of this key."

I'd be sure to double-check, but I believe this functionality was added in OS X 10.5.x (which the code posted by Jinhyung Park targets).

answered Mar 12 '11 at 19:13

NSGod

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Yeah or you can use Core Text which was introduced in Snow Leopard, I believe. – sudo rm -rf Mar 12 '11 at 21:16
This solution is the right way to go. Thanks for pointing it out. – Max Seelemann Sep 15 '11 at 09:45
This is so much easier. Thanks – drudru Jan 06 '12 at 08:57
Not sure why I didn't mark this as answer before, but there you go. :) – sudo rm -rf Jul 11 '12 at 14:02
Could you please help me for same issue, [my question](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/25279279/unable-to-add-a-custom-font-in-mac-app-osx-10-9-xcode5) – Anoop Vaidya Aug 13 '14 at 06:20

mzf · Answer 2 · 2014-12-12T12:00:24.130

ATSApplicationFontsPath uses [NSBundle mainbundle] path as base path, so it does not work when Resources folder is not located there (e.g. for app plugins).

In my Cocoa plugin I need to load custom fonts using CTFontManagerRegisterFontsForURL

#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>

static void FGDActivateFont(NSString *fontName)
{

    // Can't make ATSApplicationFontsPath in Info.plist work for plugins (non-standard Resources path)

    NSArray *availableFonts = [[NSFontManager sharedFontManager] availableFonts];

    if (![availableFonts containsObject:fontName]) {

        NSURL *fontURL = [[FGDRapidCart bundle] URLForResource:fontName withExtension:@"ttf" subdirectory:@"Fonts"];
        assert(fontURL);
        CFErrorRef error = NULL;
        if (!CTFontManagerRegisterFontsForURL((__bridge CFURLRef)fontURL, kCTFontManagerScopeProcess, &error))
        {
            CFShow(error);
        }

    }

}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    @autoreleasepool
    {
        FGDActivateFont(@“FontAwesome”);
    }
    return NSApplicationMain(argc, (const char **)argv);
}

Credits: https://github.com/OneSadCookie/Extendaword/blob/master/Extendaword/main.m

Good answer, needed this for my screensaver, plist values wouldn't work there. — Moshe Gottlieb, Aug 10 '16 at 07:40

Jinhyung Park · Answer 3 · 2011-03-12T16:13:22.607

3

Here is the example for Mac App custom font loading.

NSString *fontFilePath = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath] stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"/fonts"];
fontsURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:fontFilePath];
if(fontsURL != nil)
{
    OSStatus status;
    FSRef fsRef;
    CFURLGetFSRef((CFURLRef)fontsURL, &fsRef);
    status = ATSFontActivateFromFileReference(&fsRef, kATSFontContextLocal, kATSFontFormatUnspecified, 
                                              NULL, kATSOptionFlagsDefault, NULL);
    if (status != noErr)
    {
        errorMessage = @"Failed to acivate fonts!";
        goto error;
    }
}

edited Mar 12 '11 at 16:13

answered Mar 12 '11 at 16:00

Jinhyung Park

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Can't you just call `[NSFont fontWithName:@"fontname"]`? – sudo rm -rf Mar 12 '11 at 16:17
I read the discussion at http://cocoadev.com/index.pl?UsingCustomFontsInYourCocoaApplications. After loading your fonts, you can use [NSFont fontWithName:@""]. I just checked in my Mac OS X application again that it is working. – Jinhyung Park Mar 12 '11 at 16:24
Funny you don't find anything in either Xcode help or ADC when searching for ATSFontActivateFromFileReference - need to go to "ATS/ATSFont.h" on your hard disk for any info.. – Jay Jan 13 '12 at 17:05
3

ATSFontActivateFromFileReference = Undocumented = App Store Rejection – Tibidabo Sep 23 '13 at 00:47
@Tibidabo several years late, but not undocumented at all: https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/Carbon/Conceptual/ATS_Concepts/ManagingFonts.pdf – andlabs Jan 21 '16 at 00:11

score -7 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 12 '11 at 15:59

-7

I have managed to do this using cocos2d (CCLabelBMFont) and hiero tool. You will need to create the font using the hiero, and give this font to the CCLabelBMFont object.

answered Mar 12 '11 at 15:59

Basel

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My question is about the **Mac**, not about the iPhone. – sudo rm -rf Mar 12 '11 at 16:08

Custom font in a Cocoa application

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