Windows XP in a Nutshell

Name

Font Viewer — \windows\system32\fontview.exe

Synopsis

Display a preview and summary of any supported font file.

To Open

Control Panel → Fonts → Double-click any font file

Usage

fontview [/p] filename
                  

Description

Font Viewer is most easily used by double-clicking on a font file (see Figure 4-36). You can view any font formats normally supported by Windows XP, including TrueType fonts (.ttf), bitmap fonts (.fon), and Type 1 fonts (.pfm).

In addition to the font name and summary information displayed at the top of the report, a preview of the font is shown with the full alphabet in upper- and lowercase, the full set of numbers, a few symbols, and the phrase “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. 1234567890” in several different sizes.

Figure 4-36. Double-click any font file to view a preview like this

To run Font Viewer from the command line, you must specify the full path and filename of the font file, including its extension (such as .fon or .ttf ). To send the report to the printer, use the /p option (which is the same as clicking the print button in the Font Viewer window).

Notes

• Windows XP typically keeps its installed font files in \Windows\Fonts, which is most easily accessible by going to Control Panel → Fonts. File Viewer can also be used to view fonts before they’re installed, simply by double-clicking them in Explorer.

• Although Adobe Type 1 fonts are actually stored ...