Autocad Text Shifts When I Open Drawings

Issue:

When opening a drawing in AutoCAD, text does not look correct. Text may look different when the same drawing is opened on different systems.

One or more of the following may occur:

• Text is displayed as a different font.
• Text may appear dim until zoomed in.
• Text does not fit the space or frame it was placed in.
• Blank space shows where text should be.
• Text may look like a generic or block-style font.
• Text may overlap other text.
• Text appears to show corrupted letters or characters.
• Text may appear shifted and/or at a different scale or linetype.

Affected objects can include:

• Multi-line text.
• Text.
• Dimensions.
• Attributes.
• Attribute blocks.
• Labels.
• COGO points.

This also affects the plotted output from AutoCAD.

Causes:

The following are possible causes:

• AutoCAD is replacing a font that cannot be found or that is not installed in the operating system or in the AutoCAD fonts folder.
• The installed font on the system is somehow corrupted and can't be read correctly in AutoCAD.
• The font is installed on the system and usable by other programs, but it is an OpenType font with Postscript outlines.
  • ​​For AutoCAD to use a system-installed font, it must use TrueType outlines. Check the properties of the font to determine whether this is the case.
• AutoCAD is substituting a font as specified in the font-mapping (FMP) file.
  • This can occur whether or not the original font can be found. In some cases, a substitution might not occur and the text does not display at all.
• The displayed text is part of an object that originated in Civil 3D, such as labels and COGO points.

Solution:

Install missing fonts

Follow these steps:

1. On the command line in AutoCAD, enter STYLE.
2. Look through the text styles to see which fonts are missing.
3. Install the missing fonts, either copied from another computer or downloaded again from the original source (see How to install a font for AutoCAD).

Note: If a font cannot be obtained, the text styles that use it need to be redefined with another font.

Re-install corrupted fonts

Follow these steps:

1. Make sure that the font can be copied from a working system or downloaded again from its original source.
2. Go to the Windows Font folder by opening the Control Panel -> Appearance and Personalization -> Fonts, alternatively go to Windows 10 Settings (see note below)
3. Select the affected font and delete it.
4. Copy the font from another workstation or download it again and install it on the affected system.

Note:

• If a font cannot be obtained, the text styles that use it need to be redefined with another font.
• To uninstall and install fonts In Windows 10 go to: Settings > Personalization > Fonts

Check for font substitution

Simplex.shx is a default font that AutoCAD often uses when it cannot find a needed font. To check this, open a drawing and then press F2 to bring up the text window. This shows the font substitution.

Opening an AutoCAD 20xx format file. Substituting [simplex.shx] for [font_name.shx]. Regenerating model.          

Substituted font file corruption

If the simplex.shx font is damaged and not displaying correctly (whether it is the intended font or AutoCAD has used it to replace another), copy simplex.shx from a working system into the following folders:

• C:\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\Fonts
• C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 20xx\<release>\enu\Support

Verify font mapping settings

Check the AutoCAD font map file to see if it is incorrectly replacing fonts. The path to the acad.fmp file is can be found in Options > Files > Text Editor, Dictionary, and Font File Names > Font Mapping File.

1. Following this path, navigate to the acad.fmpfile within the operating system and open it in a text editor such as Notepad.
2. Compare the file with acad.fmp from a working system.
3. Manually edit the font replacements as needed.
   • Copy and replace the acad.fmp file.

Note: Font substitutions specified in the font-mapping file will occur even if the font specified in the text object can be found on the system. This is expected behavior.

Insert into a new file

Recreate the drawing by doing the following:

1. Create a new drawing.
2. Use the INSERT or CLASSICINSERT command to insert the file with the bad font.
3. Save the new file and use it going forward.

Corrupt MTEXT objects

Clear and reapply the formatting to any malfunctioning MTEXT (Multiline text) objects.

1. Select the malfunctioning object.
2. Right-click and choose Mtext Edit.
3. Right-click the text and choose Select all.
4. Right-click the text and choose Remove formatting > Remove all formatting.
5. Re-apply formatting as needed.

Objects originating in Civil 3D

Objects which originate in Civil 3D can only be viewed/plotted in other AutoCAD versions. Changing the display properties of the text in those objects can only be performed in Civil 3D.

Products:

AutoCAD for Mac; AutoCAD LT for Mac; AutoCAD Products;

truesdalegeon1937.blogspot.com

Source: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Fonts-not-being-displayed-as-expected-in-AutoCAD.html

Share this post