The Monotype Desktop App has built-in plugins that can automatically detect and activate/enable missing fonts in your creative projects.
This section will help you understand:
Available plugins in the app
Prerequisites for using plugins
Different modes of plugins (such as install/enable, update, disable, and uninstall)
Frequently Asked Questions
Plugins for some applications such as Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop for Apple M1 are referred to as native plugins. These plugins require system admin permission for installation/uninstallation because these plugins are installed at the system level (OS level).
Note: Auto activation requires internet access to work. Without it, the app cannot search Monotype’s cloud repository for the font that is being auto activated. However, upgrading the plugin does not require internet access, as it already comes packaged with the application.
Once installed and activated/enabled these plugins reside within the Monotype Desktop App and detects the fonts missing from the application file. For example, the plugin for Adobe InDesign will detect the fonts missing from Adobe InDesign file.
You can disable or re-enable a plugin by navigating to Plugins page (Settings > Plugins > Open).
Disclaimer: The plugins shown here may differ depending upon the OS and applications installed on your system.
After disabling or re-enabling a plugin for an application, it is important to restart that application to apply your changes.
When you open a design file, Monotype Desktop App automatically detects all the missing fonts, searches for them in Monotype’s library (including third-party fonts that your team manages through Monotype Fonts), and casts them onto your creative applications. You will also get a prompt to install the missing font.
Without Monotype Desktop App, finding missing fonts can be tedious and time consuming. As you may need to search them through hundreds of team assets and folders or send a couple of emails and wait for responses. Monotype Desktop App automates this process and reduces it to a few clicks.
Available plugins
Monotype Desktop App has plugins for the following creative applications:
Application | Description |
Adobe InDesign | Enables no-click activation of fonts by fetching both its postscript name and the font format. These are developed on native InDesign technology and require access to these folders. |
Adobe Illustrator | Enables one-click activation for the users of Adobe Illustrator. It uses Adobe native AIP files to fetch missing font information from opened documents and helps you get to the right fonts. |
Adobe Acrobat | Enables no-click activation of fonts by using native Adobe Acrobat plugins. |
Adobe Photoshop (Apple M+ machinery, Intel) | Enables one-click activation at a pace that is tailor-made for Apple M+ machinery. This uses technologies native to Adobe Photoshop to bring you an optimum experience. |
Adobe InCopy | Enables one-click activation for Adobe InCopy. It uses web technologies to identify the postScript Name of the font used in the document. |
Sketch (on Apple macOS) | One-click activation for macOS users on Sketch. |
Keynote | Enables detection of missing fonts in keynote presentations. |
Pages | Enables detection of missing fonts in Pages application. |
Numbers | Enables detection of missing fonts in Numbers application. |
Adobe InDesign (legacy) | This legacy plugin uses web technology to enable one-click activation for the users of Adobe InDesign. It identifies the postScript Name of the font used in the document. This is retained and you can use the plugins on macOS Big Sur and Monterrey.
Note: Support is extended for Adobe CC 2019-2024. |
Prerequisites
Before installing the plugins, ensure that your system meets the minimum system requirements for successful installation.
Note: Refer to minimum support requirements for the app. The prerequisites are same for plugin installation also.
Different modes of plugin
Install/Enable
On installing a particular plugin, the plugin file gets installed into the system in the default directory location on the operating system.
As soon as the plugin file gets placed in this location, the plugin gets enabled, which means the selected plugin would start reading the information sent by the application for usage. Here, the installation and enablement of a plugin take place simultaneously. For other cases, install is typically a one time activity.
The plugins are designed such that other versions of the application (v7.x.x onward) are able to pick up and use any version of the plugins unless otherwise deprecated.
You require system admin permission to install native plugins (Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop for M+ machinery). These plugins are native and installed directly within the directory structure the Adobe applications have.
First time installation, typically both installs and enables the plugin for you.
It is important to keep the plugin in the enabled state if you want to use the missing font detection functionality.
You can toggle the plugins to enable or disable it.
How to install/enable a plugin
The process to install/enable is same for all the plugins.
You can enable Monotype Fonts auto-activation functionality using any of these three methods:
On first launch of Monotype Desktop App
From Missing font manual activation screen
From Plugin configuration screen
On first launch of Monotype Desktop App
Uninstall and re-install Monotype Desktop App if you have already installed the app.
Open the newly reinstalled app. You will be prompted to install or enable the plugin through the following setup flow.
When you download and open the Monotype Desktop App for the first time, you will first encounter the setup wizard. You will get the option to choose, install, and activate plugins as per the requirements.
To install or enable the plugin from the setup wizard into the system, click Install as shown in the below example to install Keynote plugin.
The plugin would automatically move to loading state, installed state, and then enabled state of the toggle button.
Failed to install message and Retry install displays if the installation of a plugin fails. Click Retry install to install the plugin again.
From Missing font manual activation screen
When you are notified about a missing font(s), click Turn on (at the bottom of the window) to enable auto activation of missing fonts.
If you don’t want to enable auto activation, you can ignore the prompt by clicking on the X symbol on the bottom right. The prompt to enable auto activation will return only when you quit and restart the app, or when you restart your system.
From plugin configuration screen
Use the following steps to install or enable the plugin from the plugin configuration into the system:
Open Plugins page from the Settings page.
On plugin configuration screen, select the Auto-activate missing fonts checkbox to enable auto activation, or clear the checkbox to disable it.
Once you have enabled or disabled auto activation, ensure to quit and reopen the application to put your changes into effect.
Or, click Install for the plugin you want to install. For example, Adobe Illustrator
The plugin would automatically move into loading state, installed state, and subsequently into enabled state of the toggle button.
If during the installation or enablement process, the plugin doesn’t get installed and shows an error, Failed to Install with Retry Install link. Click Retry install to run the installation process again.
Update
Updating a plugin means installing the latest version of the plugin. This is important because plugin updates contain bug fixes and new features.
The Monotype Desktop App can reuse older versions of the plugin if needed and prompt you to update the plugin.
It also helps keep the application secure by ensuring that it has the most up-to-date version.
How to update a plugin
The process to update is same for all the plugins.
Update plugin starts to display next to the plugin in the Plugins page whenever the update of the plugin is available. Click Update plugin to update it.
The plugin will then move to an updating state, and then Plugin up to date. This means that the plugin has successfully updated.
If during the upgradation process, the plugin doesn’t get updated and enters an error where you are not able to update the plugin Then you will see Failed to update and Retry button to run the update again. Click Retry to try updating the plugin again.
Disable
Disabling a plugin means putting it in a state where it will stop reading the information sent by the system. It means that plugin folder will remain into the system but you would not be able to use its functionality.
Uninstall
Uninstalling the plugin means removing the plugin file from the system. Uninstalling a plugin will remove any associated files, data, and settings from your system and prevent the plugin from being used in the future.
Note: Native plugins (like Adobe Acrobat Pro 2020, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Photoshop for M1) require system admin permission for uninstallation because these plugins are installed at the system level (OS level). And you require admin permission to remove anything from the system level.
How to uninstall a plugin
The process to uninstall is same for all the plugins.
To uninstall a plugin, open the plugin configuration screen and turn off the toggle button. When the plugin gets uninstalled from the system, you will start seeing Install. This shows that the plugin has been successfully uninstalled from the system.
If during the uninstallation process, the plugin doesn’t get uninstalled and enters an error where you are not able to uninstall the plugin from the system. Then you will see Failed to uninstall and Retry uninstall. Click Retry uninstall to run the uninstallation process again.
Help center for plugins
The Help Centre for plugins provides detailed instructions on how to use, install, and troubleshoot plugins. You can use help center to easily resolve any plugin related issue.
Use the following steps to open the help center:
Go to the menu corresponding to a plugin.
Select Plugin Information from the menu to open the help centre page for that particular plugin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How does a plugin work?
Q1: How does a plugin work?
The identification and manual activation of missing fonts functionality is an important feature of Monotype Desktop App’s plugins. It ensures that all necessary fonts are present and available for use when any document is opened in the respective software. For example, if any document or design is opened in Adobe Illustrator, our Adobe Illustrator plugin will help in identifying and activating all the fonts that have been used in the opened document or design.
Without this feature, you may not be able to utilize certain fonts for your project, which can be a major inconvenience. Additionally, missing fonts can lead to unexpected errors or unexpected behavior in the project resulting in time-consuming troubleshooting.
With the missing font functionality in our plugins, you can quickly and easily identify and enable the necessary fonts, ensuring a smooth workflow.
Q2: How is manual activation of missing fonts performed?
Q2: How is manual activation of missing fonts performed?
The manual activation of fonts requires the alignment with postscript name.
PostScript name: The PostScript name of a font, also known as the font name or full name, is a unique identifier assigned to a font in the PostScript format. It is used to reference and specify a particular font in various applications and operating systems.
The PostScript name is typically different from the font's display name or file name.
Font developers typically assign a unique PostScript name to their fonts during the font creation process. This uniqueness ensures that fonts can be accurately identified and accessed across various platforms and software. For example, Helvetica-Bold Oblique.
Use the following steps to experience the effects of the Monotype Desktop App’s plugins:
Ensure the plugin is installed on your system and is in enabled mode.
Open any document or design in any of Adobe's software. For example, in Adobe Acrobat.
As soon as the document gets opened, the Monotype Desktop App will start reading that document, identify all the fonts that are being used in the document, and open a window on the app with all the fonts that are being used in the document under three broad categories, Missing Fonts, Need Access, and Unavailable.
Missing fonts: Fonts that are used in the opened document but are not present on your system but are available in the monotype font inventories.
Deactivated - Fonts that are available on your system but are currently not in an active state To activate all those fonts, the user would need to click on "Activate All" to be able to use those fonts in the document.
Note: In a particular font, there are two rows with the same PostScript name. That is because any particular font could be available in different formats. So, in the missing fonts section, all the formats of any particular PostScript name of the fonts are made available to the user to choose from manually.
Need access: There are certain fonts that are being used in the document that are not part of monotype font inventories but are third-party fonts that are available in the imported fonts section of monotype fonts through the admin, which requires access to use in the document. These fonts are exclusive in the sense that the license for such fonts is limited to a few users, which is why company administrators do not give access to such fonts to everyone.
Imported Fonts: Fonts that are not part of Monotype Font’s inventories and are used as third-party fonts.
Unavailable: There are certain fonts that are not available either in the Monotype Fonts inventories or in the imported font section of your account.
Select the checkbox for the fonts and format of a particular font and click Activate corresponding to font style to ensure that the selected font is activated for the opened document.
If you want a certain font from the Need Access category, then click Request. And once the admin gives access to the requested fonts, you will be able to use those fonts.
Q3: Why can installing, uninstalling, activating, and deactivating fail?
Q3: Why can installing, uninstalling, activating, and deactivating fail?
Possible reasons to fail are summarized below.
Fail to install or uninstall:
Monotype Fonts server is down.
Plugin target path does not exist - When a plugin is unable to find the path in which it needs to install itself. This typically happens when the path is incorrect or the folder does not exist on the user's computer.
Application is not installed on the user’s system. This means that the plugin that the user is trying to install on the system requires that the particular application be downloaded or present on the system. For example, if a user wants to use the Adobe InDesign plugin, he or she should first download the Adobe InDesign software on the system and then install the plugin.
For native plugins, elevation provider which helps in providing admin access is not up.
Failed to activate or deactivate: Monotype fonts server is down.