Adding Microsoft fonts to LibreOffice Writer

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br1anstorm
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Adding Microsoft fonts to LibreOffice Writer

Post by br1anstorm »

This is not so much asking a question as passing on what I hope may be some useful information.

I recently installed Linux Mint on my laptop in dual boot with Windows 7. I need to create, or work with, Word documents (.docx) produced in Microsoft Office. I have discovered that LibreOffice is usually OK with that, and can open and save documents in either .docx or .odt format (although sometimes layout goes a little peculiar when shifting from one to the other).

But one big headache has been that LibreOffice does not include many of the fonts most commonly used in Word documents. I have just learned that many of the Word default fonts are unique to Microsoft - like Arial, Calibri, and Times New Roman, to name but three which I have been accustomed to using regularly. Although created by Microsoft, they can be used in other software.

I went looking for guidance on how to add fonts into LibreOffice, and found several sites which went into great detail about searching for font-packages on the internet or from Ubuntu repositories and then using the terminal to put them into your .fonts folder. All very complicated.

Then I came across an article on the PC World website at http://www.pcworld.com/article/2863497/ ... uites.html. This explains very clearly and simply how, if you have a dual-boot setup, to use Linux to go and find the Windows fonts from the Windows drive. Then you just double click and choose install. Couldn't be easier!

I hope this is useful to others who, like me, want to use different (and Microsoft) fonts.
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jimallyn
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Re: Adding Microsoft fonts to LibreOffice Writer

Post by jimallyn »

You could also just use ttf-mscorefonts-installer, which is in the repositories and can be installed with Synaptic or Software Manager.
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br1anstorm
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Re: Adding Microsoft fonts to LibreOffice Writer

Post by br1anstorm »

jimallyn wrote:You could also just use ttf-mscorefonts-installer, which is in the repositories and can be installed with Synaptic or Software Manager.
Ah, if only I had known that! Might have been even quicker than searching, selecting and installing specific MS fonts from my Win7 drive partition.

If I now download that whole package via Synaptic, will the fact that I have already installed some of those fonts directly confuse matters and cause the package-install to mess up? Or will the Synaptic package be clever enough to see and avoid any conflict with the limited number of MS fonts that I have already installed?
vrizov

Re: Adding Microsoft fonts to LibreOffice Writer

Post by vrizov »

Hi,
nothing will be messed up. Don't worry :)
Just open terminal and type:
sudo apt-get install ttf-mscorefonts-installer

Then you should press "yes" to accept EULA and everything should be fine.
br1anstorm
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Re: Adding Microsoft fonts to LibreOffice Writer

Post by br1anstorm »

Just a quick note to say thanks to vrizov for the reassurance. I have now downloaded that font package, and all is well!
juicer
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Re: Adding Microsoft fonts to LibreOffice Writer

Post by juicer »

Thank you.
Saved me a ton of time.
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