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I would like to use my own local fonts in my ConTeXt documents. They are stored in /usr/local/share/fonts/ like so:

├── cooper
│   ├── Cooper-BlackItalic.otf
│   ├── ...
├── Vollkorn
│   ├── Vollkorn-BlackItalic.otf
│   ├── ...
├── ...

I've followed the instructions given in the "Use the fonts you want" page of the ConTeXt Garden, namely:

  • Set the OSFONTDIR environment variable to my font folder path:

    $ export OSFONTDIR=/usr/local/share/fonts

  • Run the following commands:

    $ mtxrun --generate

    $ mtxrun --script fonts --reload

Even after that, running

mtxrun --script fonts --list --all --pattern='*cooper*'

returns nothing. Trying to use them in a document also causes it to fallback to the default Latin Modern font. What am I doing wrong?

I've installed ConTeXt via texlive 2024, the following versions:

$ context --version
mtx-context     | ConTeXt Process Management 1.06
mtx-context     |
mtx-context     | main context file: /usr/local/texlive/2024/texmf-dist/tex/context/base/mkiv/context.mkiv
mtx-context     | current version: 2024.02.27 09:18
mtx-context     | main context file: /usr/local/texlive/2024/texmf-dist/tex/context/base/mkxl/context.mkxl
mtx-context     | current version: 2024.02.27 09:18

$ mtxrun --version
mtxrun          | ConTeXt TDS Runner Tool 1.32
mtxrun          | source path

Update: I can see the fonts from my $OSFONTDIR listed in the names.tma file, located in ~/.texlive2024/texmf-var/luametatex-cache/context/<random chars>/fonts/data/. But still they don't get listed by mtxrun --script fonts --list --all.

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  • Welcome! To me it looks like you have done what one should, at least for the standalone installation. Maybe things work differently in a tex live installation.
    – mickep
    Commented Jul 19 at 20:19
  • I've had exactly this same issue, with even the exact same fonts. I seem to remember that the solution is to rename the files/folders so that everything is lowercase, but I'll see if I can find my exact solution and write a full answer later.
    – Max Chernoff
    Commented Jul 19 at 23:11

2 Answers 2

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I just tried with files from

Stored in /usr/local/share/fonts/

$ tree  /usr/local/share/fonts/

/usr/local/share/fonts/
├── cooper
│   ├── Cooper Black Italic.otf
│   └── CooperBlack.otf
└── Vollkorn
    ├── Vollkorn-BlackItalic.ttf
    ├── Vollkorn-Black.ttf
    ├── ...

$ ls -la   /usr/local/share/fonts/cooper 
total 92
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root   4096 20 juil. 10:15  .
drwxrwsr-x 4 root staff  4096 20 juil. 10:15  ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  42256 20 juil. 10:15 'Cooper Black Italic.otf'
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root  37448 20 juil. 10:15  CooperBlack.otf

then I check :

$ echo $OSFONTDIR
/home/username/.fonts:/usr/share/fonts:/usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/fonts/:/usr/local/share/fonts

And finally :

$  mtxrun --version
mtxrun          | ConTeXt TDS Runner Tool 1.32
mtxrun          | source path

$ mtxrun --generate
$ mtxrun --script fonts --reload
$ mtxrun --script fonts --list --all --pattern='*cooper*'
identifier                   familyname     fontname                     filename   subfont   instances

cooperblack                  cooperblack    cooperblack                  /usr/local/share/fonts/cooper/CooperBlack.otf
cooperblackbold              cooperblack    cooperblack                  /usr/local/share/fonts/cooper/CooperBlack.otf
cooperblackitalic            cooperblack    cooperblackitalic            /usr/local/share/fonts/cooper/Cooper Black Italic.otf
cooperblackregular           cooperblack    cooperblack                  /usr/local/share/fonts/cooper/CooperBlack.otf
cooperhewittbold             cooperhewitt   cooperhewittbold             /usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/fonts/opentype/public/cooperhewitt/CooperHewitt-Bold.otf
...
cooperhewittthinitalic       cooperhewitt   cooperhewittthinitalic       /usr/share/texlive/texmf-dist/fonts/opentype/public/cooperhewitt/CooperHewitt-ThinItalic.otf

Maybe to check :

  • echo $OSFONTDIR
  • read access to the font files
  • provide web link to the font files you are actually using, to reproduce
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  • Thank you for the detailed investigation. I don't think the fonts themselves are the issue; I picked those two as exemples because they are free and open fonts (here are the pages for Vollkorn and Cooper). I've been using them all in LuaLaTeX for quite a while, without issues. As to ConTeXt-specific issues: echoing $OSFONTDIR shows me the variable was set correctly. At some point I might try installing ConTeXt from the official website, not from TeX Live, and see if it solves it.
    – impresso
    Commented Jul 21 at 15:34
  • Ah, and I know ConTeXt is looking in the right place because I can see all my fonts listed in the names.tda file (located in ~/.texlive2024/texmf-var/luametatex-cache/context/<random chars>/fonts/data). But when I issue the mtxrun --script fonts --list --all command, they're not there, and trying to use them in a document leads to an error.
    – impresso
    Commented Jul 21 at 15:39
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Removing the TeX Live installation of ConTeXt and reinstalling it from ConTeXt Garden solved the issue.

If anyone is able to provide a fix for the original problem, that is, making local fonts work with TeX Live's ConTeXt, I'll be happy to mark it as the accepted solution.

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