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@maxwelleite
Last active April 4, 2024 20:14
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Script to install Microsoft Vista TrueType Fonts (TTF) aka Microsoft’s ClearType fonts on Ubuntu distros
#!/bin/bash
# Author: Maxwel Leite
# Website: http://needforbits.wordpress.com/
# Description: Script to install Microsoft Vista TrueType Fonts (TTF) aka Microsoft’s ClearType fonts on Ubuntu distros
# Microsoft added a group of new "ClearType Fonts" to Windows with Windows Vista and Office 2007.
# These fonts are named Constantia, Corbel, Calibri, Cambria (and Cambria Math), Candara, and Consolas.
# Calibri became the default font on Microsoft Word 2007, and it’s still the default font on Word 2016 today.
# Dependencies: wget, fontforge and cabextract
# Note: Microsoft no longer provides the PowerPoint Viewer 2007 (v12.0.4518.1014) or any version anymore for download
# Tested: Ubuntu Saucy/Trusty/Xenial/Bionic
output_dir="/usr/share/fonts/truetype/vista"
tmp_dir="/tmp/fonts-vista"
if [[ $EUID -ne 0 ]]; then
echo -e "You must be a root user!\nTry: sudo ./ttf-vista-fonts-installer.sh" 2>&1
exit 1
fi
if ! which wget >/dev/null; then
echo "Error: wget is required to download the file"
echo "Run the following command to install it:"
echo "sudo apt-get install wget"
exit 1
fi
if ! which cabextract >/dev/null; then
echo "Error: cabextract is required to unpack the files"
echo "Run the following command to install it:"
echo "sudo apt-get install cabextract"
exit 1
fi
if ! which fontforge >/dev/null; then
echo "Error: fontforge is required to convert TTC files into TTF"
echo "Run the following command to install it:"
echo "sudo apt-get install fontforge"
exit 1
fi
file="$tmp_dir/PowerPointViewer.exe"
mkdir -p "$tmp_dir"
cd "$tmp_dir"
err=0
echo -e "\n:: Downloading PowerPoint Viewer...\n"
wget -O "$file" https://web.archive.org/web/20171225132744/http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/7/E675FFFC-2A6D-4AB0-B3EB-27C9F8C8F696/PowerPointViewer.exe
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
rm -f "$file"
echo -e "\nError: Download failed!?\n"
err=1
else
echo -e "Done!\n"
fi
if [ $err -ne 1 ]; then
echo -n ":: Extracting... "
cabextract -t "$file" &> /dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Error: Can't extract. Corrupted download!?"
err=1
else
cabextract -F ppviewer.cab "$file" &> /dev/null
cabextract -L -F '*.tt?' ppviewer.cab &> /dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Error: Can't extract 'ppviewer.cab' from 'PowerPointViewer.exe'. Corrupted download!?"
err=1
else
echo "Done!"
fi
fi
fi
if [ $err -ne 1 ]; then
# If you need the Cambria and Cambria Math (regular) font, you'll need to convert it to TTF because the font is available
# as a TrueType Collection (TTC) and unless you convert it, you won't be able to use it in LibreOffice for instance.
echo -n ":: Converting 'Cambria Regular' and 'Cambria Math Regular' (TTC - TrueType Collection) to TrueType (TTF)... "
fontforge -lang=ff -c 'Open("cambria.ttc(Cambria)"); Generate("cambria.ttf"); Close(); Open("cambria.ttc(Cambria Math)"); Generate("cambriamath.ttf"); Close();' &> /dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Error: Can't convert file 'combria.ttc'."
err=1
else
echo "Done!"
fi
fi
if [ $err -ne 1 ]; then
echo -n ":: Installing... "
mkdir -p "$output_dir"
cp -f "$tmp_dir"/*.ttf "$output_dir" &> /dev/null
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Error: Can't copy files to output directory."
err=1
else
echo "Done!"
fi
fi
if [ $err -ne 1 ]; then
echo -n ":: Clean the font cache... "
fc-cache -f "$output_dir" &> /dev/null
echo "Done!"
fi
echo -n ":: Cleanup... "
cd - &> /dev/null
rm -rf "$tmp_dir" &> /dev/null
echo "Done!"
if [ $err -ne 1 ]; then
echo -e "\nCongratulations! Installation successful!!\n"
else
echo -e "\nSome error occurred! Please try again!!\n"
fi
@Golddouble
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For which purpose is "PowerPointViewer.exe" required. Is this not a Microsoft program? And does it even run in Linux? *Confused

@jaquinocode
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The font files are unpacked from the exe from Microsoft, that's why.

@thohng
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thohng commented Oct 11, 2021

Hi Maxwel, I tested on Ubuntu 20.04 and Debian Buster (docker), it can read .TTC, so dont need to convert .TTC to .TTF.
https://gist.github.com/maxwelleite/10774746#file-ttf-vista-fonts-installer-sh-L78

@inoas
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inoas commented Apr 5, 2022

I used this to install Calibri on Mac OS.

  1. brew install cabextract
  2. Download https://web.archive.org/web/20171225132744/http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/7/E675FFFC-2A6D-4AB0-B3EB-27C9F8C8F696/PowerPointViewer.exe
  3. cabextract -F ppviewer.cab "PowerPointViewer.exe" &> /dev/null
  4. cabextract -L -F '*.tt?' ppviewer.cab &> /dev/null
  5. Install fonts using Font Book.app

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