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Font Management Software.

S

SimonGarlick

macrumors member
Original poster
May 10, 2009
56
0
Hi, I've long been a user of Extensis Suitcase Fusion but found it to be problematic, and buggy - upon startup font sets that are supposed to be active are de-activated, halts shutdown as the App won't quit and has to be forced quit in order to continue shutdown etc.

Just wondered if anyone had any font management recommendations? I've never really tried the Mac OS native Font Book, so does anyone know if that's worth a look or if there's any other good third party options?

Thanks for any help.

Cheers,
Simon
 
SimonGarlick said:
Just wondered if anyone had any font management recommendations?
Click to expand...

Put fonts that you want to use in your User > Library > Font folder.

When you're done using that font, take it out of your User > Library > Font folder.

Don't use any other font management tools.

That is my recommendation.
 
citizenzen said:
That is my recommendation.
Click to expand...

I agree wholeheartedly. Additionally, I user Finder labels to highlight certain fonts within User/Library/Fonts -- some of the 'free' fonts I have are only licensed for specific or personal use, so I tag them with a Finder label in order to quickly check whether a font I've used in a pro job requires an upgrade to a pro license.

Every font management application I've used in 17 years of professional Mac use has interfered with my workflow to a degree that more than offsets any benefit it's provided.

Cheers!

Jim
 
Last edited:
i'm using the font explorer from linotype.
http://www.fontexplorerx.com/

there's a free version, too. which was quite sufficent for me at home. at the studio i'm using the pro version.

and in combination with indesign, it activates and deactivates the fonts you're using in each file automatically.


generally it's quite useful.
 
Another vote for Linotypes Font Explorer.

I think it's great. After the switch to OSX I found Suitcase a world of pain!

(It was great in 7,8 and 9!)
 
Thanks for all the responses. I've heard good things about Linotypes Font Explorer, so I might have a look at that for my system, as Suitcase is becoming a pain to use!
 
Jim Campbell said:
I'm not being snotty...
Click to expand...

I'll be snotty for a moment...

Designers can get overly focused in on fonts. I know, because I was once. I have spent waaay too many hours searching through font libraries, trying to find the perfect typeface for this project or that. All the while creating crappy design because I wasn't paying enough attention to the hierarchy of information, letter spacing, kerning, leading, composition, scale, contrast, rhythm, color scheme, negative space, photo selection, or photo color correction. There are so many more important aspects of design than font choice. I could design with nothing more than Helvetica and still create compelling design.

My suggestion... get yourself a handful of workhorse typefaces, and work on those other aspects of design. It will do far more for your work than the latest font ever could.
 
Another vote for FontExplorer X. I've been using it for years and it works like a charm. (I do follow Suitcase's recommended organization of fonts.)
 
Jim Campbell said:
Is there a benefit to having fonts activated and deactivated on the fly?
Click to expand...

yeah, so you don't have to put the fonts you want to use in user/library/fonts by hand, like citizenzen and you recommended.

but i agree, what citizenzen added, that there's more important stuff to take care of than solely choosing the typeface. but for organisazion, overview and samples the fontexplorer comes in handy.
at least it does for my work.
 
citizenzen said:
Put fonts that you want to use in your User > Library > Font folder.

When you're done using that font, take it out of your User > Library > Font folder.

Don't use any other font management tools.

That is my recommendation.
Click to expand...

my question is, anybody know the difference between disabling the font and removing the font?

any advantages (or disadvantages) of doing one or the other?

my problem with font explorerx is that, say i have 1000 fonts, i have to click on all 1000 to find the "right" font.

there is this app called fontcase, which shows is easier to scroll down and to find the font faster.
 
What would be really nice, it a fontbook with an organization tool to organize fonts by class or genre such as Serif, Sans Serif, Fancy, etc. etc.
 
Font Book

I have always just used apple's Font Book built into OS X. You can enable and disable fonts. It creates a very simple collection set up with collection like "fixed width" and "web", from there you can create your own. It previews everything. It is simple and has worked for me and I am currently using 1000+ fonts.
 
redAPPLE said:
my question is, anybody know the difference between disabling the font and removing the font?

any advantages (or disadvantages) of doing one or the other?

my problem with font explorerx is that, say i have 1000 fonts, i have to click on all 1000 to find the "right" font.

there is this app called fontcase, which shows is easier to scroll down and to find the font faster.
Click to expand...


You have a WYSIWYG mode in Font Explorer X

fontexplorer-x-pro.png
 
Suitcase Fuson is the answer!

I've been using Suitcase since mac Os 8 and it works well with illustrator, photoshop and indesign.

Looking for fonts for a project is really cool and when you open a file in illustrator it activates the fonts it needs temporarly.

Seriously it si good...

J
 
FontAgent Pro. I've been using it since it was plan old FontAgent and I was running Mac OS X 10.1.x, and it's gotten better and better ever since. FontExplorer X is pretty decent and Suitcase Fusion has improved since the days I was really struggling with Suitcase 8, but nothing's tempted me to switch from FontAgent Pro.
 
The difference between activation and deactivation is that the OS has to load font information at startup. You can temporarily make them active when you need them. If you have 100 or more fonts loading into memory that can bog down your system. That is why font managers are so helpful.
 
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