![]() ![]() The fonts shown under Internet Hits are available from and, and may be purchased. The Keyword Search feature finds fonts based on common terms. You can, however, choose Update Font Profiles from the Tools menu to get the latest font information from Insider Software, such as width, weight, slant, and other information that helps FontAgent Pro assign the unique font identifier used in auto-activation. I found it to be remarkably accurate and helpful, but not every single font out there is included in the results-and there’s no way to edit the keywords for a font. It finds matching fonts on your local hard drive or network, and also shows commercial fonts available for sale. The Keyword Search feature lets you use common terms such as Typewriter, Western, Retro, or Holiday. When complete, you can save the results as a new Set. The Smart Search feature can search for fonts, Sets, or Libraries that contain any combination of attributes. For example, there’s a Smart Search feature that lets you search for any conceivable combination of font attributes. If you use the same small set of fonts for most of your work, then it might be good enough, but it is still rather limited in features compared to the apps tested here.The FontAgent Pro 5’s updated basic interface is a model of simplicity.īut when you start clicking around, lots of deep capability is revealed. ![]() That may not seem like a long list of strikes but collectively that puts Font Book in the doghouse for real-world professional use. You can only preview one font at a time, making it very slow for finding new fonts for a project.I'll give a few reasons why Font Book, while a nice utility and a welcome addition to the system, is not enough for professional font management needs: Advertisementīefore we start, I have to field this question since I know some people are wondering why they should consider spending a dime or bandwidth grabbing a new font manager when Mac OS X seems to have its own included. So with the stage set, let's see how they fared. After a slow and rocky start for font management on Mac OS X, it's now good times for font junkies. The big three reviewed here-Insider FontAgent Pro, Linotype FontExplorer X, and Extensis Suitcase Fusion-are now all Universal Binaries for Intel Macs. Now, years after Suitcase started the ball rolling on System 6, we're lucky enough to have some very mature font management tools for Mac OS X. The result is a need to handle and navigate the abundant libraries available while not stifling that creative process. Nowadays clients are wiser and choosier, fonts are cheaper (not making them out of steel helps), and everyone and their dog is making fonts (the dog fonts are terrible you really don't want to use those). In simpler times, you pulled open a drawer, chose between the three sets of steel blocks, said "I don't care who you are, you're getting Garamond," and that was that. For designers that juggle a range of clients and projects, working with fonts is more a nebulous creative ritual of feeling a brand, and it demands a tool worthy of the task. To prepress houses and service bureaus, it is the pit stop: you turn it on, hit Print, and go deal with the real work-the more time you have to spend dealing with the font management/activation process, the less money you are making. To people outside of design and typography, I'm sure that the words "font manager" sound like something taking itself way too seriously-like some sort of gilded spice rack-but for those that need to work with fonts on a daily basis, the font manager is serious business. Giving a lot of time to these programs in a production setting is crucial to seeing how they perform on a daily basis, and I am confident I've thrown enough varied scenarios at each to find out where they succeed and fail. ![]() I've also succeeded in not completely losing my mind while the developers updated the apps, nullifying half my criticisms in the process. Well, it was a long time coming, but I've been through the trenches and come up, sucking chest wound and all, with the Ars review of font management programs. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |