organize fonts in font menu
liu
alphabeticorder when accessing font from a program such as Photoshop
or Illustrator? I remember the old days in Mac that I can put
different fonts in different folders and they would be grouped
together (maybe with suitcase or just the OS). Is there something
similar on Windows? It's really time consuming when searching for a
font from a long list.
Thanks for any info!
Armadillo
Font's cannot be grouped in menus but if you use a font manager like Suitcase or MainType you gan install and uninstall fonts very esily to control font menu length. Windows or Mac, don't pour all the fonts into the font folder because it will make the system slower too.
Best way to use font is keep them outside system foldes in well organized folders and installing with font manager as necessary. Suitcase (www.extensis.com) is my favorite tool for install and uninstall but I also use MainType (www.high-logic.com) for arranging font folders and previewing fonts.
The font grouping program for Mac is TypeReunion by Adobe.
Jukka
liu
> Best way to use font is keep them outside system foldes in well organized folders and installing ..
...
> The font grouping program for Mac is TypeReunion by Adobe.
>
Thanks for the advice and reminder on TypeReunion. It seems that I
can organize fonts menu by for example Sans Serif, Serif, Script, etc
folders and be able to access different types quickly from these
folders in all the applications. How is it on the Mac OS X nowadays?
I've not used it for ~10 years now.
Armadillo
> Thanks for the advice and reminder on TypeReunion. It seems that I
> can organize fonts menu by for example Sans Serif, Serif, Script, etc
> folders and be able to access different types quickly from these
> folders in all the applications. How is it on the Mac OS X nowadays?
> I've not used it for ~10 years now.
It seems that latest version of Type Reunion is 2.6 dated 7/11/2000. OpenType supported but not OS X.
Again, the best way to control font menu length is to install as few fonts as possible. Also turning off font samples in menus makes things way faster.
(I don't know whose big idea font samples in dropdown menus is but as far as interface design goes it is one of the most stupid. Must have been Office/Microsoft?)
Jukka
Character
> (I don't know whose big idea font samples in dropdown menus is but as far as interface design goes it is one of the most stupid. Must have been Office/Microsoft?)
>
> Jukka
>
Actually it was strong user demand. People want to see what things
look like. Some applications let you highlight or select the text you
want to change, and the font list then shows what the selected text
looks like in each of the fonts (usually one at a time).
Most people (including me) can't visualize what every font looks like
- particularly seldom-used specialty fonts or individual members of a
large font family or a family whose members have non-descriptive names.
One of the earliest MS Word add-ons or macros was one that did just this.
- Character
Character
To get back to your original question, there's no way to do this
automatically, because the panose font descriptions are very seldom
accurate, even if they're there at all. Many programs let you select
fonts based on the panose settings. It's a pity that font creators,
being artists, think that their work is finished once the basic
artwork and functionality are completed. Entering the necessary
information in Fontographer or FontLab requires a multiplicity of
selections from multiple pull-downs, some of which appear to conflict
with each other, whose meanings aren't always self-evident, and many
of the settings are highly subjective (they weren't meant to be that
way, but they are).
So YOU would have to categorize and organize your own font collection
using whatever criteria work for you.
As Armadillo said, there are many programs that will group fonts. He
mentioned two of the best; I also like Printers Apprentice.
Unfortunately, such programs are all 'third party' and not integrated
into applications. They let you group fonts for activation and use;
but once activated, they are undifferentiated when they appear in
application font lists. I imagine it might be possible for someone to
create an application-specific macro or plug-in that would display a
specific FontManager-based font listing.
- Character
TaliesinSoft
(in article <op.uq8jy...@armadillo.telewell.gateway>):
> (I don't know whose big idea font samples in dropdown menus is but as far as
> interface design goes it is one of the most stupid. Must have been
> Office/Microsoft?)
At least in Word 2008 (I don't know regarding prior versions) this "feature"
can be disabled so all font names will appear in a single face.
--
James Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... talies...@me.com
tweaked_eye
I have been using this for the past 10 years.
"Character" <Ch...@cters.bold.italic> wrote in message
news:oJOxl.65196$rp7....@en-nntp-02.dc1.easynews.com...
Armadillo
> Most people (including me) can't visualize what every font looks like
> - particularly seldom-used specialty fonts or individual members of a
> large font family or a family whose members have non-descriptive names.
Nether can I and this is exactly why I use font managers. Especially Suitcase because it has the best and most simple font preview.
Layman or pro less options usually means better typography. ;-)
Jukka
TaliesinSoft
(in article <op.uq9np...@lapdillo.pp.htv.fi>):
[responding to comments regarding seeing miniature previews of fonts in an
application's font menu]
> Nether can I and this is exactly why I use font managers. Especially Suitcase
> because it has the best and most simple font preview.
What do you feel is the advantage of Suitcase over the preview facilities in
Apple's Font Book -- assuming that you are speaking in terms of a Macintosh
and not a PC.
Armadillo
>> Nether can I and this is exactly why I use font managers. Especially Suitcase
>
>> because it has the best and most simple font preview.
>
> What do you feel is the advantage of Suitcase over the preview facilities in
> Apple's Font Book -- assuming that you are speaking in terms of a Macintosh
> and not a PC.
I am talking about PC but with Suitcase I can easily see previews of several selected fonts which Font Book cannot do. Sometimes I even select all the fonts I have, most uninstalled, and using for eample a book title as the sample text browse my font library with page down key.
But Suitcase cannot show extended caharacter sets of OpenType fonts or copy then to another folder - this is why I also use MainType.
Jukka
TaliesinSoft
<op.uq987...@lapdillo.pp.htv.fi>):
[in response to my having asked]
>> What do you feel is the advantage of Suitcase over the preview facilities
>> in Apple's Font Book -- assuming that you are speaking in terms of a
>> Macintosh and not a PC.
>
> I am talking about PC but with Suitcase I can easily see previews of
> several selected fonts which Font Book cannot do. Sometimes I even select
> all the fonts I have, most uninstalled, and using for eample a book title
> as the sample text browse my font library with page down key.
Font Book on the Macintosh does provide a preview window for a selected font
and one can have an arbitrary number of such windows open at the same time.
One can arbitrarily position these windows so that side by side comparisons
are possible. Such previews are limited to a fixed character set.
Also, one can create a Font Book collection of a selection of fonts and then
step through that collection font by font. The display here can be of any
chosen set of characters.
> But Suitcase cannot show extended caharacter sets of OpenType fonts or
> copy then to another folder - this is why I also use MainType.
Character Palette on the Macintosh allows one to access the entirety of the
character set of any font and one can copy characters from there into a
document.
Armadillo
> Font Book on the Macintosh does provide a preview window for a selected font
> and one can have an arbitrary number of such windows open at the same time.
> One can arbitrarily position these windows so that side by side comparisons
> are possible. Such previews are limited to a fixed character set.
Many font managers work like this but Suitcase shows all previews of selected fonts immediatatly in the preview window. Opening and arranging preview windows of, say, 100 fonts is insane and will take probably a working day. So for viewing previews of several fonts, even the whole library, Suitcase is absolutely the best and the quickest way.
Even if I know how a font looks like, even the one I've made myself, I cannot tell for sure how certain words will look like. So for me it is important to quickly browse through many fonts to select a typeface for example to be used on a book cover. In designing a logo this is also a good starting point.
Jukka
TaliesinSoft
<op.urao4...@armadillo.telewell.gateway>):
[responding to my preceding post in this thread]
> Many font managers work like this but Suitcase shows all previews of
> selected fonts immediatatly in the preview window. Opening and arranging
> preview windows of, say, 100 fonts is insane and will take probably a
> working day. So for viewing previews of several fonts, even the whole
> library, Suitcase is absolutely the best and the quickest way.
I'll readily agree that Font Book isn't up to a 100 font preview. But for a
small number, say six, it works fine. A single preview window, if associated
with a family, will allow that same window to show any member of that family
> Even if I know how a font looks like, even the one I've made myself, I
> cannot tell for sure how certain words will look like. So for me it is
> important to quickly browse through many fonts to select a typeface for
> example to be used on a book cover. In designing a logo this is also a
> good starting point.
In Font Book one can, by creating a collection and selecting the display
text, cycle through a set of fonts to see how the text will display in each
of them. A downside is that one will be seeing the displays one font at a
time.
liu
them outside of the font menu. I will check all the applications
suggested out.