Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Quick and Easy Font Management in OS X

A lot of customers have asked what font management software I recommend. Over the years I have tried Suitcase, Master Juggler and many other solutions. Unfortunately I have run into many problems and instability in these products, leading me to seek out an easier cleaner way to load and unload fonts.
Thankfully OS X has everything included to do this task FREE...... Yup FREE!

Begin by finding your user font folder. It should be located at YourHD>Users>YourUserName>Library>Fonts.

Click on that folder and drag it to the left bar where Applications, Desktop, and other favorite folders are kept. An alias to this folder is now accessible whenever you have a Finder window open.

Now create a folder at your hard drive root and name it “Recent Fonts”. Drag that folder to the left bar as well. You now have a load and unload folder a drag away from easy font loading. When you choose fonts to use in your project, load them into a folder named with the project name or number. Drag the folder into the font folder in your left bar. Presto- your fonts are ready to use, instantly loaded by OS X. When you’re done with the project, click on the Font folder in your left bar and drag out that project font folder and put it in the “Recent Fonts Folder”. This will keep your fonts lean and mean!

Many improvements have come in the aforementioned font management software and may well be worthwhile using, but I find this method quick and easy and worth the five minutes it takes to set up.

Herb Fogler