Font Management Options - FontBase?

Let’s break your question into two parts:

• How can I guarantee that all the fonts used in an InDesign layout are collected when using the ‘File > Package’ command?

• Which font managers will help me handle a large library of typefaces?

The first part is fairly easy to answer, although you may not necessarily like the answer itself. And it all has to do with whether your layout includes typefaces that are from the Adobe Fonts service that’s part of you Creative Cloud subscription.

Adobe Fonts allows you access to thousands of fonts from dozens of independent typefoundries, and they can be conveniently activated when needed. However, if you ever try to collect Adobe Fonts font files when using Illustrator and InDesign’s ‘Package’ feature, you’ll notice that you can’t.

If you look closely at the ‘File > Package’ dialogue box, you’ll notice a set of checkboxes allowing you to choose what files get collected. One of those checkboxes – which is checked by default – is ‘Copy Fonts’. And you’ll notice that there’s wording next to it that effectively says ‘Except Adobe Fonts’.

This is deliberate. Adobe Fonts gives you convenient access to a diverse range of typefaces, but it’s on Adobe’s licensing terms. When you activate a typeface from Adobe Fonts, the font files are installed on your computer, but not directly in the operating system’s font folders. These font files are also specifically tagged as being ‘Adobe Fonts’ files: a form of copyrighting that all Adobe applications will respect.

You can use any typeface available on Adobe Fonts to create designs and layouts. You can convert text formatted using Adobe Fonts typefaces into vector outlines if you like. You can embed Adobe Fonts typefaces into PDF files. But you cannot collect Adobe Fonts typefaces as part of an Illustrator or InDesign project package for archiving. It’s just the way things work.

If you want to package typefaces that are available on Adobe Fonts for archiving, then the only way you’ll be able to do so is to license those typefaces directly from the typefoundries in question. They in turn will have their own licence agreements, which may – or may not – grant you the right to collect their font files with your Illustrator or InDesign project packages.

Next, let’s look at what font managers are available on the market today. There are a range of competent applications: each with their advantages and disadvantages, and a different selection for Macintosh and Windows. Since most of my creative work is done on Macintosh, I can only discuss what’s available for macOS. Some Macintosh font managers are also available for Windows; there may be more that are Windows-only.

There are five popular font managers available for Macintosh:

• Extensis Connect Fonts (formerly Suitcase Fusion: https://www.extensis.com/);
• FontBase (https://www.fontba.se/);
• Insider FontAgent (https://www.insidersoftware.com/);
• Monotype FontExplorer X (https://www.fontexplorerx.com/);
• RightFont (https://www.rightfontapp.com/).

Connect Fonts is the oldest font manager available today. Unlike the other three applications however, it is available only by subscription ($108 per year). The other four font managers are available both by subscription and by permanent licence ($60 to $180). Please note: although FontBase looks like it’s free, you have to pay to use all of its features.

If you have a relatively small typeface collection, Apple’s Font Book (part of macOS) should be sufficient. Font managers are more suitable for larger typeface collections.

One practical reason to use a font manager is if you have to work on a variety of projects, and you have difficulty remembering which fonts need to be installed. Font managers automatically activate fonts when a working file is opened, and automatically deactivate them when the working file is closed. That way, you don’t end up with hundreds – or even thousands – of fonts simultaneously active on your system. The more fonts that you have active, the more RAM memory is required to keep them active, and the more your operating system and applications will slow down.

Font managers differ in their features and application support for automatic activation. So it’ll be important to choose one that has the features you need.

A personal example: a number of my colleagues are professional typeface designers. When they ask me to test the typefaces that they’re developing, I often have to test multiple versions of the same typeface. Font files are like applications: they have versions. That means that Times New Roman 1.036 is different from Times New Roman 1.037.

Unfortunately, operating systems cannot handle multiple versions of a font simultaneously. Fortunately, Extensis Suitcase Fusion – now Connect Fonts – understands and supports multiple versions of the same font in its database system. That way, I know precisely which version of a font is active at any time. However, Extensis’ subscription-only pricing has made me reconsider whether paying $108 per year is worth it.

For my own purposes, I probably don’t need a font manager these days. Other than having a committed font database that supports multiple font versions and the convenience of automatic activation, keeping my font files sorted in folders and manually installing them when needed is good enough.

But if you work on a variety of different projects that use hundreds of typefaces – or are a production professional who has more important matters to worry about – then you should seriously consider a font manager.

I hope that answers your question. If not, please let me know.

Best regards
Andrew

–30–

I was looking at FontBase but I found out that when packaging InDesgin documents for archiving it won't include the fonts, which is a bit of a problem for me... unless there is an easy manual workaround?

By @MrMeeseeks

This is an Adobe fonts “feature” and not an InDesign fault. Packaging is a transfer tool, not necessarily an archiving tool, even that at the beginning of the InDesign saga, they were equal. You need to trust that Adobe fonts are still available at a later time. If not, you will have to redo partially the work. If you do not want that, you need to use only local fonts (also those you acquire).

Packaging the fonts is an InDesign function, and it will only package fonts that are legally able to be. Cloud fonts cannot be packaged no matter what (and is unnecessary anyway)

I personally have used several Font Managers over the years, and most come with auto-activation plug-ins for the major apps. I have used Suitcase... then Font Agent... then FontExplorer, which is what I am still using and have good luck with over the years. That being said, it has pretty much non-existent technical support, and updates for new versions of apps come very slowly, and without any notice, but they do show up eventually.

Because of that, only recently have I been looking at new alternatives. FontBase came up, but I haven't tried it, mostly because I read it was having issues with M1 Monterey (but then, they all were in some way). Since it's new on the block, I would be concerned about its lack of long-term experience in the field.

As far as a manual approach, many of the font managers have a utility to detect fonts in a particular document, then create a Set you can load/unload as desired, and Export as a ZIP/whatever.