Fonts in InDesign

[Dazzer_21]

I appreciate that this is not necessarily an InDesign problem, but I have tried finding some solutions via Apple and am getting nowhere. My main driver is an iMac running Mojave and InDesign 15. I use FontBase as my font manager and it's pretty slick. I recently upgraded to InDesign 16 but it didn't play nicely with Fontbase so went back to 15. I have now bought a MacBook Pro running Catalina - I installed InDesign 16 and FontBase wondering if the change on OS would make a difference, but no, so I'm running InDesign 15 on that too. So, to my issue...

I booted InDesign for the first time and to my horror saw that the font menu has HUNDREDS of fonts on there I've never even seen before, let alone used! FontBase is showing them as being there but they can't be deactivated. I have found that they are in the System Folder and trying to drag them out of there results in not being able to do so. So frustrating as it makes finding the fonts I DO want to use a total chore. 

Does anyone in here know a way around this? Thank you.

[Bill Silbert · Accepted solution]

In checking out FontBase's website I couldn't find anything specific as to what versions of the Mac OS and InDesign that it actually supports. I was able to find a minimum requirement of OSX 10.10 Yosemite but that does not bode well for Macs with Mojave or Catalina which are very different beasts than Yosemite (especially Catalina). The code that is used for Mojave and Catalina did not exist when Yosemite came out. Catalina was also revolutionary in that it does not support 32-bit applications. I understand that FontBase is a free app and in theory is probably simpler than the Font Managers that you have to pay for like Suitcase and FontExplorer. But the fact is that the ones that cost money to use do update their versions to specifically be compatible with the current Mac OS. Unless you can find a version of FontBase that is specifically designed for the newer OS then it seems likely that you will continue to have problems.

[Randy Hagan · Accepted solution]

Probably not. But if it's any consolation, those fonts you can't turn off have always been there.

MacOS has a couple of places it places fonts used by the system itself and residentv fonts needed for applications like MSOffice and Adobe applications. The System>Fonts folder and the Library>Fonts folder contain those fonts you can't turn on or off because they're "resident" fonts for use by the OS and applications. There are ways to eliminate those fonts, but they require elaborate measures and may have unintended consequences if you try.

So while as an American hillbilly graphics weenie I've never had a need for Adobe Devanagari, it's more of a hassle to excise it from my system than it's worth.

One more thing: while it's hard to challenge the price point of FREE, the paid font utilities provide the funding for update and feature support that'll make your life a lot easier. Traditionally, that's meant piling cash in front of the altar of Extensis for its Suitcase font utility, but I'm trying RightFont on my backup Mac production system and I'm pretty happy with what I'm seeing. Now I haven't made the leap to CC2021 apps for my production systems — yet — but I'm liking how it works. And I'm liking the price point of $35 a seat compared to $129 an upgrade even more.

Hope this helps. Or at least helps you decide that it's not worth bothering about it.

Randy