From Apple and Extensis: Font management under Mac OS X

[Neil_Keller]

Apple Computer and Extensis have free PDF documents aimed at answering many questions about using and managing fonts under Mac OS X.

Click on this link for your copy of Apple's: Using and Managing Fonts in Mac OS X -- A Guide for Creative Professionals.

This technology overview covers:

Best Practices for Font Management
Managing fonts manually
Using a font manager
Organizing fonts for a font manager
Useful font utilities
Preparing Your System
Removing nonessential fonts
Appendix A: Fonts of Mac OS X
Appendix B: Font Support in Mac OS X
Appendix C: Font Locations in Mac OS X
Appendix D: Mac OS X and Unicode

===================

Click on this link for your copy of Extensis's: Best Practices for Managing Fonts in Mac OS X

From Extensis: "This document contains detailed recommendations and instructions that can help you work efficiently with fonts in OS X, configure your system to minimize font problems, enhance your workflow."

Feel free to post feedback/augmentation/corrections specific to these two documents here.

However, for all other ATM/Type issues, please search the forum or start a new topic -- do not daisy-chain them here.

Thanks.

Neil
Forum Host
[text amended May 23, 2005]

[_Colleen_Post_]

Thanks for your replies Bob. I work for a non-profit that edits and republishes files created by government projects, so I get a lot of Helvetica used in the files. I use OS9 because the company uses GroupWise for email and I sometimes get PageMaker files, and even the latest version runs in Classic only. I wish I could get rid of it, it would simplify things.
I have removed my versions of these fonts from the OS9 fonts folder, figuring I would just depend on the dfont versions for Helv and Zapf dings. But when I did that I got no Helv and Zapf dings available to my Quark files or in my menus, so had to add mine back in.
I am so frustrated that developers can't, after years and years of font problems for graphic artists, fix/avoid these font issues. Fonts are just text, it should n't be this hard.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

> Fonts are just text...

That's not entirely accurate. As Adobe font guru Thomas Phinney has pointed out in the Typography forum, fonts are actually applications onto themselves.

Anyhow, I feel your frustration. Consider moving to InDesign. I left QuarkXPress behind and my life is much easier now.

[JustBob]

So, does it seem that Quark 6.1 is not a native OS X app? A native OS X app will not look in the Classic System Font folder for fonts, I think...I don't use Quark anymore so I don't know...I thought the latest Quark ran only under OS X. Harumph!

Anyone else with thoughts?

[JustBob]

One more thing..you know, for the most part, InDesign shows, or at least tries to show, fonts of different types. I can often choose between a Type 1 Times and a TrueType Times and a dFont Times, for instance. Doesn't Quark show mutiple font types of the same named fonts, too? If not, maybe that's a good suggestion for a Quark update.

[Neil_Keller]

QuarkXPress v6.x IS required to run native under OS X. XPress v3, v4, and v5 cannot do this. QuarkXPress will show all fonts installed and active -- but I don't know if v6 will also show if a font is Type 1, TrueType, or OpenType.

Neil

[Thomas Phinney]

For what it's worth, fonts installed in the Classic fonts folder are available to OS X native applications. However, fonts installed in the OS X system locations (including dfonts) are not available to Classic applications.

Cheers,

T

[JustBob]

Colleen. I once again share your pain. And, I do wish Apple and Adobe could offer a better solution tahn to say that we should make sure only one font type of the same family is active at the same time, because, as you have found, sometimes it is difficult to change (a System font), and at other times, other programs may have installed fonts for us (Adobe and Microsoft to mane two).

I just ran across a problem with Futura. Apple installs a dfont andI have my own. I Deactivated Apple's with Font Book; but, my Futura Regular Type 1 font (or Medium...different programs list the font under different names) is not selectable...only Apple's dFont. I actually have to remove Apple's dfont in order to be able to use mine. I guess that is because Adobe InDesign sees that the dfont is newer (becuase it has more characters, I have been told) and uses it...even though I can select the rest of my Fut font family.

Sigh!

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

Bob,

It's probably because Font Book is inadequate. Try FAP (Font Agent Pro).

[Neil_Keller]

If you have more than a handful of fonts, please don't use FontBook. Font Agent Pro is a viable solution. Some folks also like Suitcase or FontReserve (these two are from Extensis).

Neil

[_Colleen_Post_]

Well I appreciate the advice, but I am in a difficult position. I used to use Suitcase 10 when I first upgraded to Jaguar; I had lots of problems with it. I have constant font issues in my work (All of the fonts I use have come in with projects from other people) and my employer holds me responsible for them. I am now using Panther. When the system tells me there Zapf dings are missing but I can see it in the fonts folder and in Fontbook I get really frustrated. I have tried removing the dfonts and just have mine in there, but they didn't show up in the menus. Have removed mine and tried to rely on the dfonts, that didn't work either. I am beyond confused at this point.
We had a graphic artist from a design shop we outsource to come in and troubleshoot my font problems, and she recommended ditching Suitcase and just using FontBook. She said at the design shop, they use Fontbook now. So I figured if it works for them it should work for me.
It was great to get a recommendation to use a font cache cleaner to fix my AGaramonds that look garbled on screen in Quark (they look fine in Illustrator)
but my supervisor doesn't know anything about this stuff so it was referred to tech support and they mostly know about PCs, not graphic applications on the Mac; so don't know if I'll ever hear back from them, and I am not allowed to do anything with my computer.
I am criticized at work for having all these problems and not being able to fix them. I was sure hoping that following the instructions in the Apple document, of which this thread is supposed to relate, would fix things up, but the dfont problem is just not going away. It seems that if you have a version of a font that you use for a particular project, and a font of the same name is used and provided by your system for its own use, you're going to have trouble no matter what you do.
Okay, so wah, wah, wah, I'm done whining now. I just needed to vent.

[tlmurray23]

I've read through these posts, and thought I'd offer some generalizations and rules of thumb that may be of help. In the following, T1 = Type 1, TT = TrueType, OT = OpenType, DF = dFont. Note that I don't use QuarkXpress, but I've used all the others mentioned. Also, the only OTs I use are Adobe's T1-based fonts; I don't use any TT-based OTs.

Without Suitcase (can't vouch for others) =========

A TT, OT, and T1 in Classic's Fonts folder is available to both Classic and OSX. If you don't have ATM Lite, however, T1s will be jagged in Classic.

A DF in Classic's Fonts folder is available to OSX apps, but not to Classic apps.

With Suitcase ====================================

If Suitcase was installed after installing Classic support, fonts enabled via Suitcase, other than DFs, are available to all apps; I know of no Classic app that can use a DF.

I mentioned "after installing Classic support" because you need one or two special Suitcase extensions. If you install Suitcase before Classic, the extensions won't be there and Classic apps won't be able to use the fonts made available by Suitcase.

Other tidbits ==================================

If you have a T1 version of a DF, you don't need both. So far I've never encountered anything that complained that it needed a DF. Whether or not you *want* both only you can answer, but I see no reason. My own system, which is Classic and 10.3.4, uses only three DFs in the root Library: LastResort, LucidaGrande, and Monaco. The only fonts in Classic are Geneva, Chicago, and T1 Symbol. All other fonts are managed via Suitcase.

[_Colleen_Post_]

Hey Tim,
Thanks for your input. I'll get it straightened out someday.

[_Grenadine_Girl_]

Can anyone explain why why why ATM was not upgraded for OSX? Especially since the Creative Suite is trouncing QuarkXpress? It's the best font management I've used...I really dislike all the font management I've tried that's available for OSX...the built-in management is too lightweight and Suitcase has proven to be unreliable in its auto-activation, and additionally I've had strange preview problems in InDesign that seem related to Suitcase as they disappear when Suitcase is off. I've also had some of the same problems Colleen described above. I never had anything close to these issues with ATM....I would give anything to be back with sweet ATM.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

GG,

You are not alone. Many of us wish we had both ATM Deluxe and ATR in OS X.

Adobe will only say that there will never be a version of ATM for OS X (there is for Windoze). Period.

The preferred font manager these days seems to be FAP (FontAgent Pro). It's the closest thing to ATM as far as OS X is concerned. Its auto font activation function works well. There is a fully functional trial version.

Incidentally, I was one of the earliest supporters of Suitcase, having been a beta tester for Steve Brecher when Suitcase was essentially a one-man operation. Then Steve sold it and it went downhill after that.

Later, Adobe came out with ATM Deluxe and ATR and there was no need for any other font management utility through Mac OS 9.2.2. When Adobe decided not to support ATM Deluxe in OS X, I went back to investigate Suitcase, then at version 10. Well, Suitcase 10 was so buggy and the Suitcase Engine caused so many crashes in Classic and in straight, native 9.2.2, that, reluctantly, I couldn't consider it seriously any longer.

FontAgent Pro is not perfect and it still lacks the flexibility of ATR, but the latest version leaves Suitcase in the dust.

[_Grenadine_Girl_]

Thanks for the info and solidarity, Ramón. I'll definitely look into FontAgent Pro. But if anyone from Adobe is listening, please reconsider killing ATM Deluxe and ATR.

[Neil_Keller]

Gren,

We've been knocking politely (and not so politely) and firmly on Adobe's inner sanctum doors for some time now about the demise of ATM for Mac. Personally, I think there would be a rush of takers who would be happy to abandon Suitcase, Font Agent Pro, and Font Reserve, et al, should Adobe announce a successor to their previous ATM/ATR products.

But part of the reason may be that Mac OS X has font rasterization as a built-in function. And that was one of the original reasons for ATM's development and introduction somewhere around 1990. The ability to organize fonts came later.

But, yes, the loss of ATM Deluxe has been a thorn in many a designer's side.

Neil

[_John_McClung_]

I have downloaded the PDF on managing fonts and in regards to the article I am trying to find out what fonts are installed with a number of programs and am not having any luck finding the answers. The programs are listed below:

Appleworks
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Microsoft Outlook Express

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

John

[Thomas Phinney]

For the Microsoft applications, you'll need to specify what versions of the programs you have. But you can get the listing of fonts at this site: http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fonts/default.aspx

Regards,

T

[_Katie_O_Connell_]

As of today, I'm getting a 404 at the Apple site when I try to get to the "Using and Managing Fonts in Mac OS X -- A Guide for Creative Professionals." link that you've provided. A search at the Apple site produces no results showing this document.

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

Katie,

Try this link to download that PDF:
CLICK HERE

[EDITED to provide a link to a cleaner copy. The previous one had abundant portions highlited in yellow.]

[Neil_Keller]

Ramón,

I've updated the original post. I found a few other links: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75494 plus http://www.indesignusergroup.com/chapters/newyorkcity/notes/2003/07_14/07_14_notes.php which offers four PDF downloads of font installation and usage information.

Neil

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

Thanks, Neil.

[Neil_Keller]

jj

[Guest]

"Why do my fonts get corrupted when I use a flash drive to transfer my fonts from my old Mac PowerPC G4 running OS 9.2.2 to the font folders on my newer Mac PowerPC G5 running OS 10.4.11 and Classic?" The fonts (hundreds of them) look fine on the flash drive on my G4 but when I properly drag the flash icon to the trash on the G4 and then plug flash into my G5 all font icons are grayed out rectangles with exe???? This is exasperating to say the least. What am I doing wrong and saves time in font transfer/installation? ~Thanks in advance. ~ Bruce Freeman in Oregon USA

[Ramón_G_Castañeda]

>all font icons are grayed out rectangles with exe

They lack the extension at the end of the file name of each font, or the internal file type identifier, so OS X thinks they are executable UNIX files.