(Redirected from Font-management program)
Font management software is utility software that computer users use to browse and preview fonts and typically to install and uninstall fonts. In addition, depending on the individual font management program's capabilities, users can also:
First of all, it’s the one and only free software in this list of Mac font managers. Despite being free to use, FontBase can compete with most of the apps we have mentioned above. It in fact brings a lot features like Google Fonts support, Nested Folders and Styling support to enhance the overall font management.
- activate and deactivate fonts (users can do this manually; sometimes programs will do this in conjunction with specific software, such as Adobe's InDesign)
- protect fonts that are required by the system by preventing them from being uninstalled
- organize fonts by groups and libraries
- find and uninstall corrupt fonts
- rename font files
- view fonts that are not currently installed
- print font samples or font books illustrating some or all of the fonts on the system
- sort fonts according to different criteria
- search for fonts meeting specific criteria
- However, there are several free applications that can help you find, categorize, tag, preview, and install/uninstall your fonts. In this article, you’ll find 10 free applications that will help your better manage your font collection. MyFontbook is a free web application for organizing your installed fonts. It allows you to tag.
- Nov 30, 2015 Font Explorer X has been my font manager of choice for many years. Originally this was a free version of Font Explorer X Pro, but it has since been removed from the Font Explorer website. Thankfully this handy free version is still accessible via Softpedia. The Professional’s Choice (Win & Mac) Suitcase Fusion ($119.95).
Uses[edit]
Fonts - and therefore font-management programs - support people in a variety of professions: graphic designers, publishers (such as book publishers and news and periodical publishers), web-site designers, interface designers, illustrators, packaging designers, typeface designers, letterpress printers (using plates made from page layout programs), motion-graphic and film-title designers, advertising agencies, signage and wayfinding (environmental graphic design studios), industrial designers, and architectural firms that have in-house 2D design-staff who work with signs and typography.
These people require fonts as a basic part of their job. They purchase their fonts and typefaces either directly from type foundries large and small, such as Adobe Systems, Carter & Cone, Dalton Maag, Font Shop, Frere-Jones Type, Hoefler & Co, Linotype, Monotype Corporation, Paratype, P22, Stone Type Foundry, TypeNetwork; or from websites specializing in selling fonts. Eventually, they may end up with tens or even hundreds of thousands of fonts; hence the need to manage those fonts. Effective, reliable, and easy-to-use font management can help.
Objectives[edit]
Most operating systems come with basic font management abilities, limited to installing or uninstalling; however, people who use many typefaces need font management software with more capabilities.
Ease of Finding and Evaluating Fonts[edit]
When there are hundreds or even thousands of fonts on a system, font management software makes it easier to find, organize, and evaluate specific fonts. Using font management software, people can organize their fonts in ways that suit their needs. They can also view specific fonts in a variety of ways, such as by character or size, to better evaluate a font's suitability for a specific purpose.
Once a font is found, a person can view the individual glyphs (letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other components of a font), and can visually compare two or more fonts with each other.
Font management software often provides details on fonts such as how many glyphs are in the font, whether the font can be embedded (such as in PDFs), and the person or foundry that created the font.
System Stability[edit]
One of the valuable uses of font management software is to improve system performance. Keeping thousands of fonts active can slow down many systems. In taking advantage of a font manager's ability to activate fonts when they are needed (either individually or in groups, such as a group of fonts for a specific project), users can reduce the system's font load.
This capability is especially important on older versions of the Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintoshoperating systems, as with those systems, fonts are normally always active and available to all programs that use or display text. However, these operating systems have internal limits on active fonts; beyond that point, you may experience system problems.[1][2]
Some font management programs can activate one font, several fonts, or a specific group of fonts when a specific application (such as Adobe's Creative Suite series) or document is launched. When the application or document is closed, the font management software can deactivate those same fonts. That way, fonts that are needed only for specific applications or projects can be made available on the fly, then put away when not needed, thereby reducing the load on the operating system.
Linux-based operating systems generally do not pre-load fonts on a system-wide basis. Instead, each application loads them as it needs them, leaving no need for a font management program. However, current Linux desktop environments (such as KDE and Gnome) manage fonts for applications using their internal framework library calls for font display, thus allowing management of fonts centrally and comfortably via the GUI.
Many Linux distributions supply a font server program (such as X Font Server) for distributing fonts over a network.
List of font management software[edit]
Note: Surprisingly, information on supported fonts is not readily available from many manufacturers. However, at a minimum most of the major commercial programs support OpenType and TrueType fonts.
Name | Operating system | License | Author | Publisher | Supported fonts | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adobe Type Manager Light (ATM Light) | Mac OS 8.6 through 9.1, Mac OS X Classic; Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 | Free | Adobe Systems | ATM Deluxe and ATM Light were discontinued in 2005.[3][4] | ||
Advanced Font Viewer | Windows | Proprietary | Styopkin Software | |||
AMP Font Viewer | Windows | Free | AMPsoft | OpenType, PostScript Type 1, TrueType | ||
BDF Font Viewer | Windows | Freeware | Komeil Bahmanpour | Chortkeh | ||
California Fonts | Windows | Free | The Scone Company, LLC | OpenType, Postscript Type 1, TrueType | Blocked by Win 10. | |
DiskFonts | Mac OS X (10.5+), Windows (XP, Vista, 7) | Proprietary | Anastasiy | Bitmap, OpenType, Postscript Type 1, TrueType | Font manager panel for Adobe Creative Suite (CS3, CS4, CS5), supports FontExpert groups | |
Elara Online Font Manager | Linux, BSDs, OS X, Windows, and others | Proprietary | Everything Fonts | TrueType, OpenType, PostScript Type 1, Woff and many other formats | Works directly from the browser. No local install necessary. | |
FontBase | Mac, Windows, Linux | Free | Dominik Levitsky Studio | OpenType, TrueType | Fast viewing speed. Works with autosync from Dropbox and Google Drive. Can be used to activate fonts in all modern design applications, like Adobe CC and Sketch. | |
FontAgent Server | Mac, Windows | Proprietary | Insider Software | OpenType, PostScript Type 1, TrueType | Supports Adobe Creative Cloud 2015 and Quark 2015, Mac Windows Linx | |
Font Card | Mac OS 10.4 (but not Mac OS X 10.6 Leopard) | Proprietary | Unsanity | OpenType, PostScript, TrueType | Modifies the Font menu and the font panel in Carbon and Cocoa applications. Supports FontAgent Pro, FontExplorer X, and Suitcase Fusion font sets. | |
Fontcase | Mac OS X | Proprietary | Bohemian Coding | Fontcase was discontinued in November 2013[5] | ||
FontDrop | Mac, Windows | Proprietary | Ramon Mendes | MI Software | *.ttf, *.otf | Allows to drag'n'drop fonts directly to Sketch or Photoshop creating a new text layer |
FontExpert | Windows | Proprietary | Proxima Software | OpenType, TrueType, TrueType Collections, PostScript Type 1, WOFF (preview and create), Bitmap and vector (*.fon) | With plug-ins for Adobe Creative Suite products (Missing Fonts Loader plug-in, Font Info plug-in, etc.) | |
Font Explorer X Pro | Mac, Windows | Proprietary | Linotype/Monotype | |||
Font Fitting Room Deluxe | Windows | Proprietary | Qweas | Microsoft Windows (*.fnt, *.fon), OpenType (*.ttf, *.ttc, *.otf), PostScript Type 1 (*.pfm, *.pfb), TrueType (*.ttf, *.ttc) | ||
Font Frenzy | Windows | Free | Timothy Williams (computer programmer) | SDSoftware | ||
Font Manager | Windows | Proprietary | Styopkin Software | |||
Font-Manager | Linux, BSDs | GNU General Public License | Jerry Casiano | font-manager project | Last update: 2016-10-16, programmed in Vala, depends on GTK+ 3 | |
Fontmatrix | Linux, BSDs, OS X, Windows | GNU General Public License | Pierre Marchand | Fontmatrix.be | OpenType, TrueType | Last update: 2011-09-30, programmed in C++, depends on Qt |
Font Pilot | OS X | Proprietary | Qweas | |||
FontRainbow | Windows | Proprietary | Tony Wicks | Everclear Systems | MS TrueType / TT Collections, MS OpenType, Adobe Type 1, Adobe OpenType | The first program to use Everclear System's 'Rainbow Interface' |
Font Safari | Mac OS 9+ | Proprietary | Dreystone Software | Last updated in 2006 | ||
Font Wrangler | Windows | Shareware/bookware | Alchemy Mindworks | TrueType | ||
Font Xplorer | Windows | Free | Ahto Tanner | Moon Software | TrueType, OpenType (only those with TrueType outlines) | Does not support Adobe Type 1 fonts or OpenType fonts with PostScript outlines. |
Font Xplorer | Windows | Proprietary | Qweas | TrueType (*.ttf, *.ttc) | ||
Free & Easy Font Viewer | Windows | Free | Styopkin Software | Only views characters A-I, a-i, 0-9 and basic punctuation of installed fonts. See Advanced Font Viewer for improved features. | ||
gnome-specimen | Linux, BSDs | GNU General Public License | gnome-specimen | OpenType, PostScript Type 1, raster, TrueType, vector | ||
MainType Free Edition | Windows | Free | High-Logic High-Logic | OpenType TT (OTF or TTF), OpenType PS (OTF), PostScript Type 1, PostScript CID, TrueType, OpenType Collection (TTC), Color Fonts, Variable Fonts | The free edition supports up to 2500 fonts in your font library and can only be used by a non-commercial entity for personal, educational and non-commercial use. This is the only font manager supporting variable fonts. The paid (commercial) editions contain more features and support large font collections. | |
MainType | Windows | Proprietary | High-Logic High-Logic | OpenType TT (OTF or TTF), OpenType PS (OTF), PostScript Type 1, PostScript CID, TrueType, OpenType Collection (TTC), Color Fonts, Variable Fonts | Font manager designed for graphic artists, typographers, and other power users who demand high-end functionality such as network support, plug-ins (InDesign), advanced categorizing, searching capabilities, and fast searches for the fonts that you need. This is the only font manager that can handle extreme large font collections. It is also the only font manager supporting variable fonts. | |
MasterJuggler | OS X | Proprietary | AlSoft | Outline, OpenType, PostScript, printer, screen, TrueType | ||
NexusFont | Windows | Free | Noh JungHoon | Xiles | OpenType, TrueType, Type 1 | Last update: 11.2015. Provides: Organisation by file location and user-defined groups of folders, user-defined Collections (formerly 'Sets'), user-defined tags, duplicate identification. |
Opcion Font Viewer | Java | Free | P. Chiu | Opcion | Last update: 08.2007. Windows .exe installer may not work with current versions of Java (above 1.5.9). | |
Printer's Apprentice | Windows | Proprietary | Bryan T. Kinkel | Lose Your Mind Development | OpenType, PostScript, TrueType | Last update, 1/25/2017 - Supports Windows 10 |
RightFont | Mac OS X | Proprietary | Markly Team | RightFont is a brand new font manager app for Mac OS X, helping designers to preview, sync, install and manage fonts on your Mac or Dropbox/Google Drive. RightFont also added font organization functionality for Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketch, etc, and provides auto font activation feature for Adobe Photoshop & Sketch documents. | ||
Suitcase Fusion | OS X, Windows | Proprietary | Extensis | OpenType TT (OTF or TTF), OpenType PS (OTF), PostScript Type 1, PostScript CID, Multiple Master (MM), TrueType, TrueType Collection (TTC), Apple Advanced Typography (AAT), Datafork TrueType (dfont), Color Fonts | Font manager for designers who need to organize, activate and deactivate fonts on macOS and Windows. Includes font auto-activation plug-ins for Adobe Creative Cloud applications – Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, InCopy and After Effects, as well as QuarkXPress. Installable on up to two machines per license, and keeps font synced between the them using the Extensis cloud. OS support and partner application support info Was previously merged with Font Reserve | |
Suitcase TeamSync | OS X, Windows | Proprietary | Extensis | OpenType TT (OTF or TTF), OpenType PS (OTF), PostScript Type 1, PostScript CID, Multiple Master (MM), TrueType, TrueType Collection (TTC), Apple Advanced Typography (AAT), Datafork TrueType (dfont), Color Fonts | Font manager for teams who need to organize, activate and deactivate fonts on macOS and Windows without installing a local font server. Uses Suitcase Fusion as the client, which is included in the annual subscription. Includes font auto-activation plug-ins for Adobe Creative Cloud applications – Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, InCopy and After Effects, as well as QuarkXPress. | |
The Font Thing | Windows | Free | Sue Fisher | Sue Fisher | TrueType | A legacy font management program; has not been updated since 1999, though apparently is still popular among some users |
Typograf | Windows | Proprietary | Alex Neuber | Neuber Software GmbH | Truetype, OpenType, PostScript Type 1, printer, raster, vector | |
Universal Type Server | OS X, Windows | Proprietary | Extensis | OpenType TT (OTF or TTF), OpenType PS (OTF), PostScript Type 1, PostScript CID, Multiple Master (MM), TrueType, TrueType Collection (TTC), Apple Advanced Typography (AAT), Datafork TrueType (dfont), Color Fonts | Font manager for teams who need to organize, activate and deactivate fonts on macOS and Windows with an on-premise font server. Tightly controls distribution of fonts to a team, report on team font use and ensure font license compliance. | |
X-Fonter | Windows | Proprietary | Blacksun Software | Truetype, OpenType, PostScript Type 1, raster, vector |
References[edit]
Font Management Software Mac Free Trial
- ^[1], TrueType Font Limits in Windows 95/98/Me.
- ^[2], How Many Mac Fonts is Too Many and What Can I Do About It?.
- ^ATM Discontinued
- ^'ATM Light'. www.adobe.com. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
- ^Retiring Fontcase
Further reading[edit]
- Dhall, Sachin (25 September 2008). '25+ Font Management Tools Reviewed'. Smashing Magazine. Smashing Media GmbH. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
- Phinney, Thomas (7 October 2007). 'Windows Font Management has sucked'. Adobe Typblography blog. Adobe Systems. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
- Rutter, Richard (7 October 2007). 'Matrix of fonts bundled with Mac and Windows operating systems, Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite'. 24 Ways to Impress Your Friends. Richard Rutter. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- 'The best font manager'. Windows Secrets (WindowsSecrets.com). 18 October 2007. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Font_management_software&oldid=931321249'
What does a day in the life of a graphic designer look like? Wince at the sight of poor fonts. Go to a website and close it immediately because you hate the colors. Try to persuade your manager you need both Photoshop and Lightroom. Yeah, we know the pain.
Unfortunately, we can’t talk to your boss about the Adobe subscription. What we can do is to ensure you have the right fonts — always close at hand.
Best font managers for macOS
Find the perfect font organizer and viewer for your Mac
Font or typeface, what’s the difference?
A few boring definitions to start with. Pinky promise, we’re gonna be finished with that in a sec.
In graphic design, the notions of font and typeface are often used interchangeably. They are not the same, though. Coming from the age of the printing press, fonts were used as the variations of a typeface family — differing in weight, size, etc. So basically, a font is a set of characteristics that define a style of a typeface.
On a Mac, you have fonts each of which is an individual style with distinctive width and weight properties — even though they might belong to the same typeface. For instance, if you say Verdana, you mean a family of fonts which includes Verdana Regular, Verdana Italic, and more.
![Best free fonts for mac Best free fonts for mac](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126241834/442917298.jpg)
How to manage fonts on Mac
Apple knows a designer’s pain points as well. So it created Font Book, a free font manager that allows to install and remove fonts on your Mac. The program is very basic, but works for a beginner as well as non-designers who need fonts variety.
Enable and disable fonts
You can’t actually delete fonts, but you can make sure you don’t see the unneeded ones in your collection. Font Book comes with font families, so you can decide whether you want to disable the whole family or a particular font:
- Select a font family or click on the arrow next to it to open the list of fonts.
- Go to Edit in the menu bar and select Disable.
- Choose Disable All to get rid of the full collection.
![Best font program for mac Best font program for mac](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126241834/316980061.jpg)
You can also download a new font from the Internet and use it with Font Book (the supported extensions are otf, .ttf, and .ttc). Once you unpack a zip with a new font, select the file with a corresponding extension to open preview, and click Install Font. This will get the font right into your Font Book.
Bring fonts into libraries and collections
Font Book has four default libraries: All, English, User, and Computer. The last two are stored in the Library folder. User fonts are available to the admin only, and Computer fonts — to anyone accessing a Mac.
If these are not enough, you can create your custom libraries of fonts:
- Go to the File menu and select New Library.
- Give the library a name and click Enter to save.
- Drag the selected fonts from All Fonts to your custom library.
You can also customize libraries by creating collections inside them. These will point to specific installed fonts across your libraries. To add new collections, select File > New Collection. Once you’ve saved it, drag fonts to the collection the same way you’ve done with libraries. Alternatively, click the plus button in the bottom left corner to add fonts.
Note that you don’t remove a font from its original collection when you drag it somewhere else. So you’ll still need to disable it if you don’t want to have duplicates across collections.
Why do you need a Mac font manager?
Fonts and colors define content. That’s something most graphic designers will tell you, and that’s the way our visual perception works. Even if you think you know nothing about design, try to change fonts in your Instagram stories. They will look totally different — some of them appearing to suit well, the others being completely out of place.
If you do graphic design for a living, you probably have dozens of fonts that work for specific types of design. Plus, you can choose a typeface that is trendy and gives your content a modern look without damaging the clarity of text. To keep up the good work, you have to keep exploring.
For instance, Creative Boom — an online magazine for artists and content creators — names Euklid and GT Haptik the top fonts of 2019. If you look at the same list the magazine released in 2018, you’ll find neither of these in it. So if you follow the trends, you’ll need to keep your fonts collection up to date.
Font management software helps designers organize fonts, easily view the selected ones, rename or delete the fonts that are no longer needed. Saves time and keeps your work professional.
If you’re here to choose the best tool for macOS, here’s how you narrow down your search:
Font manager features you’re looking for
- Compelling UI: It’s quite a challenge to find a tool that combines a font checker, organizer, and installer. It’s even harder to find the one that looks well on your screen and never distracts you from the job. When it comes to a design workflow, UI will mean everything. So we recommend to pay attention to the tools that adjust to your design software — ideally, allow to navigate across fonts via a handy sidebar.
- Filtering and collections. Why else would you land here. The app you choose should know how to organize fonts on Mac. The more flexible it goes in terms of collections, libraries, and preview options — the better.
- Customization: The main reason you should go for a Font Book alternative is it’s not customizable enough. With Apple’s in-built font organizer, you won’t be able to preview fonts in different sizes. What’s more, your font preview will always open in a new window. The advanced font apps will let you see how a font looks on your particular project — instantly.
Best font management software for Mac
Font organization is only useful to a degree you feel comfortable using it. This is why Font Book is not enough — with very little customization assets in it. We’ve compiled a list of top three apps that you can add to your macOS and start saving time on font selection.
Typeface
Remember we’ve talked about how it’s hard to find an all-in-one font organizer? Well, it’s where Typeface makes an ideal example. Unlike the clumsy Font Book and the overcomplicated RightFont, Typeface works as a designer’s personal assistant — whatever the proficiency level.
Here’s what you can do with the Typeface font manager:
- Control your fontsA user decides how the fonts should be displayed on a Mac’s screen. From preview samples to font size and blurring effects, you can completely customize your Typeface journey. The best thing is you can actually create instant mockups that show you how a particular font will look on a project.
- Hundreds or thousands, you’ll keep all the right fonts at hand Search is the best part of the app. To find a font you need, browse through the categories on the sidebar, or type in the name in the upper right corner. The fonts are grouped by families, so it’s easier to navigate between different typefaces.You can take a closer look at each font by clicking on it. Not only will you see the sample text, every font page also covers the detailed metadata and all the letterforms. https://skieygd.weebly.com/blog/apps-that-sync-with-iphone-and-mac-laptop-and-calendar. If you switch to the Info tab, you’ll also see the list of supported languages as well as tags for this particular font.
- Curation functionality Let’s make one thing clear. You need personalized collections if you work with different fonts. Typeface doesn’t only record your collections, it also allows share particular sets of fonts with the whole team in a click. As you browse through available fonts, you can save them to a quick collection on the spot and organize them into collections later. All you have to do is grab a font and drag it onto the quick collection button in the upper left corner.
Who’s it for?
Everyone. Whether you are a professional graphic designer with your personal base of fonts, or you can’t tell the difference between a font and typeface, this app is for you.
Why yes
- Focus on all proficiency levels
- Customizable font collections
- A quick collection feature
- Available with Setapp subscription
Why no
- Works on macOS only
What’s the price?
- $19.99 if you purchase the app on the Mac App Store or official website
- Free with Setapp. You only pay for a fixed monthly subscription, which gives you access to all-in-one pack of 170 best apps for macOS
- Free trial available
RightFont
RightFont is an advanced solution on how to organize fonts. The app works on Mac, Windows, and Linux — so it’s handy if you design for different operating systems. Plus, RightFont works with all major design software like Sketch, Adobe CC, Illustrator, and more.
The app embraces many roles you can benefit from:
- Font management: Create curated collections of fonts, based on your project specifications.
- Font Syncing: Share your fonts with colleagues via iCloud or Dropbox.
- Cloud fonts: Easily install and use Google or Adobe fonts.
- Font auto activation: Solve the problem with missing fonts through instant auto activation. So that whenever you open a program that has missing fonts, you can bulk install them.
Who’s it for?
Professional graphic designers. Even better — teams of designers working on shared projects. The volume licence will cost you less if you use the app on multiple devices. The maximum number of seats you can get is 50 ($40 per device versus the regular price of $45).
Why yes
- Auto-activation of fonts
- Grid view for easy comparison of two fonts
- Sharing font collections via Dropbox and other cloud services
Why no
- Steep learning curve
What’s the price?
$49.99 per single license on the official website
Starting $45 per device with a volume license (2+ devices)
FontBase
You can get the feel of your fonts with FontBase — free of charge. The only font manager that offers a free plan, this app does a good job if you’re interested in the features like font upload, Google fonts management, and simple UI.
Add the new fonts by dragging them to a specific folder. You can also create and customize your own collections of fonts. In the preview, you’ll be able to switch between styles, glyphs, and waterfall.
The main disadvantage is the preview section. It’s pretty basic and doesn’t allow simple customization. For instance, you’ll have to get a paid plan to have access to grid view.
Who’s it for?
Slow motion video editing software for mac download. The app is uncomplicated and can be used by beginners. For everyday use, designers will lack flexibility in terms of previews as well as won’t be able to auto activate fonts with a free plan. So we recommend to get FontBase Awesome — a paid subscription plan — if you need an advanced solution.
Why yes
- Simple UI
- Advanced glyphs and views with the paid plan
- Google fonts support
Why no
- Doesn’t make much use without upgrading to a pro plan
What’s the price?
FontBase is the only free font manager on the list. Well, kind of. You get a set of basic features like font collections, search, Google fonts installation, and more. However, to get access to the extended functionality — auto activation, super search, and multiple views — you have to upgrade to FontBase Awesome, which is a $3 monthly subscription.
Note that you will have issues trying to launch FontBase and RightFont on macOS Catalina beta:
Here’s a quick fix for you:
Font Management Software Mac Free Version
- Access your Applications folder via Finder.
- Find the installed app on the list.
- Right click the icon > Open.
- In the pop-up window, click on Open to launch the app.
So here’s the verdict:
Font Management Software Mac Free Software
If you know graphic design backwards and forwards, get RightFont. It’s gonna be expensive, but will pay off in the long run.
Font Management Software Mac Free Pdf
FontBase is your choice if you’re just starting — once you learn the ropes, you can upgrade to the pro plan and expand the toolkit.
Lastly, Typeface is as close to a universal font manager as you can imagine. It has functionality perks for pros and is easy to master for complete beginners. If you buy Typeface via Setapp, you also get a full pack of additional design apps. Like IconJar for quick icon management. Aquarelo to refine and convert your colors. And Goldie App to instantly visualize golden ratio on a Mac.