Fonts in Illustrator

[ballparkgraphics]

Is there any way for me to only open certain font collections in Illustrator on my Mac? I have a lot of fonts and only need a handful for a certain product; it's a pain to have to search through them all just to find the 15 or 20 I use. I would like to be able to just have the collection I need available to open up and choose from. Thanks.

 

[Fred Weiss]

Suitcase is the standard for Mac font management.

 

[sinetist]

I use Font Explorer. It works great and is easy to use. There's a free download version on their downloads page

http://www.fontexplorerx.com/

 

[dbenec]

your mac came with an app called fontbook. that's all you need to manage your fonts.

you can create sets / turn fonts on - off just like suitcase.

 

[ballparkgraphics]

Yeah, I have used Font Book to create the collections, just have not ever used it to turn any off. So I just disable all but the collection I want when I need to use it?

 

[GP]

Not to hi jack the thread, but would a font management software prevent so many fonts from coming through as symbols and boxes? What causes all the jibberish fonts?

 

[John Butto]

linotype

Linotype FontExplore X

 

[ballparkgraphics]

Ok, anyone able to help as far as using Font Book or FontExplorer to manage my fonts? I just need help with using them with Illustrator for the purposes listed above. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[J Hill Designs]

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...k+help&usg=AFQjCNH_Y2L76Tb-DK1vG8c9ehX4Z2F6dQ

 

[dbenec]

for fontbook - first realize in osX - fonts are stored in multiple places.

The following instructions tell the locations of the various OSX system font directories and what you should do with each:

-Hard Drive/Library/Fonts - This location needs to be empty (if there are fonts in this location, you can delete them or move them to your own font folder)

-Hard Drive/User/Your User/Library/Fonts - This location needs to be empty (if there are fonts in this location, you can delete them or move them to your own font folder)

-Hard Drive/System/Library/Fonts - This location houses the OS X system fonts. The fonts that are installed to this folder by the OS are:
-Apple LiGothic Medium.dfont
-AppleGothic.dfont
-AquaKanaBold.otf
-AquaKanaRegular.otf
-Courier.dfont
-Geneva.dfont
-Hei.dfont
-Helvetica.dfont
-LastResort.dfont
-LucidaGrande.dfont
-Monaco.dfont
-Symbol.dfont
-Various Chinese Fonts
** keep all these fonts here - you may not be able to boot up if they're removed**
**ALSO KEEP ANY FONT HERE YOU WANT ON ALL THE TIME**

-Hard Drive/System Folder/Fonts - This should only contain the five fonts needed to run Classic (if there are other fonts in this location, you can delete them or move them to your own font folder):
Charcoal
Chicago
Geneva
Monaco
New York

You'll notice in the attachment i posted that each of those font locations listed above are icons in fontbook.

I keep all the fonts that I want loaded all the time in the SYSTEM.

Make a new folder on your drive for your project "POSTER FONTS" or whatever. when you drag that folder to the far left window of font book it creates a set called "POSTER FONTS" and turns them on automatically.

When you want to turn the set "POSTER FONTS" off - right click and go to disable.

You will see any set that you add - the fonts will show up under USER instead of SYSTEM.

You sometimes have to quit and relaunch a program when activating / deactivating fonts.

Suitcase is very similar and may have some benefits but if you are running osX then fontbook is already on your computer (free).

GOOD LUCK!

 

[sinetist]

FontExplorerX will locate every font on your computer and present them in easily searchable lists. Turn on/activate any you want to use and they're instantly available in Illustrator. It also will give you a preview of any words you type in in any font you select so you can see what it will look like in that font.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

Another vote for Font Explorer. There is a free older version of the sw at the site you just have to dig for it. Fontbook on the Mac is too simple for a power user - IMO

 

[StopSignGraphics]

I like SuitCase Fusion 2. It will automatically enable fonts as needed and disable them when not in use. Mac's font book is a great application but if you have a ton of fonts its not the best application.

 

[ballparkgraphics]

Thanks all!

 

[ballparkgraphics]

Ok, dumb question I think....if I create a collection of fonts that I need to use and then turn off "All Fonts," "User," and "Computer," will it not disable the custom collection also? Thanks.