A hҽlp manual is also availablҽ in casҽ you havҽ any quҽstions about thҽ sҽtup procҽss. Howҽvҽr, rooқiҽs may nҽҽd to invҽst ҽxtra timҽ into dҽcoding thҽ fҽaturҽ pacқagҽ. It is prҽtty ҽasy to gҽt usҽd to configuring FontAgent Pro’s sҽttings if you havҽ prҽviously worқҽd with a font managҽr. You arҽ wҽlcomҽd by a clҽan fҽaturҽ sқҽlҽton that rҽvҽals a list with all fonts dҽtҽctҽd on your systҽm. (Contrast Font Book, which does list them.FontAgent Pro is a font managҽr that allows you to viҽw, comparҽ, and ҽxport thҽ fonts dҽployҽd on your systҽm. Plus, I found that if I imported a suitcase containing multiple TrueType variants of a single font – such as Palatino, Palatino Bold, and Palatino Italic – FontAgent Pro failed to list the variants.
(Contrast Suitcase, which shows you all active fonts and warns of possible conflicts when you activate a font.) Although it can be set to 'verify fonts,' FontAgent Pro still fails to warn of a font’s internal oddities for example, I have some old TrueType fonts that used to work, but under Mac OS X they don’t (in one of them, for example, typing 'A' gives an 'L'), and FontAgent Pro isn’t getting me any closer to understanding why. Also, it doesn’t prevent possible conflicts within itself it lets you import two non-identical fonts with the same name and activate them, even though the system won’t distinguish them. This means it doesn’t tell you what fonts are activated through the system, and it doesn’t tell you whether activating a font through FontAgent might cause some sort of conflict with a system-based font. And for those who want even more fonts, there's an AppleScript to download 650 Google open-source fonts.įontAgent Pro gives no information about fonts it is not managing. For fonts unknown to FontAgent Pro 5, you can apply a custom classification. Using Font Classifier, you can preview fonts by basic classifications (text serif, text sans serif, display, script, etc.) and then by subcategory, such as oldstyle, modern, or transitional.
One of the more powerful features, the Smart Set, works just like Find, except that your Sets automatically update as new fonts meet the criteria. The Find feature lets you search for fonts based on a wide range of criteria, such as font format, foundry name, slant, comments, and much more. InDesign, InCopy, Illustrator, and QuarkXPress already have a built-in Glyph panel. A nice touch is the ability to drag-and-drop the glyphs into a program however, Photoshop is the only major program that really needs this feature, and I couldn't get it to work. The new Glyph View lets you see the actual glyphs (often called 'characters').
Both Font Player and Font Compare allow you to print a specimen book (and with Mac OS PDF tools, you can print to PDF). Font Compare is similar, but shows all the selected fonts at once in a scrollable window.
With Font Player you automatically scan through fonts (via selection, Set, or Library) to preview them one at a time. Useful features in FontAgent Pro 5 for finding just the font you want include Font Player, Font Compare, Glyph View, Find, Smart Sets, and Font Classifier. A Set is part of FontAgent Pro but it doesn't reorganize your fonts on the hard drive however, Sets may be exported. A Set is a simple, folder-like organization, and as with folders, you may have Sets within Sets. (While this feature is promoted as new, it's simply a Finder search, and is woefully documented in the online Help, the Help PDF, and the website.) From there, fonts can be broken down further into Sets, again based on the designer's needs. (If desired, you have the option to delete the original fonts after copying.) FontAgent Pro can also auto-gather fonts via an AppleScript.
(Professional designers with a repertoire of hundreds or thousands of fonts generally need a robust font manager.) The fonts are added to a central location but not to a locked database they're simply checked for missing/corrupt fonts, copied, and organized. You can have as many Libraries as you wish, depending on how you like to organize your fonts. FontAgent Pro 5 works on the premise of Libraries and Sets.