Font
Manager Shoot Out: Introduction.
Intro
| Installation | Interface
| Auto-Activation | Conclusions
| Resources
"What
is the best font manager for Mac OS X?"
That's
the question this special project attempts to answer. In this
shoot out we'll put today's four major font management utilities
through a series of head-to-head comparisons.
Our
hope is to provide more than an isolated software review. In this
report we'll compare these four major font managers on three key
criteria:
-
Installation and Setup
- Interface
-
Auto-Activation
I'll
share what I like and don't like about each utility. More importantly
we'll give you an opportunity to see for yourself. We've included
links to almost an hour of QuickTime video clips showing these
different font managers in action.
What
this is not:
This
report does not address cleaning or repairing a messy font collection.
The font collection used in these tests was fairly well cleaned
and organized beforehand.
This
report is not a review of network font servers. For the purposes
of these tests, we've ignored networking features.
This
report is not intended to be the final word. Rather I'm trying
to pull together enough (maybe too much) information to help a
designer make an informed choice for their font management.
Your
support wanted:
This
type of project takes an investment in time and energy. It has
been a rewarding process. I want to keep it updated as new software
versions are released. I'd also like to tackle other topics (the
topic of font servers for example).
If
you find this valuable, please help make future projects possible:
-
Link to us. We appreciate all links and mentions in other designer
focused blogs and websites.
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Forward to a friend. Tell other creative professionals who might
find this information useful.
-
Introduce us. We pay our bills supporting Seattle-area creative
teams. We rely entirely on word-of-mouth introductions for new
business. We are never too busy for your referrals!
-
Give feedback. What do you appreciate or disagree with? What
other topics would you like to see covered in future issues
of our tips newsletter? Email me at tips@creativetechs.com.
We
hope you find this font manager shoot out a useful resource.
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