What I’d Like to See in Tiger: Part 2, Font Management That Works
I’ve been writing about fonts and OS X for a long time. Here is the problem; working with fonts in OS X still sucks. Badly.
Remember OS 9? You could get this application called ATM Deluxe or Extensis Suitcase. If you wanted to turn on a font you just clicked on it. Or, if in a pinch you wanted to install a font yourself you simply dragged it over the System Folder icon and all was good.
Fast forward to OS X. You have a product like Font Reserve or Suitcase. In theory everything should be simple. Except it isn’t. Clicking on a font doesn’t all work. There are a multiple places a font can go in OS X and each font, because it is a file, is subject to the often confusing world of OS X’s permissions. There is a point when the power of OS X should be kept hidden from users, and fonts are a perfect case. I don’t care about permissions for Futura Bold! I just want it to show up in my menu when I want it.
Apple’s Font Book is a lame attempt to fix all this. If you have a large collection of fonts it chokes, and it isn’t capable of auto-activating fonts.
I fear that there may be no solution to font issues and OS X. A lot of it has to do with the underlying Unix structure of the OS. However, I’m not ready to give up. Given that a large portion of the Mac audience are designers you would think Apple would invest some significant resources to not only fix the issues, but be innovative in how the OS deals with fonts. What about you, what are your experience with fonts and OS X?
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Comments
This has been one of the very few persistent peeves I’ve had since I made the transition from OS9 to Panther.
I have since completely abandoned pre-Panther OS and don’t even have classic installed, I’ve saved just about every font file I’ve laid hands on since 1987 (or at least since TrueType fonts were introduced on the Mac), and I’d love to be able to update and make use of many of the older ones.
Fonts are such a central part of the creative concept for anyone with any kind of design use for their computer, and it frankly amazes me that Apple hasn’t put more effort into making this functionality a keystone (one of many) of the greatness of Mac OS.
Why can’t Apple do something like Adobe Font Reunion? Why do I have to see 58 versions of Helvetica in my applications font list? Doesn’t seem like it should be that hard.
After inheriting a computer at work that is filled with Quark files - I have so many copies of fonts that it’s nearly impossible to manage them in any meaningful way. I tried deleting some extras, but now Quark hates me and tries to substitute my fonts - arrrrgh! Does anyone know any 3rd party apps that manage stuff like this easily as well as provide a global WYSIWIG font menu? I’ve heard You Control’s software works well, has anyone used it sucessfully with Quark/Creative Suite/Office Applications?