>Organizing Fonts

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Okay so first off you can use Fontbook on Macs and it will work alright, except if you are trying to ad some where in the neighborhood of 6k fonts. Then it just throws it's hand up and cries. And mind you I wasn't trying to activate any fonts I was just adding them to the database. Here is what I want:

1. an easy database of my fonts

2. quick previews that are accurate

3. quick and dirty activation with the option of permanent and temporary activation

4. a way to make sets for projects I'm working on

5. a way to get rid of duplicate fonts

6. a way to compile my font folders into one like I do with music.

So then there is Suitcase Fusion And this works much better than Fontbook but it can cause a crash or two but it has overall been a good choice. There is a new version that I'm about to give a try, so hopefully it is improved. So you can make sets and activate temporary or permanently, the previews are quick and haven't let me down yet. I haven't found a way to get rid of duplicate fonts, Fontbook has this feature but as I have said before it chokes on the shear volume of what I'm trying to do. You can drag font folders into Suitcase Fusion and it will keep them as that set and it's pretty alright and you can make a new set inside the program for your projects without making duplicates of your existing fonts, I would compare it to making playlists. It however does at times require you to tweak settings on your system and in program so that it loads when you first log in.

Now I'm trying Font Explorer Pro X or X Pro this is from Linotype one of the main font producers, so it should be the best. This isn't the case I find it in between Fontbook and suitcase fusion and it's ugly it looks like something I would get in Windows 95. So you can import all the fonts to an organized folder(I didn't get it to work without mashing them in with system fonts and then it auto activated all of them). I've read that is can sort fonts as well but I've really only encountered this function when activating fonts it will prompt you that a font is already active and gives you a few options on how to handle it. This is where the real pain in the ass is, I'm just trying to activate Helvetica Neue and it is identifying conflicts between an 85 and a 55 and it is also reading 4 instances of it. I went and checked and there is only one instance of it and there shouldn't be a conflict between those two styles.

So I'm going to try Suitcase Fusion 3 and I will also try to get Font Explorer Pro X to reload and organize my fonts with out corrupting my system fonts. Wish me luck.