Managing Your Fonts with OS X and Font Book

Font Book To The Rescue

Matt Willmore Skip to comments 16 Comments (Comments Closed Closed)

Learn everything you need to about managing your massive font collection in Mac OS X using Apple's new Font Book application.

There are so many things to write about in OS X; why an article on fonts? The reason is that the importance of fonts is greatly understated, and has been since before OS X was even conceived. In OS 9, it was easy: all fonts go in /System Folder/Fonts, and you did your thing. If you had the cash for a font management app like ATM or Suitcase, then it would help you out. Now, the rules have changed in OS X. There are multiple valid font folders, the number of supported font types is increased, and Apple has decided to jump into the font management arena with Font Book. How can you make sense of all this? Read on to find out.

Font Formats

OS X supports a number of different font formats. While this can seem like a pain, it's a great advantage over a Windows system that wouldn't support your legacy TrueType suitcases, your data fork suitcases, and many of the Type 1 fonts. Apple has crafted OS X to handle an extremely wide variety of font formats, both old and new, to allow you the greatest flexibility when using fonts. Here's what OS X supports as of OS X 10.3:

FFILMacintosh TrueType Font Suitcase - common with OS 9 (System fonts, for example); information is stored in file's resource fork. OS X has the ability to natively read these (see Font Locations below). These have the file format '_sfnt_', which stands for "spline font". '_sfnt_' is the resource tag the Macintosh has used internally to track font data since TrueType was introduced.
DFONData Fork Suitcase
These files are basically the OS X equivalent of OS 9's suitcases, with the very important exception that all data is stored in the data fork instead of the resource fork, making the files more portable over transfers/media that normally don't preserve a file's resource fork. These files optionally have the file type '_dfon_'.

LWFNAdobe Type 1 PostScript Font
The "LWFN" comes from its file type defined by Apple. These are outline fonts (aka vector fonts) with Macintosh bitmap font suitcases. Type 1 was the font standard to which TrueType, an Apple innovation, was created to compete against.
TTFWindows TrueType Outline/Bitmap Font
After Apple started including TrueType with System 7.0, Microsoft included TrueType support with Windows 3.1. They later improved on the rasterization process and started publishing their own fonts. Files with the suffix .ttf are individual TrueType fonts, while .ttc files are TrueType collections. These files are '_sfnt_' resources.

OTFPostScript OpenType Roman Outline/Bitmap Font
PostScript OpenType CID* Chinese, Japanse, Korean, and Vietnamese Outline/Bitmap Font
OpenType, formally known as TrueType Open v2, was developed jointly by Microsoft and Adobe to "end the font wars", with the goals of creating a joint standard and easing font management.

* CID = character ID; used to map multi-btye character sets, such as non-Roman character sets

Macintosh PostScript Type 1 Font Suitcase
Macintosh PostScript Type 1 CID* Font Suitcase
Type 1 font support existed before TrueType was created (as TrueType was Apple's response to Type 1), and it's still a popular file format. Type 1 CID files are also supported. These files are '_sfnt_' resources.

Multiple Master PostScript Font
Support for multiple master fonts in OS X first appeared in OS X 10.2. Multiple master fonts are simply Type 1 fonts that contain more than one "master" fonts within a single font file. This allows users to create "instances" between the masters, creating fine adjustments to the appearance of the font. Multiple master fonts have two or more axes for various measurements of the font, such as width, weight, etc. Designers loved multiple master fonts because of the unprecedented control they now had over type appearance.

Because multiple master fonts were an Adobe innovation (for their Type 1 font format), TrueType was not included. However, Apple did later respond by creating GX variations, which did the same thing. In fact, on some Adobe fonts such as Adobe Sans MM, there are both Type 1 and TrueType files. This would lead me to believe that the TrueType Adobe Sans MM uses GX variations to acheive multiple masters.

Font Locations

Now that we know what we're dealing with, let's find out where the fonts are stored. There are five places on your system where fonts will be seen by OS X; only three of those will most likely be used by most of OS X's user base.

/System/Library/Fonts_

This directory comes preloaded with all the fonts that OS X itself needs to run correctly, including_ LucidaGrande.dfont_ (menus, dock, file names, etc.), Monaco.dfont (default Terminal font), and others. You should not modify or add to the contents of this folder, even if your account permissons allow you to. Apple has provided other locations for this purpose.

/Library/Fonts

This directory also comes with a number of Fonts included with OS X; these are provided with the system, but not necessary for System tasks. Although these can be deleted without any system complaints, some applications like Safari use these all the time, as web designers frequently specify the use of non-standard fonts in web sites. In addition, the fonts provided are very high quality and represent a wide variety of the thousands of typefaces available today. Apple has even created a page describing the history of some of the fonts.

~/Library/Fonts

This directory is located in your user account's home directory. Fonts placed in there are only available to the user who is logged in. This can be useful if a font is purchased for personal use only. Another good use would be if you were installing fonts in a lab environment with a generic user; you could make the fonts only available to the students who used that generic account.

/Network/Library/Fonts

This directory is mainly of use for servers hosting fonts. When a user logs into the network or simply gets online, he or she will be able to use the fonts in that directory, provided the permission settings allow them to do so.

/System Folder/Fonts

These are where your OS 9 fonts lived. OS X will actually look for this directory and attempt to use any fonts in it, as it can read the TrueType suitcases you used in OS 9. This is considered the most flexible folder as both OS X and Classic can use fonts from this directory; however, you may run into permissions problems editing the folder contents if you do you not have administrator rights.

See the troubleshooting section for a tip when moving fonts from the System Folder to an OS X font directory.

Font Management with Font Book

Font BookStarting with OS X 10.3, Apple has included Font Book, a utility to help you manage fonts. While unsuitable for large font collections, it's useful for small (read: personal, non-graphic designer) users. Let's look at Font Book's interface:

1. Font Collections
Font Book allows you to create collections of fonts based on their style, use, etc. It comes with a number of collections installed, such as Classic (not the same as OS 9 Classic), Web, and others.

At the tope of the list of collections, you see "All Fonts", which is expandable. When you expand it, you see collections based on where Font Book found the font on your system. For example, those shown in "User" are found in ~/Library/Fonts. Selecting "Computer" would show locally stored fonts found in /System/Library/Fonts and /Library/Fonts. Network-based fonts will have their own listing, as will Classic fonts found in /System Folder/Fonts.

There are two ways that Font Book can show you where in the Finder a font's file is located. By clicking on the font name and selecting Show Font File from the File menu (or hitting cmd-R), the file will be revealed in the Finder. Also, you can mouse over the font in the font list. A tooltip will appear, and the last line will be the font's file path.

Selecting a font collection ("All Fonts" does not count) allows you to disable the entire collection if you wish. This is helpful if you have a font set that is used for a client or project, but you don't need (or want) them in your font list all the time. Once off, clicking "Enable" will reenable the collection.

2. Font List
This is the main font list that shows a list of fonts based on what collection you have selected. In the screenshot above, "All Fonts" is selected, so every font is listed. Only one line is initially given per font name. Even if font families are spread among multiple files, Font Book (and OS X) will recognize their familial status and group them together. To see the individual fonts for each font name, click the arrow to expand the list. For multiple instances of a font, see item 5.

Font Book also has the ability to enable and disable fonts as you see fit. In the font list window you can disable a particular style of a font, or the font entirely. While Apple claims that the font list in open appliactions will be updated automatically, some users have found exceptions to this. Remember that Font Book is young and not designed to automatically replace applications like Suitcase or ATM. If for some reason the font change is not reflected in the font list of open applications, restarting the application would reflect the change.

3. Font Preview When you select a particular font, it will be displayed in the preview window. Initially, the size is set to fit the window. As you expand or shrink the window, or as you change the position of the colums, the text will dynamically grow and shrink with the changes. If you would like to change the font size, there are two ways. Moving the vertical slider to the right of the preview window will dynamically adjust the size of the font. Additionally, you can pick a size in the Size popup above the previewed text, or you can enter an arbitrary amount. Selecting Fit from the popup will show the biggest size of text that can comfortable fit in the preview window.

There are also many ways to preview the characters. The default view seen above, Sample, shows the most common characters used: A-Z, a-z, and 0-9. This can be chosen in the Preview window, or with cmd-1. Selecting Repetoire (or hitting cmd-2) will show you a grid of every character in the font. A scroll bar will appear if there are too many characters for the window size. A third way to preview is Custom, or command-3. This allows you to type your own text and sample it in the window.

4. Font Information
Under the font preview window, information about the font is shown. This can be shown or hidden by selecting Hide Font Info (or Cmd-I) in the Preview menu. All of the information is gathered from information stored in the font file or suitcase. Above the information is the currently selected font name and style, and the size being shown. This is helpful when using the vertical slider to change the font size.

5. Multiple Font Instances
Multiple InstancesFor a numer of reasons, you may have more than one copy of the exact same font installed on your system. Font Book indicates this by placing a bullet point to the right of the font name, as shown in the image to the right. Font Book has included the command "Resolve Duplicates" in the Edit menu that is supposed to remove duplicate files, but has ended up causing more problems than it has fixed. Read the troubleshooting section for information on how to avoid problems while resolving duplicate fonts.

Installing New Fonts

The easiest way to install a new font is not to drag it to the appropriate folder, but to open it with Font Book. Select Add Fonts... from the File menu of Font Book (or type cmd-O) and navigate to the folder the font is contained in. If there is more than one font file, Font Book will gray out the ones that it doesn't deem compatible. Select a valid font, make sure that "Install fonts for all users of this computer" is selected, and click Open. The font will be imported and is now ready to be used. Please note that when you install a new font, it will automatically be activated for use.

Because Font Book is young, there are some problems that people should be aware of before delving into Font Book:

Troubleshooting

Q: Recently Safari has been unexpectedly quitting and/or misbehaving (failing to load pages, timing out, etc.). Could a font be the culprit?
 A: Apple has published a Knowledge Base document detailing some users' problems with corrupt fonts. They specifically mentioned the font "Times RO" causing Safari to misbehave, although other fonts could certainly suffer from corruption as well.

Q: I used Key Caps all the time before Panther. Where'd it go?
 A: Miss Key Caps? Those of you who miss the ability to see the keys change with modifier keys can still see it, albeit without the text box. In the International control panel of the System Preferences, click the Input Menu tab, and check the Keyboard Viewer idiom to turn it on. Next, check "Show input menu in menu bar". An American flag (or whatever your character set is) will appear in the menu bar. Click it and select "Show Keyboard Viewer".

Q: I want to move my OS 9 font suitcases to the OS X directory. Are there any steps I need to take, or can I just move them over?
A: You will need to modify the suitcase before you move it. You will need to delete the TrueType version of the font in the suitcase, leaving only the PostScript/Type 1 version left. If you can boot into OS 9, you can open the suitcase and remove the TrueType files. If you would rather do it in Classic, use the Font/DA Mover from System 6 (Apple mirror available); it still runs like a champ in Classic! After you have removed the TrueType files from the suitcase, you can safely move the files into an OS X font directory, preferably _/Library/Fonts_.

Q: I like to organize my fonts by folders in the Finder. Some Cocoa applications have been unable to read the fonts placed in subfolders, but can read them once again as soon as they are placed in a root font directory. What's going on?
 A: While there has been no reproducable cause of this, there is a thread at macosxhints.com that discusses the problem.

References

The amount of information on the Internet concerning fonts is overwhelming, to say the least. Here are the sites that helped me the most in preparation of this tutorial:

Matt WillmoreMatt Willmore is a founding partner of MacZealots.com. Matt is also a Resident Assistant at Owen Hall and does Mac support at ECN, and is active in PUMUG. He can be reached at .

Reader Comments (16)

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1 marauda remarks:
#1) On January 22, 2004 10:18 AM

Thanks for this well researched, well written tutorial. Faced with a font headache, I turned to a number of sources online and found none to be as thorough as this.

2 Kat remarks:
#2) On February 17, 2004 9:48 PM

Single? Still? A sexy guy like you? What’s wrong with the women at Purdue? They should have snatched you up ages ago. By the way, great tutorial.

3 Josh Bryant remarks:
#3) On May 21, 2004 2:34 AM

I thought this article was excellent. Very thorough. Thank you so much for writing it.

4 Zach remarks:
#4) On May 24, 2004 8:14 PM

An excellent resource!

5 Trevor Odell remarks:
#5) On June 15, 2004 6:34 AM

Thanks for the help! A wonderful read. To date, is there any way to change the system font in OS X? I find the current font defaults a bit fat and yearn for the OS 9 abilities to change system fonts.

6 Duncan remarks:
#6) On June 25, 2004 8:35 AM

Can anyone tell me why my system font has corrupted on OSX 10.2.8, and also how to fix it???

Thanks

7 Bill Duncan remarks:
#7) On July 9, 2004 7:24 PM

I am a music font developer (using Fontographer 4.1) and somewhat of a newbie to OSX. When both TrueType and PostScript Type 1 versions of the same font are installed in OS-9 “System Folder > Fonts”, OSX omits some of the extended characters (Shift-Opt-2, Shift-Opt-5, and others). When removing the TrueType versions, they all come back. Is there a reason for this? What advice should I give my customers regarding font installation for OSX? Do we abandon TrueType? OSX claims to read them. BTW, thank you so much for this article!

8 John H. Tu remarks:
#8) On August 10, 2004 11:11 PM

Have a problem that I can’t find a solution to. For some reason, i can no longer view Symbol font either in Font Panel preview or with Keyboard Viewer. I consolidated my fonts from my user/Library/Fonts folder into my Library/Fonts folder. Seemed to have solved a similar problem with Wingdings, but symbol Still doesn’t show. I see 2 symbol fonts, regular and symbol. Do you have any ideas?

9 Jesse Janowiak remarks:
#9) On August 16, 2004 7:41 PM

I recently discovered a shortcoming in Font Book. Once a font has been added to a collection, it cannot be removed from the collection without removing the font from the system or rebuilding the collection from scratch. Not a huge deal, but kind of an odd oversight in the interface design.

Also, the keyboard viewer that you describe is only available in 10.3 and higher to the best of my knowledge. The closest you can get in Jaguar is the Character Map, available using the same basic instructions that you gave for the keyboard viewer.

10 Anita remarks:
#10) On September 30, 2004 9:28 AM

Help! I wanted to add some pixel fonts that I downloaded from the internet. I used ‘Add Fonts’ in Font Book. But nothing seems to happen? Why is this???

11 ted remarks:
#11) On October 5, 2004 5:04 PM

One of my friends accidentally ‘turned off’ all the fonts in FontBook. Now the machine will not boot up. I can boot on an external drive. What can we delete to get back to we were?

Ted

12 Matt Willmore remarks:
#12) On October 5, 2004 6:28 PM

Ted -

The file that contains all information about disabled fonts is at:

/Users/[username]/Library/Preferences/com.apple.ATS.plist

Deleting that and restarting should fix your problem. Well, that and not letting your friend touch anything anymore. :)

13 Peter Constable remarks:
#13) On September 27, 2005 6:33 AM

Where can I obtain a list of fonts supplied with Font Book for System 10.3 (OSX)?

14 Alan Alban remarks:
#14) On October 6, 2005 6:37 PM

I use font book, and I have this problem. When I open this application my fonts set don稚 appear, if ai try to add some fonts, the set keeps showing 0 fonts.

Coul someone helpme?

15 dana remarks:
#15) On January 11, 2006 11:07 AM

i’m trying to install fonts that are truetype FFIL fonts. some install immediatley, some install after a large number of tries and some won’t install at all. any ideas?

16 kathy remarks:
#16) On February 21, 2006 1:02 AM

Anyone have font book completely crash their system? I did and now no fonts or collections show up at all. I was trying to put one into an existing collection and had font book go into a continuous loop. I had to do a restart and now even reinstalling the system doesn’t get me back to a working font book. Any idea what happened or what I might do? I’m in OS 10.3.9.

Thanks—