Fonts Fonts Fonts

For most of us the default Windows or Mac fonts are sufficient to get our day-to-day work done, however for some we need MORE! For these there are some wonderful FREE resources available for expanding and managing a font library.

Our computers are optimized to work with and manage the fonts that come installed on them and while it is possible to add additional fonts to our systems doing so can be a confusing experience. Additionally, if you begin adding too many additional fonts to your computer it can begin to drastically effect your computers performance, especially when launching applications like Word, Photoshop, Publisher, PowerPoint, etc. This is due to the fact that your system is attempting to analyze and cache each font you have installed for use in the application you are launching. Luckily there is a better way to manage a larger font collection.

There are numerous commercial and shareware font management applications available for both Mac and PC, however there are few FREE ones. Among these many get the job done but their use can be confusing and complicated. In a perfect world there would be an option available that gets the job done simply and cheaply. Although the world is not perfect yet, it is a little closer to being so thanks to FontExplorer X. FontExplorer X is a FREE application and allows you to manage large font collections, instantly activate and deactivate fonts, automatically activate fonts needed by a specific document if it exists on your system, and much more. It is a beautiful application and it can flex as much muscle as you need for managing a couple hundred or a couple thousand fonts.

Once you have a font management plan you can begin searching the web for free fonts. I found a GREAT collection of 500 FREE fonts online this weekend. Most of these are pretty good and some are outstanding. I would suggest you start your new collection with these courtesy of fonts500.com.

Once you have the fonts expanded to your hard drive simply drag-and-drop or import them to FontExplorer X. They are now installed and ready for use. I would highly recommend taking the time or organize your fonts into a few descriptive categories.

Doing this will allow you to quickly browse a specific category for the perfect font you may be needing. I would suggest descriptive names such as calligraphy, decorative, dingbats, handwritten, modern, grungy, script, etc. The main point is determining some categories that work and communicate to you. It may take a little time (or a lot of time) depending on the size of your font collection however the benefits down the road are worth it!

Two final pieces of advice for working with fonts. 1) Always ZIP fonts, even if it is a single font, when transferring or emailing a font. Fonts are very prone to corruption and keeping them ZIPPED when transferring will help prevent this. 2) Always keep a backup of your fonts on CD in ZIP format. They day will come when you need a specific font that you used to have which now you can't find anywhere. CD backups will make you very happy if you have them.

Happy fonting!