FontLoupe is a shareware tool, if you find it useful then remember to pay your contribution. See the relevant paragraph of this document for details.
Quick Overview
What does FontLoupe do?
It peeks inside a PostScript file, any PostScript file [even those pesky EPSF files that Quark XPress makes], and lists the fonts that it finds there.
How do I use it?
The easiest way is to place the icon of this application (or its alias) on your desktop. Drop the file, or files, that you wish to examine onto this icon.
Anything else that I should know?
> Although FontLoupe only examines PostScript files, you can drop any type of file onto it: if FontLoupe can’t read it, it’ll say so, but this won’t interrupt the processing.
> Option-clicking a window’s close box, or pressing the option key while choosing “Close” in the “File” menu, will close all windows opened in FontLoupe.
> FontLoupe is a read-only application, so it changes nothing and cannot harm the data in your files.
> A loupe is a fixed-focal magnifying glass used in art studios, service bureaus etc. to examine films, photographs and the client’s signature on a check... I believe that it is a nice metaphor for this tool.
It isn’t a bug, it’s a feature...
> If you drop an XPress file onto FontLoupe - no, you can’t open it from within the app as it’s not *officially* supported - you will get the first 32K of gobbledegook in the data fork of that file. Generally, near the beginning you will have the list of fonts in the document. I'm only <-> that far from *real* support for XPress files.
however if you saved your XPress file with a Preview, you can visualize the preview here.
What’s new in version 1.2.2?
> The “peek” button lets you previsualize the file, if the previsualisation exists. Option clicking on the button, or holding the option key down while choosing the menu short cut gives a larger view of the image. This feature will let you peek at Illustrator and PhotoShop “.EPS” files, and XPress “.EPSF” files. If you saved a Quark document or model with a preview, you can also see that here. Clicking the “OK” button, pressing RETURN or ENTER will close this “peek” window.
> Font families that are currently not installed in your system will have “[X]” appear after their name in the list. Warning, FontLoupe will not recheck if you install the font after having peeked at a document. However subsequent opened documents will take this into account.
> See the version history for minor and cosmetic changes.
Registering
This is shareware, but there is no time bomb or crippling in the application. It works as is. I’m trusting that you’ll find it useful, and in an art studio - Time is money.
Registered owners of previous versions can just replace the older version with this one. Your name should still appear at it’s place in the splashscreen. If your name no longer appears, just reenter the key in the register screen, using the same name. If you’ve forgotten your key: e-mail or fax me.
How to:
Click on the button marked “Register...” in the “About...” box. Fill in your name, as you wish it to appear on the initial splashscreen.
At the moment it is not possible to pay electronically - this may be available by the time you read this, and you may choose to contact me in order to find out. Send by snail mail your payment, and the name that you entered; you may also include the version number and your e-mail address if you have one. For the moment I can only accept checks drawn on a French bank (otherwise the charges equal the fee!), otherwise use the classic method of placing bank notes of the appropriate denomination inside a folded piece of carbon paper (or a entirely black photocopy is just as efficient). I'm sorry, but my bank doesn’t accept postcards as legal tender.
The address is:
Jonathan
c/o studio format utile
16, rue Baudin
92300 Levallois-Perret
France
e-mail: <format@francenet.fr>
Registration fees:
> Translate into your own currency, and only send bank notes, thank you.
Individual user: $10 8 ecus/euros
Studio licence - one site:
< 5 machines $30 24 ecus/euros
6-10 machines $50 40 ecus/euros
> 10 machines $70 56 ecus/euros
If you don’t have an e-mail address, and you wish me to send you the latest version, then please include $5 (4 ecus/euros) for post, packing and floppy.
Distribution
Permission is hereby granted for all forms of non-commercial distribution of this product provided that:
- it is distributed as is, with nothing added or removed from the application and accompagnying files;
- it is always accompagnied by this “ReadMe” file.
If this is to be distributed on non-commercial CD compilations or magazines, then I should receive the possibility to either receive a complementary copy of the CD, or at least the possibility of purchasing it at a discount.
Advance permission is hereby given for non-commercial diffusion by the following:
— InfoMac archives and mirror sites
- France’s SVM Mac magazine
- the “TakeBackYourMac” team, they can be found at:
<http://www.club-internet.fr/tbym/>
and with any luck versions of FontLoupe can be found at:
<http://www.club-internet.fr/tbym/softs/...>
- all members of the FutureBasic mailing list at:
<futureBasic@associate.com>
If you are interested in bundling this application with your product, or in commercial distribution of this product, then please contact the author.
FontLoupe also exists in French. If you would be interested in seeing a version in your language, please do not translate it yourself. Please contact me, and we’ll do it properly and legally.
Getting info
If you e-mail me, <format@francenet.fr>, with the following words in the subject field of your e-mail, you can automatically access information.
“Info-name_of_product” - for example “Info-ShadowBox”,
you will get, by return mail, an info sheet on that product.
“Info-version-name_of_product” - for example “Info-version-FontLoupe”
you will receive, by return mail, the version history for that product.
If you wish to know if other automatic commands are available send
“Info-info” in the subject field.
If you don’t get a reply within 48 hours (excluding weekends, my net connection is in the office) then flame my ISP, not me, ’cos that means his system went down and lost your mail.
Please take care (no spaces, good capitals) in your subject, as mail responders are pretty dumb and can’t interpret “Send me the info on Font Loupe” as “Info-FontLoupe” without a bit of carbon-based help. And the more time i send sorting my mail, the less time i have for programming and doing my real job.
History
FontLoupe came about because we were fed up with receiving documents in our art studio that didn’t have the fonts vectorised. So I set out to make a drag’n’drop utility that would list the fonts in the document. That would be small and practical, and could sit between “Stuffit Expander” and “Disinfectant” on the desktop. To our surprise, it also reads XPress EPSF files, which have always been a pain, although not XPress documents as I’m still puzzling out the header.
◊ version 1.0 was the first public version.
◊ version 1.1 corrected a problem with reading FreeHand 3 “.EPS” files, and minor cosmetic changes in the registration windows (the Geneva font didn’t always display correctly).
◊ version 1.2 added the “peek” button and a menu shortcut to same, and now puts “[X]” after a font family name if FontLoupe doesn’t find the font family currently installed in your system. It also improved the window tiling: now they will line up on your window and not disappear off of the bottom :-)
Corrected a minor error in the font listings:
In certain cases, fonts that do not have a name of type "FamilyName-Standard" or "FamilyName-Roman", but just "FamilyName", were not recognised as being just the Standard or Roman type and appeared, for example, as:
> News Gothic
News Gothic
> News Gothic
News Gothic Bold
News Gothic Oblique
rather than
> News Gothic
News Gothic
News Gothic Bold
News Gothic Oblique
It also corrects a minor glitch in the version 1.2 beta: fonts, such as “Franklin Gothic” or “Gill Sans”, would sometimes be incorrectly listed as absent from the system, as they are listed in their resources with no blank or space between the two words.
◊ version 1.2.1 finally corrects that pesky cosmetic glitch that appeared on AV Macs and some Power Macs, namely that the “Register” Info appeared in Chicago 12 instead of Geneva 9, causing the bottom half of letters to be eaten up. Thanks are due to Chris Young for sending me some code that helped stamp this out.
◊ version 1.2.2 was just recompiled in FutureBasic II version 2.3 to correct a potential problem with Mac OS 7.6 concerning “purgeable resources”. No-one encountered the problem but this was just in case.
◊ version 1.2.1 corrected that pesky font problem in the registration screens. I thought that i had done it in 1.2.2, but no, i didn't include all the code. All versions are safe and stable, it’s just the esthetics that are off.
The Future
NB: This is a wish list, not a guarantee, nor a promise. FontLoupe, like the other tools listed at the end of this document, grew out of a specific need in our art studio. If you send in your shareware fee then I’ll continue to improve it and add features. However if you don’t register, not only can I not inform you of changes, but also, we’ll just keep the improved version for ourselves.
Plans for the future:
- list personalised colors in a PostScript document
- list imported documents in a PostScript document
- allow previsulisation of the document [new in version 1.2]
- indicate if a font family is Type1 or TrueType
- indicate if a font family is currently installed [new in version 1.2]
- improve tiling of the windows to take into account your screen size [new in version 1.2]
- allow folders and disks to be dropped onto the desktop icon and automatically treat the contents
The name FontLoupe™ and the identifying icon are claimed as trademarks by the author.
All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The mentioning of a company, mark or product in no way constitutes an endorsement of this product by that company.
The author offers no guarantee to the fitness of this product for any purpose. This document is provided for informational purposes only, and does not constitue a guarantee or promise. This product is distributed and sold as is. While every precaution has been taken in the conception and manufacturing of this product, the author cannot be held liable for any damage resulting from its use or misuse.
(For more information on FutureBasic: < http://www.stazsoftware.com/>
Many thanks to all on the FutureBasic mailing list for helping me along with my dumb questions, especially Mel, tedd, stuartJ, and bobS. And Chris Young.
And you, of course, for paying your shareware fee :-)
Other software used in FontLoupe's production:
- SimpleText by Apple Computer [for this document]
- Illustrator 3.2 by Adobe [for the initial drawing of the splashscreen]
- PhotoShop by Adobe [for the treatments on the splashscreen]
- ResEdit by Apple Computer [for misc hacks]
- Em@iler by Claris [for e-mail]
Other Products
Thank you for getting this far. As you are still reading, you may just be a graphic artist interested in another of my tools. So, off we go for an unashamed plug!
slideBox™ was intended to replace those round slide rules that we used to use in graphics studio to calculate proportions, calibrate text, etc. Yes, you can use the calculator, or a spreadsheet, to do this, but slideBox™ is designed to be small, practical and present on screen at all times. And even with calculators and M*cr*s*ft Exc*l, I find myself continually jotting down info on scraps of paper as I can never remember the simple formulæ to calculate proportions!
version 1.0 - shareware at $10 (8 ecus/euros).
latest version b0.9
ShadowBox™ is a small tool for graphic artists who work with CMY tints, and is used to create new tints, lighter or darker, from an original tint. The darker tints are created without the use of black, thus reducing the risk of moiré, and just making for less dull colours.
A version 1.0 should be released around september [yes, but what year?].
Shareware at $10 (8 ecus/euros).
I remember stumbling on a tool named “CaseMachine” which would allow one to take lower case text and transform it to uppercase, and vice-versa. However, it didn’t take care of accented letters, standard ligatures “ fi ” and “ fl ” and all those scrambled eggs “ œ, æ, Æ, Œ ”, nor the German double-s “ ß ”, so I wrote “LeComposteur”.
The latest version is 1.0, it is a really small application, taking up really next to no memory. It is shareware at $8 (7 ecus/euros).
All four applications are available as a bundle for $30 (24 ecus/euros) for delivery by e-mail, or for $35 (28 ecus/euros) with delivery by snail-mail.
