Manage your font suitcases and printer fonts in 'Sets', like Extensions Manager!
Fonts Manager™ is similar to the Mac OS Extensions Manager, but it manages Fonts instead. It allows the enabling and disabling of font suitcases and printer fonts in 'Sets', so you shrink those long Font menus. It allows you to view, print, and save font samples. Open and save 'Sets' files for limitless set configuration and easy upgrade from previous versions. Balloon Help is available everywhere and all of this documentation is available from within the application.
Fonts Manager™ is NOT a Control Panel or Extension, NOR does it pretend to be one by living in the Startup Items folder; thus it works on ALL Macs with System 7.1 or later, including Mac OS 8.5.1, without modifying the NORMAL startup and operation of your computer. Thousands worldwide running all kinds of Macs (and Mac OS compatibles) have switched to Fonts Manager™ to get 'Up & Running'.
Say NO! to the other over-priced font managers that keep your Mac crashing. Other font utilities charge much more than Fonts Manager™ for its singular features:
- Font Samples ($29.99)
- Key Map ($39.00)
- Font Management ($49, $65, $69, $99)
But none of them offer the simplicity and complete control of your Fonts at a fraction of the price!
Thank you for using Fonts Manager™. Register now! It is still just $10!!!
Contents:
Minor update (3.9.2)
Minor update (3.9.1)
New in Version 3.9
System Requirements
Easy Installation
Registration
Why Font Management is a Good Idea...
Why Fonts Manager™ is a Better Way to Manage Fonts...
Version Revision History
Minor update (3.9.2)
Allows FM Sets file to be saved anywhere, not just to the desktop.
Minor update (3.9.1)
The Mac OS fonts check box now properly disables ALL 21 Mac OS fonts when unchecked.
NEW in Version 3.9
Customer feedback has prompted the creation of these NEW features:
- ONE DOWNLOAD! Zoom to large or small window with Foreign Mac OS Font Preference still available
- Fonts Manager™ User's Manual
- Double-click to add or remove any font in any list
- Initial launch set is ALL Fonts instead of NO Fonts to avoid panic
- Add Mac OS fonts to any set any time by holding down option key
- Smart Help window (to help prevent an accidental quit with no suitcases selected)
- Now Quits without that extra return!
- Improved Registration and Authentication windows for clarity
- Sample All Fonts will produce one sentence in every font installed (View, Save, or Print)
- Key Map for US/Roman/International ASCII character set (View or Print)
Features improved or enhanced:
- Menus have changed slightly for clarity (and to fit on smaller screens)
- Page Setup now fully supported
- Enhanced Font Sample routine now recognizes specific font in Font menu
- Save your FM Sets file(s) to disk, with Custom set selected
- Open any saved FM Sets file(s) from disk, with Custom set selected
- Save your Font Sample window(s) to disk
- Open any saved Font Sample window(s) from disk
- Double-click opens ANY Fonts Manager file (FM Sets file or Font Sample file)
- Balloon Help has been expanded EVERYWHERE
Complete information on the Internet:
http://www.aedvantage.com
Email:
Business contacts - hoppy@kagi.com
Licence issues - fmlicense@aedvantage.com
Technical support - fmhelp@aedvantage.com
System Requirements
- ANY Macintosh which will run System 7.1 or later.
- System Software 7.1 or later, including support for Mac OS 8.5.1 (and beyond).
- 1024k (1 MB) available memory.
- Less than 1 MB hard disk space.
- Enough fonts to care...
As you can see, Fonts Manager™ will run on just about any Mac!!!
Easy Installation
Just double-click on Fonts Manager™. It automatically moves 'Fonts Manager™ Help' to the Preferences folder (and moves an older version of the help file to the trash). Keep this Read Me file handy. You may need it one day.
(personally, I move Fonts Manager™ to the Apple Menu AFTER the first run...)
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are upgrading from a previous version (3.6 or later), don't forget to save your sets in the older version, so you can open them in the new version! Look for Save Sets file… in the File menu.
NOTE: You MUST run Fonts Manager™ from your "Startup Disk" (the volume which contains your active System Folder). It will not run from another drive or partition. It would have to be much larger, slower, and much more complicated to do that.
Registration
Please read the Register Instructions enclosed.
Why font management is a good idea...
The most common reason for font management is simple:
"It takes too long to select a particular font if the list is long!"
The next most common reason is also simple:
"I have too many fonts, and my System won't recognize some of them!"
And lastly:
"I have too many fonts, and my computer seems slower!"
These are only three of the reasons Fonts Manager exists. There are many more. Let's talk about these one by one...
"It takes too long to select a particular font if the list is long!"
This can be very annoying, especially if the font you want is called 'Zapf...' Scrolling through the entire alphabet is slow and cumbersome, and most folks don't have the patience (I know I don't). And I've come across some applications in the past that behaved strangely with too many fonts in the font menu...
"I have too many fonts, and my System won't recognize some of them!"
This can also be very annoying, because this situation is hard to recognize, unless you are aware of the simple rule: "No more than 128 suitcases in the Fonts folder."
The 129th suitcase won't be usable to you, although most applications will list the font in the font menu anyway (which can be very deceiving).
The rule only applies to suitcases, but it must makes sense to manage the printer fonts along with the suitcases, so you don't go crazy wondering why that particular printer font is in the Fonts folder...
"I have too many fonts, and my computer seems slower!"
This is much more subtle, and unless you're paying very close attention, you may never notice that it takes longer for your Mac to startup, or certain applications to launch.
Applications like ClarisWorks/AppleWorks and Microsoft Word '98 have WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) font menus. This menu (which is very beautiful and extremely useful) must be built when the application launches, and may take some time if you have just added or removed fonts to/from the Fonts folder. To shorten this time, keep only the fonts you need available at any given moment. Balance this idea against the time it takes you to restart your Mac, so that you won't become unproductive with too many 'small, specialized' font sets.
You can get quite carried away with font sets, and unless you have at least 256 fonts, 4 or 5 sets should be plenty. But don't let that stop you from creating very detailed, very logical sets, as in the following list:
- the Seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall...)
- Calendar Holidays (4th of July, New Year's...)
- Religious Holidays (Hanukah, Christmas, Passover, Easter...)
- special Symbols (Maps, Mathematics, Physics, Electrical, Drafting...)
- that special manuscript...
- that particular client's ready-to-publish work...
Why Fonts Manager™ is a Better Way to Manage Fonts...
Problem: Hey! My font management program isn't compatible with Mac OS 8.5.1!
Answer: You're right! And there might be others out there that aren't either. Fonts Manager™ may be just the answer, until 'patches' for these utilities are developed! This will NEVER happen with Fonts Manager™, because it is neither a Control Panel, nor an Extension! AND it does NOT run in the background, pretending not to be a Control Panel or Extension.
Problem: The System Software can only use fonts contained in the first 128 font suitcases in the System Folder. To get around this hard limit, these utilities must 'patch' the system to make fonts available at specific times. If the 'patch' is not successful, applications will crash, and you may lose precious data.
Answer: Fonts Manager, like Extensions Manager, simply rearranges files, and then gets out of the way, so you can work!
Problem: This 'patch' requires either an Extension or a Control Panel to do its work. Again, if the 'patch' is not successful, you may crash at startup, or you may need to do extensive troubleshooting to find the cause of the crash at startup, before you realize it is one of these utilities.
Answer: Fonts Manager is NEITHER a Control Panel NOR an Extension, and CANNOT cause problems at startup!
Problem: Each time Apple revises the System Software, these utilities may not work properly until a new 'patch' arrives, or an updated version is made available.
Answer: When the Fonts folder was first introduced with System Software 7.1, Apple developers were given exact guidelines for font usage. Apple has not changed this strategy, and will likely keep this same set of guidelines in future releases of the Mac OS. Fonts Manager has been written using these same guidelines, and should work flawlessly, even when Apple revises its system software.
Problem: Commercial font management utilities may be complicated. With this extra sophistication comes extra room for extension conflicts. If you MUST have font management without restarting, use one of these. These are good utilities, and may be for you, but may require some extra troubleshooting, many times requiring toll calls to technical support, and an occasional 'clean install' of your system software.
Answer: Fonts Manager is very easy to understand. In the System Folder, two new folders are created: 'Fonts (Printer Fonts)' and 'Fonts (Suitcases)'. Your Custom set of fonts will reside in the regular Fonts folder. Any 'disabled' fonts (fonts you temporarily won't be using) will be in either of the other two folders. Simple!
Problem: Commercial font management utilities may be EXPENSIVE.
Answer: Fonts Manager is EASY and CHEAP! You may try it for 30 days, and if you like it, the shareware fee is a mere ten dollars ($10). And you may purchase multiple copies at an even greater savings. The Site License is only $150. The World-Wide License is only $500.
Version Revision History
3.8
- added 'Add ALL...' buttons to accelerate Custom Set creation
- NEW web site
3.7.4
- added Seoul font support for Hangul/Korean Mac OS 8 (version 3.7.4K)
- added Beijing font support for Chinese Simplified Mac OS 8 (version 3.7.4CS)
- added Taipei font support for Chinese Traditional Mac OS 8 (version 3.7.4CT)
- added Osaka font support for Kanji/Japanese Mac OS 8 (version 3.7.4J)
- NEW web site
3.7.3
- added Osaka font support for KanjiTalk/Japanese Mac OS (version 3.7.3J)
- added reminder to Restart when application quits
3.7.2
- added 'Edit' and 'Style' menus to enhance viewing and printing of font samples
- minor 'behind the scenes' update to better support font sampling when using ATM
3.7.1
- very minor update to the 'splash' screen (I must've been asleep for 3.7)
3.7
- added Font Sample and Print Sample options at your request
- changed 'Help' menu to 'Tutorial' for clarity when using Mac OS 8
- Tutorial Topics (this text) available in a separate text file, as well as in the Tutorial menu
3.6.8
- very minor update to the 'Mac OS fonts' set to include all fonts installed by the Mac OS Installer
- Help Topics available in a separate text file, as well as in the Help menu
3.6.7
- Mac OS 8 TrueType font suitcase 'Truth' now called 'Charcoal'
3.6.6
- better error checking for proper installation
- minor correction to License Details window
3.6.5
- modified discount structure for multiple users to accomodate Kagi Register application
- Kagi registration supports the following:
- VISA
- MasterCard
- American Express
- Invoice
- Cash
- Check/Money Order
- First Virtual
3.6.4
- added support for new Mac OS 8 font 'Truth'
- revised support for QuickDraw GX fonts: 'Apple Chancery', 'Hoefler Text', 'Skia', and 'Tekton Plus'
3.6.3
- added a larger screen version to double the information in main window
- updated for Mac OS 7.6 and later (although v3.6.2 runs fine with 7.6)
- more customer feedback filtered into the readme and Help Topics
- removed 'write to NIL' conflict (only seen during 'Quit' when using EvenBetterBusError INIT)
3.6.2
- added a progress window for saving 'Sets'
- removed all customer feedback considered politically incorrect to an anonymous software developer (I wish I could tell you the whole story on this one!)
3.6.1
- fixed a minor bug in the Open 'Sets' (import) routine
3.6
- Save 'Sets' for export purposes (great for site-license standardization of sets, or to upgrade beyond version 3.6 without losing time invested in creating sets -> Apologies for not bringing this back sooner!)
- Open 'Sets' from previous export (this is the companion to the Save function)
- command-period disabled for quit (only command-Q or Quit from the file menu works)
- cleaned up quite a bit of internal code for speed
3.5.2
- NEW progress bars (no more guessing what's happening)
- faster launch
- ignores extra folders in Fonts folder, instead of just hanging or crashing (although the Fonts folder should seldom have folders inside it, I've now allowed for that, just in case you've got a specific requirement, like with some Japanese fonts, or in case that's part of your font management strategy)
3.5.1
- fixed two minor bugs when saving sets
3.5
- no installation necessary (just double-click!)
- much smoother International localized version
- removed the need for ••FM SmartFont
- removed the need for 'Preferences' workaround
3.12
- added QuickStart Tutorial to Help Topics
- added Usage Tips (below)
- removed the 'ghost' space from the three Registration fields
3.11
- International Version for localized System Software
- added use of ••FM SmartFont
3.10
- much cheaper than before (you asked for it)
- better discount structure for multiple users
- corporate ShareWare Notice (you asked for it)
3.1
- much faster than before
- almost complete facelift, with better progress notes
- manages suitcases AND printer fonts more better
- Balloon Help has been beefed up and basted...
3.0
- only 10 Sets per copy (much faster)
- BOTH suitcases and printer fonts are managed
- changed folder layout inside System Folder
2.1
- Adobe Type Manager (ATM™) 3.8.3 font substitution is preserved (if you wish)
- Command-W closes windows that have a close box
- Keep all your old suitcase 'Sets' when you upgrade!
- Rename 'Sets' upon first Save
- Custom Set is saved 'as is' (you actually have a total of 21 Sets)
- Accepts (and converts) authentication codes from all registered versions
2.0.2
- Fixed a bug when saving with 'Custom' selected as the 'Set'
- Old Authentication codes are automatically converted to new codes (if you've registered).
- Main window has title bar, can be moved around, and will remember its position.
- Major price cuts in site licenses.
2.0.1
- change to Help file only
2.0 FINAL
- no longer requires AppleScript
- still requires a restart
- Help Topics
The following information is for archive purposes only. Version 2.0 and later were written using FutureBasic II. The last version written using FaceSpan (with AppleScript) was 1.5.9sp.
1.5.9sp
- Command-Q now quits the application, as does closing the Fonts Manager window.
- Also, a preview of Fonts Manager 2.0 is included.
