I have finally got myself a copy of Snow Leopard, and I want to get on and install the thing on my MacBook Pro. My stumbling block - and to be honest the reason why I haven’t jumped to the Snow Leopard before - is fonts.
I currently use Linotype’s free Font Explorer X to manage my rambling collection of PostScript Type 1s, OpenTypes and Truetypes under OS X 10.5.8. I simply don’t need the power any more, since my work patterns have changed such that I really only need a core of fonts available at any one time, rather than activating and deactivating all the time as things used to be.
My questions are several. If I simply disable all the user-enabled fonts in Font Explorer, will it just leave the default OS fonts and let me just update the OS without problems?
Does Font Explorer X work happily with Snow Leopard, meaning I can simply leave things as they are and upgrade the OS?
Is Font Book safe to use now?
Please bear in mind I cannot afford to pay for a font manager like the olden days. Put simply, I don’t really need a font manager at all!
All I need is a simple guide to ensuring that once I press the “install” button on the DVD, things will go as smoothly as possible. Any and all helpful suggestions gratefully received.
I’ve been using Font Explorer X (the free one) for a while, but it’s been a little wonky on my MBP running Snow Leopard. It seems to be mainly interface issues, where you click and they go away.
Since I did not have it on this Mac when I installed 10.6, I cannot say how it will affect your upgrade. I’ve only just migrated it to this machine from my old iMac G5.
Since I did not have it on this Mac when I installed 10.6, I cannot
say how it will affect your upgrade. I’ve only just migrated it to
this machine from my old iMac G5.
Thanks, Joe. =o)
I’d be happy to stop using FE, to be honest. It’s been so long since I
set it up, I can’t actually remember how to disable it now!
I can’t speak to the free version, but the paid version of FX works
just great on Leopard and Snow Leopard. I don’t do a lot of font-
switching, but when I do, I love the browsing and gallery tools in FX
too much to go back to the built-in stuff. Plus, my font library is
quite extremely large. Like 3,700 faces large. I don’t imagine that
the FontBook stuff would survive.
Walter
On Dec 29, 2010, at 8:14 AM, Heather Kavanagh wrote:
On 29 Dec 2010, at 12:31, Paul Bradforth wrote:
That’d be my advice, particularly given that you don’t use it like
you used to. Font Book works fine for me, for what it’s worth …
Thanks, Paul. I think you’re right.
I guess I’m going to need to spend some time sorting things out
before I get as far as installing Snowy.
To add to the pot, I’m using Suitcase Fusion without any problems on Snow Leopard - but my list is nowhere as big as Walter’s, although well into the hundreds. But like you, Heather, it’s time for a serious cull.
Colin
On 29 Dec 2010, at 14:26, Walter Lee Davis wrote:
I can’t speak to the free version, but the paid version of FX works just great on Leopard and Snow Leopard. I don’t do a lot of font-switching, but when I do, I love the browsing and gallery tools in FX too much to go back to the built-in stuff. Plus, my font library is quite extremely large. Like 3,700 faces large. I don’t imagine that the FontBook stuff would survive.
Walter
On Dec 29, 2010, at 8:14 AM, Heather Kavanagh wrote:
On 29 Dec 2010, at 12:31, Paul Bradforth wrote:
That’d be my advice, particularly given that you don’t use it like you used to. Font Book works fine for me, for what it’s worth …
Thanks, Paul. I think you’re right.
I guess I’m going to need to spend some time sorting things out before I get as far as installing Snowy.
But like you, Heather, it’s time for a serious cull.
My days of needing to switch fonts back and forth are long gone, so I
don’t want to spend good money on an application to do it for me.
I think all I need to do is make sure all the activated third party
fonts are deactivated, that the correct system variant of Helvetica is
in use, and then make sure all the auto activation plug-ins for Font
Explorer are off.
Thanks for the input folks. I think I’m going to need to spend some
time just sorting things out before I stick the Snow Leopard disc in.
Although Snow Leopard is called as an “upgrade” you don’t need to have installed a copy of Leopard beforehand.
I’d suggest doing a clean install of Snow Leopard and that way you would get all the system fonts it requires. Then you can copy back or reinstall the files, fonts and applications you need.
As an added bonus I always find the system seems much faster after a clean install like this.
If you need iLife from your system disk then you can use Pacifist to install them on their own as well.
I’d suggest doing a clean install of Snow Leopard and that way you
would get all the system fonts it requires. Then you can copy back
or reinstall the files, fonts and applications you need.
That’s a good idea. I might just do that.
It would let me “restore” from Time Machine, wouldn’t it?
Never tried using Time Machine this way so maybe someone else can help?
I tend to mirror my system hard disk to an external drive using Carbon Copy Cloner then reformat and reinstall on the internal one. I then copy my stuff back manually from the external hard drive as I need it.
I did try Migration Assistant once to copy all my settings back but a lot of rubbish came back this way which undid much of the point of a clean install.
I prefer FontAgent personally. Have been using it a few years now and current version works well with SL.
There is an issue with Helvetica that Apple now supplies with the OS. It conflicts with most of the old type1 versions out there so you will have to decide whether to deactivate the Apple supplied font or live with warnings whenever a document is opened using older Helvetica versions.
I think it depends on how you set up FX. When I installed it, I told it to not move my fonts, nor do anything with them. Everything is where I put it and left there. So, if I delete FX, nothing changes and I’m fine.
If that’s how you installed FX, then you should be all set.