Member Avatar for JamesMadison

Hi,
i´m really scr3wed about font mangement in osx, i mean, i´ve been a win user, and there was this thing with fonts, when i load photoshop, all of them loaded with it, making it slower and frustrating.
well, i´ve found this font manager in osx, what is it?

i´ve been pressing some buttons but i feel like a monkey with a gun, just waiting to make some disaster in my os.

what do i ahve to do, if i have an especific project, and i only need a coupple of fonts in it? not all 100???

please help me this is frustrating to me!

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by kc0arf

Dani AI

Generated

Brief primer and a safe, practical workflow for project-only fonts (Panther or later)

Mac OS X keeps fonts in a few distinct locations. Treat the system folder as off-limits—fonts placed there are used by the OS and by many apps. For project work, use the user-level font folder so changes are reversible and isolated to your account.

A simple, low-risk workflow you can use immediately:

  1. Create a project folder (example: ~/Documents/ProjectName/Fonts) and copy the font files you need there (.ttf, .otf, or legacy Type 1 files). Never delete originals from the system folders.
  2. Copy (don’t move) the project fonts into your user Fonts folder ~/Library/Fonts. That installs them only for your account.
  3. Quit and relaunch the app you’re using (Photoshop and many other apps read the font list at launch) so the new fonts appear.
  4. When the project is done, remove the copied fonts from ~/Library/Fonts and keep the project folder as your archive.

Use utilities for more convenience: third‑party font managers provide “sets” or activation so you don’t need to copy files back and forth; they also keep an archive and report duplicates or corrupt files. As warned, make font changes with apps closed; and pointed out that managers are often the easiest, safest route for heavy font collections.

Troubleshooting and cautions

  • Keep a backup of any fonts you change. If something misbehaves, restore the backup or reinstall from the original source.
  • If fonts look wrong or don’t appear after install, validate them with your font tool or remove duplicates, then log out or reboot to clear caches.
  • Check licensing before embedding or distributing fonts with a client project.

This approach keeps the system intact, makes Photoshop faster to start with smaller active sets, and gives you a clean, reversible way to work with only the fonts a single project needs.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

What version of OS X are youo working with? Are you working with strictly OS X software, or is there some classic in there too?

Typically you enable most fonts onto your system so that they are readily available at any time.

It is also a very bad idea to manipulate fonts while programs are open. Could cause problems doing that. Best close everything down first.

Christian

Member Avatar for JamesMadison

Hi chris, i just bought a mac mini, with panther, i´m using it, and working with the default font manager, but it really annoys me bud....

Member Avatar for cashondeb

Stay away from font management...I used it and it screwed up my fonts. Use Suitcase to use fonts temporarily.

Member Avatar for yellow

I concur with what cashondeb said, I cannot even begin to tell you how many users I see on forums that "break" their OS because they disabled helvetica or something used by the OS as a default font. Just leave Font Book alone unless you know what you're doing. And remember, you're in the Mac world now, it's time to leave all your Windows misgivings behind and completely relearn how you compute. Unless you have 1000 fonts or more, I wouldn't even waste mental energy worrying about how they impact the speed of Photoshop.

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

You might want to go through your fonts ONCE, and eliminate the ones that you know you will not use... for example, I do not speak / write / know Chinese, so I have removed all of the Asian fonts from my system. You might need them though. Also look around for font similarities... how many stencils do you need?

But be careful.

Times New Roman BOLD does not have the same effect as using Times New Roman, and then using the BOLD style on it. The font designers released Times New Roman BOLD for a reason. They want it to look good! So do not remove the cousins of the fonts... keep them around for the best typography you can get. We refer to this as a font family.... Times New Roman Italic... Times New Roman Bold... Times New Roman Compressed... Keep the family together.

Christian

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