If your corporate server has an LDAP directory, it can import all the users and groups from it.Ī power user can choose to see plenty of information note that the Activation Control area shows which fonts were requested by which applications. The server lets you set up users and groups, and assign any combination of privileges to them. The server can run on any computer, and is administered through the client program. Organizations with more than a few users will want to employ the server version of FontExplorer X. Just like other leading font managers, FontExplorer X employs two programs: an invisible engine that activates at log-in to handle activation requests, and the application itself, which lets you manage your fonts and sets. The plug-ins manager is especially useful, because if the plug-ins are updated during an overall FontExplorer X update, they can be automatically pushed out to the applications that use them. The program has tools to clear your Mac’s font caches, optimize the database, and manage plug-ins. These features make it much easier to set up and support multiple designers in a workgroup, or to give you peace of mind that your carefully crafted font environment can be quickly recreated in an emergency-or on your laptop. It can even create a Quick Installer of your configuration and fonts to install on other computers. It can also export your current window configuration, which can then be applied in whole or in part on another Mac. Administrator toolsįontExplorer X can export a backup of all your preferences and fonts, and then restore them on your Mac or copy them to another Mac. That makes it much easier to figure out which fonts to keep activated all the time. One of my favorite features is that it keeps track of which fonts each application has requested for activation. It can then create a new set from those fonts, activate them, or even let you purchase them if they’re not already in your library. It can identify fonts used in many kinds of documents, including RTF, PDF, EPS, SVG, Adobe InDesign CS2/CS3/CS4, and Apple Pages and Keynote. Another is the Font Detector, available under the File menu. One welcome feature is Application Sets, which can activate certain fonts when a specific application is launched, and then optionally deactivate them when the application quits. SetsĬreating and adding fonts to sets is simple, and smart sets provide a real-time collection of all the fonts that contain specific characteristics. You may also purchase fonts from within FontExplorer X in a process very similar to using the iTunes Store.īut the impressive thing about FontExplorer X is the level of control you have over how imported fonts are treated. You can also leave the font files in place on your hard drive and let the program simply point to them. You can choose whether the program copies the fonts into its own Archive folder or moves them (thus deleting the original files). (Note that pricing for the server version varies based on the number of seats licensed, number of fonts licensed, duration of the contract, and other issues.)Īdding fonts is as simple as dragging them onto the FontExplorer X window. (From April 2006 through December 2007, Linotype offered a much simpler FontExplorer X version for free.) This review primarily focuses on FontExplorer X Pro, but will cover the Server version as well. But when you need to customize it, you’ll find hundreds of ways to do so.įontExplorer X comes in two versions: FontExplorer X Pro, a $79 standalone font manager and FontExplorer X Server, which uses FontExplorer X Pro as a front-end client. But that’s not to say it’s bloated with features-in its default setup, FontExplorer X is straightforward and easy to use. It’s as if the developers asked hundreds of designers and prepress professionals what they wanted, and then delivered everything on the list. FontExplorer X Pro 2.0.1 is the most advanced, feature-complete font-management tool I’ve ever seen-and I’ve used almost all of them.
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