Can't add fonts to new library in Font Book

Hi, PPG-Kim.

1. You wrote:

"I've created a new library named "Temporary" in Font Book using File/New Library command. I can't add any fonts to the new library, nothing happens -- no error, no dialog at all, just nothing happens."

If:

- You are unable to create new Libraries or Collections in Font Book.

- New Libraries or Collections created in Font Book are unsaved after you quit and relaunch Font Book.

Then check the Ownership and Permissions settings in the Get Info window of your Home > Library > FontCollections folder. The Details sub-panel of the Ownership & Permissions panel should show your account as Owner of this folder, with Access of Read & Write. If either of these conditions is not met, make changes accordingly using the pop-up menus.

2. You wrote:

"If I add them to a new collection, the fonts are also added to my user library, but they are not removed from the user library when they are removed from the collection."

The default Library to which new fonts are added is specified in Font Book > Preferences. Removing / Deleting a font from a Collection does not remove the font from your Mac: it simply removes it from the Collection.

To remove a font, select the All Fonts Library, then Control-Click the font to be removed in the Font columns, then select Remove from the resulting context menu. Confirm your intent to remove the font. The selected font is moved to the Trash. Use this function carefully.

3. You wrote:

"My objective is to create a space for adding and removing client fonts. I work at a prepress service bureau. I need to add a client's fonts long enough to process their document then remove it. I have other fonts in my user library that I'd like to keep so I want to separate these client fonts."

This is going to be tedious in Font Book due to what appears to be a glitch in how it handles Font Libraries other than the default libraries, i.e. Computer and User (All Fonts is simply a union of these two collections). You may want to reconsider Suitcase or their new Suitcase Fusion product given the complexity of doing what you want to do in Font Book. However, here's a method that should work:

3.1. You can create a folder, call it Client Fonts in your Home folder, and manually add client fonts to this folder.

3.2. You can then create a new Font Library called Client Library using Font Book > File > New Library.

3.3. You then have to set the default location for installing new fonts to the Client Library library in Font Book > Preferences. This step is required for the next step.

3.4. You can then select the Client Library library and use File > Add Fonts to add fonts from the Home > Library > Client Fonts folder to the Client Library. Simply selecting the Client Fonts folder in the resulting dialog will add all fonts in the Client Fonts folder to Client Library. They'll also appear in All Fonts.

This will permit you to enable or disable fonts in this library using Font Book. However, the fonts added from the Client Fonts folder are not moved from this folder to any font folder: Font Book simply creates a reference in the Client Library pointing to them in the Client Fonts folder.

3.5. To remove the fonts in the Client Library from Font Book control, use the instructions for removing fonts in point 2 above...

...However, here's the glitch: while those instructions will result in Font Book placing copies of these fonts in the Trash, it will not remove them from the Client Fonts folder: simply from Font Book's control, the Client Library library, and All Fonts. To remove them from the computer you will also need to delete them from the Client Fonts folder.

Once you've set up Client Fonts, Client Library, and Font Book preferences as noted above, you can use them in your workflow as follows:

(a) Add client fonts manually to Client Fonts.

(b) Use File > Add fonts to add fonts from Client Fonts to Client Library.

(c) Work with the fonts.

(d) When done, Remove fonts added in (b) from All Fonts per point 2 above.

(e) Delete the client fonts in Client Fonts.

You need to:

- Remember the setting made in step 3.4 in case you want to add new fonts to another library, i.e. Computer or User, by default. You also need to

- Be careful if you disable Tiger-provided fonts in favor of client fonts by resolving duplicates.

Note that some of the information above is from the "Font Book" chapter of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Tiger Edition.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

---
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.

You're welcome.

If the fonts do not pass validation, then you're taking a risk using them. That's something to keep in mind if problems suddenly develop.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

HI, I was reading your post and had the same problem. The thing is, that I just add a font, disable it after and try to re-import it in a new "collection" and it just dont want to add it. Nothing happen. And a thing that i realized it's when I add a font in Font Book, it copy the font files in user/library/Fonts and even if the font is removed in Font Book, the font stay here. It is something i can do to avoid that except removing it manually? Thanks

Martin

You're welcome.

If the fonts do not pass validation, then you're
taking a risk using them. That's something to keep
in mind if problems suddenly develop.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

PowerMac G5 1.8 Ghz Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Hi, Martin. Welcome to the Discussions.

When you install a font via the Install button in Font Book's font preview window, it installs (copies) the font to the library you've specified as the default in Font Book > Preferences, e.g.

User: your Home > Library > Fonts folder

Computer: the Macintosh HD > Library > Fonts folder.

See "Font Book 2.0 Help: Installing fonts", which can also be found in Font Book > Help > Font Book Help.

In reality, what appears in the Computer collection (which IMO should probably be called a library) is actually the union of the fonts in the Macintosh HD > Library > Fonts folder and the Macintosh HD > System > Library > Fonts folder.

In the Collection column, items above the horizontal dividing line are more properly considered libraries, those below the line are better thought of as collections.

I like to more precisely define Libraries (above the line) as the union of one or more folders containing the actual font files. Collections (below the line) are merely lists of fonts, i.e. pointers to the fonts themselves. I'll use these definitions in the rest of this post.

Once you've installed a font in a library, it can be added to any collection that you define. You do not need to install it twice.

If you move a font between libraries, it is physically moved from one library's folder to that of the other.

If you add a font to a collection, a pointer to the font is added to the list of fonts in the collection.

Deleting a font from a collection is different from Removing a font. Deleting a font from a collection merely removes it from that collection; the font remains installed. Remember, collections are merely lists of fonts containing pointers to specific fonts.

To Remove (uninstall) a font:

1. In the Collection column, select All Fonts.

2. In the Font column, select the font to be removed. The search field can help to locate the font.

3. Do one of the following:

• Press the Delete key.

• Select File > Remove “font” where font is the name of the font selected in step 2.

• Control-click the font, then select Remove “font” from the resulting contextual menu.

4. Confirm your intent to remove the font selected in step 2 by clicking Remove in the resulting confirmation sheet.

The font you selected in step 2 is moved to the Trash. If a font is Removed, its entry is also deleted from any collections containing (pointing to) that font.

One needs to be careful not toremove System fonts. Font book will generally prevent you from Removing most System fonts: you'll be able to go through the motions of Remove but the font will not be trashed. Such fonts, when selected in the Font column, display a lock icon in the Font Book border below the Preview area. Lucida Grande is a good example.

To better understand Font Book, I recommend you read the Apple Technology Brief Fonts in Mac OS X (PDF).

Note that some of the information above is from the "Font Book" chapter of my book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X, Tiger Edition.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

---
Note: The information provided in the link(s) above is freely available. However, because I own The X Lab™, a commercial Web site to which some of these links point, the Apple Discussions Terms of Use require I include the following disclosure statement with this post:

I may receive some form of compensation, financial or otherwise, from my recommendation or link.