Font Book Questions

Question

Level 1

25 points

Font Book Questions

I've been trying to install some fonts to my computer (I'm new to Tiger and Font Book). I used these fonts on my older machine.

First of all, what is the difference between a collection and a library? I want to keep the fonts in a separate location, so if I have a problem in the future, I know where I got them from.

Next, can I install the fonts direct to a collection, or library? When installing, the fonts seem to be placed in the "base directory" and I have to move them to the collection I want manually. (Maybe I need to write a script to automate this?)

Finally, How can I standardize the collections for all users? I'll install the fonts as the admin, but I want all users to see the same collections (I've already figured out how to install the fonts for all users, I just need to figure how to get all users the same collections or libraries).

Thanks.

iMac G3 600MHz, iBook G4 1.42Ghz, Mac OS X (10.1.x)

Posted on Mar 27, 2006 3:55 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Dr. Smoke

Level 9

56,586 points

Mar 27, 2006 4:30 PM in response to Waldo

Hi, Waldo.

Here's a broad response to your set of questions. I also recommend that you review the Apple Technology Brief (PDF) Fonts in Mac OS X.

Both collections and libraries are essentially sets of pointers to fonts.

Libraries are generally associated with a specific folder containing fonts. Accordingly, fonts are installed in a library. If you use Font Book's feature to Preview/Install a font (double click a new font), the Install button copies the font to the default library specified in Font Book's preferences.

The Computer library is actually the union of fonts in two directories:

• /System/Library/Fonts
• /Library/Fonts

When you set the default location for installing fonts in Font Book's preferences to the Computer collection, the fonts you install with the Preview/Install function are copied to /Library/Fonts.

The User library points to your Home > Library > Fonts folder, i.e. the ~/Library/Fonts directory. This is unique to each user.

You can create a new library to enable the management, via Font Book, of a set of fonts outside of the default font folders defined by Mac OS X. So, if you have a folder of fonts you want to manage with Font Book, but keep those fonts out of the default font folders, create a new library that points to that folder of fonts. See "Font Book 2.0 Help: Creating a new font library."

A collection is merely a virtual grouping of fonts. A collection does not contain the actual fonts, merely pointers to them. The actual fonts reside in a library as noted above. For example, the Arial font can be added to any number of collections. Collections are primarily used in the Font Pallet, i.e. the floating window that appears in applications like Mail and TextEdit when you select the menu choices to Show Fonts. A collection can include fonts form multiple libraries.

Libraries and collections that you define are specific to your account. This enables each user account to define their own font libraries and collections to match their specific work-style. The libraries and collections defined by a specific user are in that user's Home > Library > FontCollections folder (their ~/Library/FontCollections directory).

Note: I've not tried the following: It may be possible using a UNIX symbolic link to redirect each user's ~/Library/FontCollections directory to a common directory you create, e.g. /Users/Shared/FontCollections, in which you could save common collections. However, this could have side effects in terms of users overwriting the collections, or being unable to modify existing collections. This would be a hack and consequently, attempt at your own risk. Again, Font Book is designed so that each user can define their own collections and libraries.

Good luck!

😉 Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

PM G5 Dual 2.3GHz, iBook 700, more! Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Reply