How to use Font Book with Fonts installed on External Hard Drive

My problem as I get older is remembering what I've learned. 😀

Font Book only manages fonts that are present in one of the Font folders on the startup disk. It can deactivate those fonts, but it won't work as a repository of fonts installed elsewhere. I would have suggested using a symlink of the Fonts folder on the external disk to ~/Library/Fonts, but apparently that won't work either: Enable using symbolic links in ~/Library/Fonts

Font Book can manage fonts from anywhere you want, just like pretty much any other font manager.

If you want to try again with Font Book, do this:

1) From within Font Book, run the command, Restore Standard Fonts. This will move any fonts not installed by OS X from the /System/Library/Fonts/ folder, and the /Library/Fonts/ folder. Next to each of these will be a new folder named Fonts (Removed). As long as you have all of these third party fonts backed up elsewhere, you can delete both of these folders.

This command does not affect the Fonts folder in your user account. Which as you've correctly noted, is at ~/Library/Fonts/. Again, as long as you have all of those 4783 fonts backed up elsewhere, empty this folder and delete the fonts. If OS X won't let you empty the trash (items are in use), just hold off until after step two.

2) In your user account Preferences folder, put these two files in the trash:

com.apple.FontBook.plist

com.apple.FontRegistry.user.plist

Restart the Mac, and then empty the trash. What you've done in step 2 is completely reset Font Book's database and its preferences.

Back to Font Book. Its default behavior is to copy all fonts you add to the Fonts folder in your user account. I have always found this completely unnecessary. To prevent that, create a Library set, not a standard set. Any fonts you add to this set will be activated in place. Which means no fonts are copied anywhere. They are instead activated and deactivated from wherever they are. Doesn't matter what folder or drive they're on.

Wow, one never stops learning! 😎

My problem is already having forgotten more than I remember. 😟

You win! 😁

I haven't gotten there yet, but I'm working on it. 🙂

It's in Font Book's menus. Command+N will create a standard set (a Collection), which will copy any fonts you add to that set to the Fonts folder in your user account. Command+Option+N will create a new Library set. You can also right click anywhere in the left column to create either from the contextual menu.

I really have no idea what a Smart Collection is supposed to do differently. I don't use Font Book, so haven't bothered to read up on it.

Anywho, a Library set looks no different from a Collection other than they get added underneath the All Fonts headings rather than in the Collection list. But fonts added to a Library set are all symbolic links to where the fonts are rather than copies added to your user account.

Library sets have one known drawback. Though I should add I haven't tested this in a while to see if it's still true. But if it is, this happens. Say you add a font (pick one, doesn't matter what font it is) to a Library set. Then you create another set for a different project, but add that same font from the same location to that second Library set. Once you've deactivated that font in both sets, it's impossible to enable it again in either set. You have to remove the sets and create them again.

Everything in the root /Library/Fonts/ folder were installed by OS X. 214 files is what should be there.

Most of them are unnecessary. Actually, a lot of them in the /System/Library/Fonts/ folder aren't needed if English is your main language, and the only one you ever really use. This is all I have in those folders:

System:

Apple Braille.ttf

Apple Color Emoji.ttf

ArialHB.ttc

Avenir.ttc

Courier.dfont

Geneva.dfont

Helvetica.dfont

HelveticaNeue.dfont

HelveticaNeueDeskInterface.ttc

Keyboard.ttf

LastResort.ttf

LucidaGrande.ttc

Menlo.ttc

Monaco.dfont

PingFang.ttc

SFNSDisplay-Black.otf

SFNSDisplay-Bold.otf

SFNSDisplay-Heavy.otf

SFNSDisplay-Light.otf

SFNSDisplay-Medium.otf

SFNSDisplay-Regular.otf

SFNSDisplay-Semibold.otf

SFNSDisplay-Thin.otf

SFNSDisplay-Ultralight.otf

SFNSText-Bold.otf

SFNSText-BoldG1.otf

SFNSText-BoldG2.otf

SFNSText-BoldG3.otf

SFNSText-BoldItalic.otf

SFNSText-BoldItalicG1.otf

SFNSText-BoldItalicG2.otf

SFNSText-BoldItalicG3.otf

SFNSText-Heavy.otf

SFNSText-HeavyItalic.otf

SFNSText-Light.otf

SFNSText-LightItalic.otf

SFNSText-Medium.otf

SFNSText-MediumItalic.otf

SFNSText-Regular.otf

SFNSText-RegularG1.otf

SFNSText-RegularG2.otf

SFNSText-RegularG3.otf

SFNSText-RegularItalic.otf

SFNSText-RegularItalicG1.otf

SFNSText-RegularItalicG2.otf

SFNSText-RegularItalicG3.otf

SFNSText-Semibold.otf

SFNSText-SemiboldItalic.otf

Symbol.ttf

Times.dfont

ZapfDingbats.ttf

Library:

AppleGothic.ttf

Arial Black.ttf

Arial Bold Italic.ttf

Arial Bold.ttf

Arial Italic.ttf

Arial Narrow Bold Italic.ttf

Arial Narrow Bold.ttf

Arial Narrow Italic.ttf

Arial Narrow.ttf

Arial Rounded Bold.ttf

Arial.ttf

Comic Sans MS Bold.ttf

Comic Sans MS.ttf

Georgia Bold Italic.ttf

Georgia Bold.ttf

Georgia Italic.ttf

Georgia.ttf

Impact.ttf

Tahoma Bold.ttf

Tahoma.ttf

Times New Roman Bold Italic.ttf

Times New Roman Bold.ttf

Times New Roman Italic.ttf

Times New Roman.ttf

Trebuchet MS Bold Italic.ttf

Trebuchet MS Bold.ttf

Trebuchet MS Italic.ttf

Trebuchet MS.ttf

Verdana Bold Italic.ttf

Verdana Bold.ttf

Verdana Italic.ttf

Verdana.ttf

Webdings.ttf

Wingdings 2.ttf

Wingdings 3.ttf

Wingdings.ttf

These are all the ones either the OS needs, the OS X supplied apps may need, some third party apps can't do without, and all of the "standard" web fonts. The rest are fluff for your general use.

I really have no idea what a Smart Collection is supposed to do differently. I don't use Font Book, so haven't bothered to read up on it.

A Smart Collection is just like a Smart Folder in the Finder, or a Smart Mailbox in Mail, or a Smart Collection in Final Cut Pro.

Its contents are defined according to criteria you stipulate, irrespective of where the actual Fonts reside; and it is updated automatically if, for example, fonts are added or removed.

If I thin mine out to match your above lists, might I encounter any problems with Adobe Creative Cloud apps or some other app perhaps? I'm excited to see how the computer works with a lean font list.

For the Adobe apps, Helvetica is required for some of them (not all), or they won't launch. Other than that, if you pare the folders down to match mine, a third party app I don't have the means to test also may not launch. Then you use your font manager to activate copies of the fonts you removed. Activate a few at a time to see if the app then launches successfully. If it does, you know at least one of them is required for that app. Add it back in permanently.

With the above list, all Adobe CC apps work, Quark XPress 8, 2015 and 2016 (I didn't test all of the more recent versions), QuickBooks Pro, Toast Titanium, Office 2008, 2011 and 2016, and lots of other major desktop publishing apps.

Mind you, none of this is necessary if handling lots of fonts on a daily basis isn't something you do. My article is mainly maintained for those in the printing and advertising fields, where the fewer fonts you have on your system, the better, so you don't run into font conflicts with client supplied fonts. Or, at least as infrequently as possible.

Thanks, Luis. That's what I kind of figured. A "live" folder that can track fonts added or removed from a set without actually having to update, or recreate the set itself.