New! Faster importing into large libraries New! Drop a folder in sets or libraries to import them and create a new set or library New! Specify fonts to re-activate at start up New! Activate and deactivate fonts in Classic New! Improved auto-activation is more accurate and faster New! Click to import shared fonts New! Improved WYSIWYG, FontPlayer, and FontCompare rendering New! Type to jump to the matching item in the list New! Improved icons in toolbar and list views
That’s what. Sounds good. I guess I’ll have to set up this version as I hadn’t bothered with 2.0. There goes a couple of days.
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I haven’t bothered setting up 2.0 because it took me three days to set up 1.4 and that was just two months before 2.0 with the ‘new’ SQL database. I waited for this version to have the equivalent of a startup set and hopefully better auto-activation. I also hope this version boots up faster. FAP 1.4 was adding 2.5 minutes to my startup time but the program worked much better than FontReserve so I’ll stick with it. I’ll bet Ann has a good idea of the functionality of 2.0.
I’ve been using the latest version of 2.0.x (I’m not currently at the Mac to see the exact number), which is the first version of FAP I’ve ever installed.
I’m very pleased with the auto activation in Word X and InDesign. It doesn’t seem to work if you open a Word document through Text Edit, but I haven’t investigated further.
It does not add at all to the launch time.
My only wish is for arbitrary submenus, as noted in my post# 2 above.
Cindy asked for my input but I really can’t add anything at this stage.
When I tried the trial version of FAP 2.0, I could see no worthwhile improvement over 1.4 — just a hefty upgrade price and a huge investment in time to rebuild all of my font libraries and special Sets — so I stuck with 1.4.
As far as 2.1 is concerned, I plan to wait until after I install Tiger (which will be at least a month after it ships!) — and then see what users are saying about FAP 2.1.x.
I’m confident I’ve been using 2.0.x all this time.
I’m definitely looking forward to Classic activation when I upgrade tonight. So far I’ve been booting up in 9.2.2 to use my non OS X applications because of this shortcoming of 2.0.x.
I’m still making do with FontBook. I seem I have a lot fewer problems by not using a third party font manager. After having so much trouble with Suitcase and FontReserve for OSX, I have been cautious about investing in another one. I will follow along though and if in a month or two things still look good I might consider FAP.
Ann 2.1 is much better than 1.4. It doesn’t even have to stay running in the background like 1.4. the Auto activation is exellent for PS, AI, and ID. it works so smoothly I just haven’t needed a startup set yet. It is definitely worth the upgrade.
In a few days you’ll forget you even had submenus.
That’s extremely unlikely. This is the one thing I hate most about OS X, the lack of those submenus.
I know exactly what each of my typefaces looks like, but I’m very likely to forget or be unaware that I have a particular one that might be specially suited for a new project. The submenus provided by ATR in 9.2.2 show me all my fonts on my hard disk(s), with the ones that are not activated being grayed out, but the names are there as a reminder. The submenus show me all my fonts by type classification, so the Grotesque submenu will list all my sans serifs, the Russian Type submenu all the Cyrillic faces, etc.
I have been testing out 2.1 this morning. I think I really like it. It is much faster and auto activation works. There are options on font activation for everyone. There is Classic activation although I have not seen how that works yet. All in all it looks really good and I am moving up from 1.4 now.
I immediately acted on Buko’s recommendation: FAP 2.1 is now installed and registered; all Libraries have been imported. So far I like 2.1 enormously and no problems have surfaced.
[ They had better not surface or I shall be after Buko like a steaming dragon ]
I had organized my fonts into categories before importing them into FAP 1.4 and imported them into Libraries with the same names in FAP’s "FontAgent Pro Fonts" data base so all that I had to do was to create new Libraries (named the same way) in FAP2 and import the contents of each folder from FAP 1.4’s Fonts Folder into the correct FAP2 Library.
As far as my Sets go: I have the windows of both FAPs open and am just recreating new Sets by dragging/dropping files from the "All Fonts" list into the appropriate Set in FAP2 to match the collections which I had in FAP 1.4. There doesn’t seem to be any better way to recreate the Sets.
I installed it just before working on my last magazine.
I figured the worst that could happen was having to go back and use 1.4.
I did not make any libraries or sets I just let auto font activation do its thing. It worked perfectly. I have not had the chance to use Classic yet. I may never use it again, so I don’t really care whether it works with Classic or not. When I get a little extra time I’ll play with the sets.
I had organized my fonts into categories before importing them into FAP 1.4 and imported them into Libraries with the same names in FAP’s…
Yep, me too. However sets are more important to me than Libraries so I’m importing sets. When I went to 1.4 Libraries were actually Foundries and Sets were my own classification system. I’m hoping I can first import sets and then libraries and see if the DB will figure it out.
Here’s hoping I can avoid dragging and dropping all my fonts!
So if a guy is using OSX 10.2.8, is he eligible for FAP 2.1?
And Ann, you mean you can’t simply TELL the new FAP to use the structure and taxonomy of your 1.4 setup at install? So this doesn’t work like an intelligent application update that uses the old version’s basic arrangements?
I asked that question of the Insider Tech Support and their answer was that you have to create a completely new database because of the switch to SQL. The benefit is that it is supposed to be much faster and you can add customized data.
<< So this doesn’t work like an intelligent application update that uses the old version’s basic arrangements? >>
Well maybe FAP2 is more intelligent in that it doesn’t overwrite FAP 1.4, or its database in any way. It actually took me very little time to import my Libraries into FAP2.
My Sets are a little more elaborate. I have some of them arranged to group Fonts according to their characteristics (Scripts, Glyphic, Funky etc.); with others being Client-related.
The Client-related ones may not need to be reconstituted (auto-activation can probably handle that) but I find my Categorized sets useful and worth taking the time to re-create.
As to FAP 2.1’s ability to run on 10.2.8: I don’t know the answer but there is a free Trial version which you could test-drive.
OK, so I’m compulsive. I DON’T want any trace of 1.4 on my machine now that I’ve downloaded 2.1 (2.1 is the newest version a/o yesterday). I’ve not installed 2.1, however, because I’ve found elements of 1.4 a little scattered about in both Library and ~/Library as well as ~/Applications. But these files are not specifically marked 1.4, just FontAgent Pro.
So what happens when I install 2.1? Apparently this is an entirely separate version that neither shares nor overwrites 1.4 files? Do you end up with two, separate Registration keys, databases, and so forth? If so, are you guys just leaving all that old crap on your drives? If not, how are you knowing what to remove?
Yea, Buko, but you’re not a Felix Unger. So you’re no help! At least not the one of you who responded above. Do you think you could call out another one of your personalities – maybe one of the ones who feels a need to wash his hands 20 times a day or something like that — to help with this?
Buko, do you also have 1.4 on your system right now? If so, can you tell me if the update simply doubled files and folders like Registration keys and FAP preferences and FAP databases? In other words, do you now have two of these types of files on your drive, one for each version?
Basically just run a couple of searches for "FontAgent" and for "FAP". View by date: anything from 2003 is the old stuff — the new stuff will have a May 2004 date (except for the plug-ins which date from earlier in 2004.
In Applications, you will have two FAP folders: FontAgent Pro (contains 1.4) FontAgent Pro 2.1 (contains 2.1) Delete the former.
On my System, I have two folders at root level: FontAgent Pro Fonts and FontAgent Pro Two Fonts (If yours are named the same way, delete the former (or keep it as a back-up source of your fonts.)
You should also have: Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/FontAgent Pro and User/Library/Application Support/FontAgent Pro Keep both of them.
Macintosh HD/System folder/Startup/FontAgent Pro for Classic (I believe this to be 1.4 from the date)
Now ANN’s my type of GAL!!!! Fastidious! Meticuous! Precise! Love her! Both of us were probably toilet trained a little on the early side!
One question, Ann: The two Application Support/FontAgent Pro folders (HD/Library and ~/Library) contain 1.4 Registration keys. What happens to them when I install 2.1?
Interestingly, the last group of files you mention (Frameworks) aren’t on my machine now. Must be part of the new and improved version.
1.x being linked to a specific computer ID # was a real pain. When I moved everything from my dead G4 to my new computer, I had to explain the circumstances to Insider and ask for a replacement serial number (which they were kind enough to send me).
He’s may look cute — but he is actually quite ferocious
With that much steam, it looks like Buko gets braised instead of roasted. 🙂
More seriously, I’ve just installed the trial version of FAP 2.1 and have imported all my fonts into it. The Font Compare feature looks pretty good for generating specimens of lots of different fonts, all the same size. Is there a way to print a specimen of a "waterfall" of different sizes of the same font, like ATM Deluxe could do? Also, is there a way to print a font’s character repertoire?
It seems that you can print the Font Compare window but all fonts will print at the same size (whatever you designate.)
If you go to Adobe’s Type area and click on the name of a font you can see, and print, a page showing most of the Glyphs in the font. At the bottom of the page, there is a link to a PDF and this note:
"This may show a subset of the character set for this typeface. Please refer to the Glyph Complement PDF for a full showing of this typeface."
Click on the underlined "Glyph Complement PDF " to download it.
Hi, yes, the Glyph Complement PDF documents for Adobe’s fonts are extremely useful, particularly for those fonts that have lots of alternate characters. See Poetica Std, for instance:
Unfortunately — and I hate to admit it here — most of my fonts aren’t Adobe fonts, so I was looking for a font utility that would print out all the glyphs. The OS X Character Palette will let you see all the glyphs, but I don’t think it lets you print them out.
FAP seems quite useful and I might purchase it anyway, but I was hoping that it would solve all of my problems. Too much to hope for.
There is a way that you could print all of the Glyphs:
In InDesign or Illustrator CS, open the Glyphs palette and insert each character into a document by double-clicking on it in the Glyphs palette. (If you want to get the high-numbered Unicode characters you will need to open one of the OTF Pi fonts to get those.)
Save the file and when you want to print a sample of a different font, just select all and change the font and size to suit.
Actually, it is highly unlikely that your non-Adobe OTFs have any glyphs beyond the standard 256 anyway!
In FAP 1.4, in the Main Menu Bar/Tools, there are two items – Verify Fonts and Optimize Fonts – that don’t appear for me in version 2.1’s Tools menu. Have these menu items been discontinued in 2.1, or do I have a bad install? And if they’re discontinued, does this mean there’s no way to periodically check the health of fonts? (The new manual is silent on this.)
Not a bad install. Insider just told me that these features are, indeed, not on the 2.1 Tools menu and will be reintroduced in future versions.
Is anyone having trouble installing Mulitple Master fonts in 2.1? I can’t get Bickham, ExPonto, Nueva, or Tekton to import. The "core" or "master" font file imports but none of the instances.
I first thought this was just another indication that the world no longer likes MM fonts and is no longer supporting them. But, Kepler, another MM, imports all instances just fine into 2.1.
Ive been able to import all (I think) instances of MinionMM and MyriadMM, but several copies of the main font file also show up. On the other hand, no instances of PenumbraMM get imported, though the main font file does appear.
Worse, none of the individual instances appear in the Fonts dialog or in ID2s fonts menu.
This seems more like an OS X issue than a FAP issue. I know this has been discussed on other forums, but I still havent gotten to the bottom of MM (non-)support on OS X.
<< In FAP 1.4, there are two items – Verify Fonts and Optimize Fonts – that don’t appear for me in version 2.1’s Tools menu. >>
In 2.1 you get a choice in Preferences/Activation to "Verify fonts before activation". I have this option unchecked but can always use it if a font suddenly starts to play-up.
All fonts do get verified when they are first imported into FAP 2.1’s database.
Actually, it was a Cheetah, Puma and Jaguar issue involving only the OS X and MM fonts, not FAP, and it got fixed at one time, then re-occurred, and now it’s not clear what parts, if any, remain an issue. The thread on the ATM and type forum got too confusing after a while.
A lot of print houses firmly state "No MM fonts" these days.
I have rather given up on them and now have the OTF versions of my MMs (and I don’t know how well Acrobat 6 Pro handles them because I haven’t tried it to see).
These are the only ones that i keep in System/Library Fonts: Apple LiGothic Medium.dfont AppleGothic.dfont AquaKanaBold.otf AquaKanaRegular.otf Courier.dfont Geneva.dfont HelveticaLTStd Roman.otf Keyboard.dfont LastResort.dfont LucidaGrande.dfont Monaco.dfont Symbo Symbol TimesLTStd Roman.otf Zapf Dingbats ZapfDin
