Basically, FontDoc lists all your fonts, so you can view them all in one place. It is also possible to print or see how a font look with a custom text if you need to do that. FontDoc does not do much more than that, so it is a really simple application that does exactly what it promises to do. Download FontDoc for Mac 1.2.1. FontDoc to the Rescue. With FontDoc, you can apply a customize text and determine the preview font size. This makes it really easy to pinpoint the best font to use. Checkout this preview for 'Recongeal Retinophore': The neat thing is that I can create an RTF document that I can reference at a later date. FontDoc is free.
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Built-in font-sampling method | 16 comments | Create New Account
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This is also available in OS X 10.6.8.
10.5.8 too
Also works with 10.5.8, but not 10.4.11.
Unfortunately this only works for fonts you have installed. I have a ton of fonts that I would like to see what they look like without having to install all of them!
You can always 'QuickLook' preview them; click once on the font in Finder, and hit the spacebar (10.5.x and above) Hope this helps, Peter
True, but I want to print a 'report' of all the fonts I have to keep as a reference (even if I just print to pdf) as the OP explained. I do not know of a free method without buying separate software.
Mmmmm… install the fonts, create the font sample & remove those you don't want. Fonts are easy to install & just as easy to remove. Low cost, just time Cheers !
Mac OS X 10.2 or later, this FREE program, FontDoc, has worked great: http://www.integrity.com/homes/tomandkaren/FontDoc/ Quote from website: The document this program produces is a plain old Rich Text document full of all your fonts. Save it, print it, or just gaze at it rapturously. Whatever. The possibilities are undoubtedly endless.
I thought this sounded like a great tool since I would like to expand my font repertoire for creative projects. However the end result, although behaving well for most fonts, for many others, they are appearing as symbols and in many, many cases as Asian-like symbols instead of letters. I'm running Lion 10.7.4. Any idea why, or how to correct this? Thanks.
Easy as pie - insert your own text. Or just use this to get an idea of what's available - Iñtërnâtiônàlizætiøn NB: Furthermore specialized letters as may be found and inserted via Character Palette (under the flag menu) will not make it through Macworld's site. Also, if you save what's there now you can as easily revert to original later on.
Thanks whome, but I should have prefaced my question with the fact this was my very first post. The 'easy as pie' part of your reply had my hopes up that I would be able to figure it out. Sadly, not the case...
Never mind, let's go. You know that Font Book will open upon double clicking the name of any of your font files in the finder. Font Book's window lists all your installed fonts in its central column while the font you clicked is displayed formatting a standard sample text in the space on the right. You can enlarge it considerably via the Size box in the upper right corner. The sample text in that window can be overwritten: Copy my text - 'Iñtërnâtiônàlizætiøn' by double-clicking it and hitting command - c. Click Font Book's sample text, make sure the cursor is blinking right inside and hit command - a, then command - v. (1) You should now see 'Iñtërnâtiônàlizætiøn' displayed instead of what was there before. (2) Click on any font's name in the middle column to see 'Iñtërnâtiônàlizætiøn' displayed with that font's typeface in the right hand box. If any of the letters in 'Iñtërnâtiônàlizætiøn' should not appear now, this is Font Book's way of telling you that the font you selected is missing this letter. Select another font. You can enlarge its display via the Size box in the upper right corner. (3) Click inside that text again, make sure the cursor is blinking right inside and hit command - a. Type any text you like and follow up with (2). Next: (4) Find and click Character Palette under the Finder's Flag menu. (If it's not installed on your machine check System Preferences UN-Flag icon in the upper row. Go to tab Sources and place a hook with 'Show sources in menu bar'. Help will also tell you how to display it.) Once it opens explore all its glyphs and letters. With your cursor still awaiting entry inside Font Book's sample window, double click on any item you like in Character Palette to have it appear in Font Book's sample window, ready to be reformatted or printed (as described in magnamous' original hint). Enjoy!
Thanks so much for the detailed instructions. I got to #4 so definitely progress. Got lost in the Character Palette/Flag menu, but still can see more fonts than I originally could. Thanks!
Great Kissamo, ready? Go to Apple Menu and select System Preferences. The window's upper row lets you select Language and Text, once there select the tab Input Sources. First off, turn Keyboard & Character Viewer on, next add the hook on Show Input in menu bar. Done. Exit System Preferences, click your desktop and you're in Finder. Next to the Menu bar's Date you should see a US flag and this is your Flag menu. Its 3rd item might be Show Character Viewer which is what you want. From here you're on sacred ground. And don't neglect the Asian fonts. Cheers!
Wow...you are definitely patient. Got it now...so thanks so much for sticking with my questions and explaining it so well!
Works again in Mountain Lion, at least in 10.8.4.
Looking for a way to keep an eye on your growing font collection on your Mac, or need to print a font catalog for your customers to choose from? There are a number of ways to do this and chances are you can find what you need from one of the four free options I outline below.
Font Book’s built-in report printing. Nestled under the print command in Font Book are 3 different report types you can use to sample one, all, or any subset of your installed fonts. Whether you need a sample of multiple fonts, a traditional waterfall chart or a glyph map, Font Book has you covered. Instructions on that are here.
A script called “Create Font Sample” that shipped with your Mac. This well-kept-secret solution is a bit clunky but the nice thing is you end up with a fully editable word processing document you can modify to your needs. Instructions on this are here.
Web-based font viewers including myfontbook.com,wordmark.it, flippingtypical.com and others. Generally, these are better for getting a quick visual than for printing purposes, but are super easy to use. They include the ability to view a custom phrase in each font, and some include glyph maps and other features. There’s nothing to install, so you can visit the one that works best for the particular project you are doing.
FontDoc, a spiffy little freeware program made for this purpose. With this oldie but goodie, you can sample all your fonts, a category (set up in Font Book) of fonts or even a folder of fonts. This is the only option that lets you sample uninstalled fonts. As with the second option, FontDoc lets you save your results as .rtf (a universal word processing format), which you can then edit in the word processing or page layout program of your choice.
Pro tip: You can “print to PDF” from any of these tools (File>Print>PDF>Save as PDF) and the PDF’s generated will open as vectors in Silhouette Studio Designer Edition or Business Edition.
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Want to print font samples on a PC? See this post from my friend Christine over at her great blog Cutting for Business.
For another cool built in Mac font viewing technique, see this (much) earlier post of mine.
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