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Font Management: Linotype FontExplorer X

Jun 20th in Tools & Tips by Nicholas Lazarine

Typography is very important in the world of design, but a growing font library can be difficult to manage and organize. Enter Linotype FontExplorer X. This program allows the user to preview fonts and activate only the fonts needed. This tutorial will cover the use of this free program and highlight its application to Photoshop and design.

Author: Nicholas Lazarine

Hi! I am an accountant and proprietary programmer for a major accounting firm in Dallas, TX. I absolutely love design and spend a great deal of my time learning about the subject. I have been using Photoshop for two years now, and I'm incredibly fascinated with fonts. My other creative outlet is music and guitar! Below is the link to the band I'm in.

Getting Started

First things first, FontExplorer X is available in both Windows and Mac formats. Click here to download a free copy of FontExplorer X. Install the program and import fonts by clicking File > Import Fonts. Then navigating to the fonts you wish to organize.

Linotype gives you the option to import your fonts into the main font library, into a new set, or into a selected set. Much like iTunes, a set is basically a playlist of fonts. The user can create as many sets as desired.

Note: Imported fonts are moved into the FontExplorer X folder in the Home directory and placed into alphabetical folders. You can opt to copy them to this folder and keep them in your original folder (rather than moving them) in the advanced preferences tab.

Browsing and Previewing

After importing your favorite fonts, they can be viewed in the preview window simply by clicking to highlight the font. Selecting multiple fonts allows the designer to compare each font selected. The user can type anything in the text box, and different font sizes and colors can be selected for review.

Activating Fonts

This feature is the bread and butter of FontExplorer X. A font can be activated by clicking the checkbox next to its name. This action makes the font available for use in other programs. Once clicked, the font is placed in the Activated Fonts set.

To use the font in Photoshop, click the drop down box in the character palette and select Reset Character to refresh the available fonts. This way, you can leave Photoshop open while using FontExplorer X to choose the perfect font for your design. Fonts can be deactivated by clicking the checkbox again to uncheck it. This method prevents the font folder from being cluttered with a number of fonts that may only be used for one project.

Creating Sets

Creating sets is a feature that is incredibly useful for daily design. Designers are often working on more than one project at a given time, and a set can be created to organize the fonts for each project. Web designers can name a set after each domain or workflow. To create a new set CTRL+Click (right click for PC) and select New Set.

Additional Features

Exporting Fonts

If you have a large font library, it isn't always practical to keep it loaded on every computer in your arsenal. For instance, I keep my main font library on my iMac. Then I export the fonts for certain projects when I want to edit them on my laptop. This is also useful if you need someone else to work on a PSD with project specific fonts. To export, highlight the set and select Font>Export from the menu.

WYSIWYG Viewing

Command+5 will display the fonts in the font list in a What You See Is What You Get fashion. This feature makes choosing the right font that much easier.

Font Store

Much like iTunes, FontExplorer X offers a browseable store where fonts can be viewed and purchased easily. The browsing features allow the user to view popular fonts in a practical format.

Detect Fonts

Often, I view a .pdf file and find myself wondering what fonts are being used. FontExplorer X can determine the fonts used in any of the following document types: rtf, rtfd, pdf, eps, svg, svgz, and more! Simply, click File > Detect Fonts In Documents and navigate to the file you want to read.

Closing Remarks

Linotype's FontExplorer X can help a designer view an array of fonts and keep them organized without having to physically drop them in the fonts system folder. Start using the program today and explore the many features it has to offer. It is a tool that should be in every designer's arsenal!


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User Comments

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  1. K3v June 20th

    Great article! Having a good font management tool such a big time-saver! I use Linotype’s FontExplorer too; another cool one is Suitcase from Extensis, but that one is not free though :)


  2. Lauren Robb June 20th

    Unfortunately, this is only a MAC download at this point. It seems that they have just finished beta testing the Windows version. (See quote from website below)

    “Since our testing period has ended, we have removed the free download of the beta Windows version from our website. As soon as the new version is released, free downloading will resume.”

    Us PC’ers will have to check back their site often if we want to be as cool as all you MAC’ers :P


  3. Nicole June 20th

    I’ve been checking their website for half a year now and was waiting for the PC download to get online. So I’m quite pessimistic that there will be a pc version soon. I know, it’s freeware…


  4. BeJay June 20th

    Hehe, i have the windows beta ;-)

    But, do you know a way how to make the WYSIWYG View bigger?


  5. 1ker June 20th

    Wow, nice. I was looking for something like this! :)
    Thanks!

    http://www.warezboard.net


  6. crazyhunk June 20th

    good post…

    thanx


  7. ZaFaR June 20th

    I was waiting for this!! Thanks so much!


  8. Matt Radel June 20th

    I’ve been using FontExplorer X for well over a year now, and I have to say that I can’t imagine using anything else. I actually prefer it to Suitcase and Font Agent Pro - and it’s FREE!


  9. Sean Hodge June 20th

    @Lauren Robb - Good point about PC being in Beta, I missed that when editing. Thanks.

    I’m a big fan of this application, though haven’t taken the time to get to know the app. So, I learned a few things in this article. I’m especially interested in turning sets on and off and then reseting the Photoshop character palette. This is cool and good for workflow, I’ll have to try that. It would be great to have a smaller selection of fonts when looking for specific font types.

    Thanks.


  10. Eric Fields June 20th

    OS X FontBook, hands down.

    Step 1: Disable all fonts.
    Step 2: Enable core fonts for browsing/making applications not mad at you (Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman, etc. etc.).
    Step 3: Enjoy a severely trimmed font list in all your creative apps. Take a few whiffs of this fresh air.
    Step 4: Now when you want a style of font, go through your list. Along the way, make new ‘font playlists’ based on a naming convention that makes sense to you — i.e. traditional Serif/Sans/Slab/Script (why all the S’s?), or subjective Punky/Clean/Hard2Read.
    Step 5: Enjoy being able to find exactly the font you want in a unique system that you understand entirely and requires 0 effort to learn.


  11. Alex Beltechi June 20th

    Extremely useful. Thanks!


  12. colin June 20th

    yeah, bummer for PC users. Can’t wait until they get this out.

    here’s a nice tool that i’ve been using for a while now. maybe not quite as convenient, but it does the job:

    http://www.stcassociates.com/lab/fontbrowser.html


  13. goldenthunder June 20th

    This program is a big help. I use it and love it!!!


  14. w00p June 20th

    I seriously need some font management! Thanks for the post, I’ll give this a shot.


  15. Constantin Potorac June 20th

    Wow…. thank you very much for this. As a designer this will be very useful for me.

    Thank you


  16. FrankCrank June 20th

    kool app.

    I am surprised to learn that such a thing exist. Its always very annoying to sort through that alphabetically arranged one mile list.

    Thanks.


  17. Snorri3D June 20th

    realy cool program looking forward to see this in a windows version :D


  18. Pat June 20th

    Do you know if the “activated font” settings remain when you close FontExplorer? Or do you have to have it running to use that feature?


  19. chris June 20th

    here an a non-intrusive (and also free) way to quickly and easily browse and text your fonts…

    http://www.stcassociates.com/lab/fontbrowser.html


  20. Ben Jacob June 20th

    Thanks for the great software tip !


  21. Shane June 20th

    very useful tutorial - thanks for posting :)


  22. Jason A. June 20th

    Excellent program! I’ve been using it for a couple of years now. Splendid font control. I’d love to be able to print out a font book for various sets, though. I’m pretty sure Linotype FE doesn’t do this. Any ideas anyone?


  23. Alex June 20th

    lol this feature is already available in OS X, Font Book.

    Also message to admins, 1ker’s post is linking to a warez site, this might have some legal implications for you so you might wanna remove it ;)


  24. aGS June 20th

    Cool! ’til today I was using the Font Book that comes with the Mac… just download the Fontexplorer X and it’s much, much better… “compare” Font tool is great!!!

    Thanks!!!!


  25. varioke June 20th

    very usefull !!! thnx


  26. pickupjojo June 20th

    Great tips, thanks for sharing! :)


  27. Callum Martin June 20th

    This is a convenience and a weapon all in one! thanks!


  28. Coconut Pete June 20th

    very nice

    I use and recommend Font Expert 2007 from Proxima but it is not free.


  29. Rachelle June 20th

    Thanks for this article. This software looks fantastic. Organizing my fonts using tags is going to be brilliant (initially time-consuming though!). I’m eagerly awaiting the PC release.


  30. BogDinamita June 20th

    UNBELIEVABLEE!!! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT CAME UP TO MY MIND EARLIER TODAY WOW!!! thankyou tons


  31. Danny June 20th

    That’s a great program, downloading it already =)


  32. Qbrushes June 20th

    as Lauren Robb pointed out, this is only for mac right now. any suggestions on others for PC?


  33. onske June 20th

    If you are looking for the PC version you can still grab the beta:

    http://fex.linotype.com/download/pc/FontExplorerX-0.9.1.2250.exe


  34. Crowiko June 20th

    With a little poking about I found that the beta file is still on the Linotype servers. They just don’t have it linked on their page anymore. You can find it here: http://fex.linotype.com/download/pc/FontExplorerX-0.9.1.2250.exe


  35. brandy June 20th

    @pat: that’s up to you, actually–by default, any fonts you activate will stay activated, but there is a preference you can enable–”Deactivate all fonts which have been activated during the active session on quit.”

    @whoever thinks this is the same as fontbook–NO. No, this is much, much more.


  36. Nameless June 20th

    ive had this program since forever, but I never use it, bur now i spent an hour organizing my fonts. I had a lot of nice fonts deactivated :)


  37. Grant Friedman June 20th

    Thanks for the tease Sean! ;-) I downloaded the windows beta a while back but lost it due to a Windows overhaul. I’ve been waiting for them to finish the Windows version for well over a year now (it seems) but they don’t seem to be working on it. Anyhow, I use a program called Font Thing. It’s ok, but it’s a memory hog and it doesn’t have a quarter of the features Explorer does.


  38. Diarmuid June 20th

    “Since our testing period has ended, we have removed the free download of the beta Windows version from our website. As soon as the new version is released, free downloading will resume.”

    This has been the situation for months and I mean months. I am a linotype newsletter subscriber and there is ‘NO’ sign that they are releasing it for PC :(


  39. Diarmuid June 20th

    There is a Font MAnagement program offered from High Logic as a free download that looks fine for PC. http://www.high-logic.com/download.html


  40. Ben Griffiths June 20th

    Nice article, thanks :D


  41. Marianne June 20th

    Great post!

    I’m already using FontExplorer X for a while on my Mac and I find it OK to use. It does what it is meant to do.

    On my PC I use MainType from High-Logic (http://www.high-logic.com/maintype.html) which I really like. It has some great features: I’m able to brows and preview fonts in ANY folder on my system, load or install fonts, any font I load gets automatically unloaded when I shut down (keeps my font list nice and short) and there are much more nice features. Major downside: It is not free but worth every cent.


  42. MD June 20th

    Thnx ! :D


  43. Ali June 20th

    useful :], but leopard has something similar


  44. sascha/hdrs June 20th

    How does this compare to HiLogic MainType (http://www.high-logic.com/maintype.html)? Anybody who used both? I’m using MainType since some years and it has a very good feature set, can activate fonts (instead of installing) and create sets etc. Only problem is that it’s very slow if there are many fonts to browse. Also it’s only for Windows.


  45. MONSTER June 20th

    What’s a font?


  46. Ali June 20th

    You know what, I just noticed that Fontbook can do pretty much the exact same thing except comparisons.. still good for users using Windows or Tiger.


  47. pica June 20th

    yeah, it’s a great tool

    … i just got one problem, it can’t read dates properly… it doesn’t take the year as first measurement, it starts at the beginning of the actual number… so i have all the first of the months as starters, thats really stupid
    anybody any idea?


  48. justbrq June 20th

    use it love it


  49. Ash June 20th

    Awesome stuff! But how does it compare to Suitcase Fusion?


  50. Puntz June 20th

    @MONSTER - This example should make you understand what a Font is:

    Example of a Typeface: Arial
    Example of a Font: Arial, 10 point size, bold.

    I hope you understood. ^^


  51. Matt Wilcox June 20th

    This linotype PC download has been in the same “sod PC users” state for at least four months. I subscribed to the newsletter, but there has been no sign whatsoever that anything is happening on the PC version.

    Frankly, if it ever gets released I’ll be amazed. They don’t seem to care about you unless you run OSx.


  52. Andrew June 20th

    The PC download is unavailable right now. That sucks. I guess I’ll keep checking back on their site.


  53. Mari June 20th

    This program destroyed my computer and made my adobe photoshop cs3 crash in the middle of a project. It made my fonts disappear and refused to reactive them. I spent hours trying to get my computer back to normal. What a waste of time.


  54. w1sh June 20th

    @ Colin - Thanks for the link to the online font browser. Very cool indeed. It loads a lot faster than Photoshop. :)

    @ Onske & Crowiko - Thanks for finding that Windows Beta. You guys are awesome. This tutorial should be modified to include that link (w/ a disclaimer of course).


  55. Jim June 20th

    The problem with Apple’s Font Book app is that it doesn’t auto-activate in many apps (InDesign, Illustrator, etc…)

    Font Explorer is a great app for the individual designer and very small design shop. I wish they had a Server version for larger companies. We’re stuck using Extensis Suitcase Server at the office, though a new version just started shipping - hopefully it’s much better.


  56. Sheldon Levene June 20th

    Does the beta version for windows works okay for you guys who is using it currently?


  57. Peter June 20th

    Here’s a great alternative for PC users: The Font Thing

    http://www.download.com/The-Font-Thing/3000-2316_4-10038296.html

    I’m using it since years, brilliant software. No need for me to switch over to FontExplorer.


  58. jeffjose June 21st

    Thanks for the heads up. Always wanted a cool application. Right now using Font Fitting Deluxe. Will give this a try.

    Thanks again


  59. Sheldon Levene June 21st

    @ jeffjose , hey man tried it but seems to not work on 64bit xp. :(


  60. wildwise June 21st

    so useful when you have to manage 2000 fonts :)


  61. Sam June 21st

    PC users: try contacting them using the contact information on the download page. The more of us letting them know we are interested in the PC version, the more worthwhile it is for them to actually follow through.


  62. Web Design June 21st

    Does this work on windows machine?


  63. Patrick June 22nd

    http://fex.linotype.com/download/pc/FontExplorerX-0.9.1.2250.exe Windows beta! enjoy! I’ve been using this since may with out fuss.


  64. styxz design June 22nd

    Very nice article! i will wait for the windows version, or buy a mac is another good option! =D


  65. styxzdesigns June 23rd

    thank you patrick!


  66. Don G. June 23rd

    Thanks for this great post! I’ve been drowning in my fonts for ages - this is the perfect cure. One more happy designer in the world :-)


  67. Brent June 24th

    Thank you so much for posting the link to the beta. I have been looking for the beta of this program for PC forever.


  68. Good-Walls June 24th

    Great app this is, everyone needs it but… I hate having too much fonts, I get confused even with this great application


  69. Sam June 25th

    Just got this reply back from Linotype in response to my email asking what’s up with the Windows version:

    “There is no official release date yet, but we are still developing the final version. We hope to be ready soon, we will then put it up on our website and publish it in our newsletter.”

    It would be nice to have a little more info, but the fact that they are even replying to questions about the Windows version as well as the fact that they don’t seem to have abandoned it entirely are hopefully good signs.


  70. Nate June 28th

    I cannot believe I’ve been limping along with Font Book for all this time and this great tool was out there - for FREE. Thanks for pointing this out!


  71. msawa July 17th

    Extremely useful. Thanks!


  72. Sigurdur Armannsson August 14th

    I know from experience that many people are confused when they install FontExplorer X. Last year I wrote some instructions on how to install it. Some might find it useful: http://font.is/?p=38


  73. Tom King October 7th

    It’s not much of a tutorial. Tutorials tell you how to do something, not just tell you it can be done.

    For example, it’s nice to know that sets are useful. Why doesn’t the tutorial tell you how to add fonts to a set? A set isn’t much good without fonts.


  74. mcsuede November 9th

    It’s too bad the beta is no longer available.


  75. Sarah November 29th

    Hi, my Suitcase trial version recently ran out, and I’ve started using Font Explorer instead. I really prefer this program, but I have a question I’m hoping to get some help with…I have about 5,000 fonts loaded on my computer, and I would like to organize them more so then is standard with font xplorer. For example, is there a way to create a folder of all of my sans serif fonts automatically through the program. I really don’t want to spend the hours it would take to organize them manually. Any help with this question is much appreciated. Thank you!


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