How many fonts?

[David O'Neil]

How many fonts do most designers keep installed on their system?

I know that after 500, Windows 2000 warns you that your system may suffer a performance penalty, so do you keep uninstalled fonts in another directory, and only install some as you use them? Do you use a font manager program? (If so, what is it?) Or do you just not have that many fonts?

(And if you ever want a bunch of fonts, just buy a copy of Word Perfect - it came with a ton of them in WP Family Pack 2, when it was WP9.)

Just curious.

Thanks,
David

[gwpriester]

I try to keep it to 500 which is not easy. But for some reason, after I move all of the fonts I know I will never use out of the active folder, they somehow creep right back in.

Gary

[stlewis]

David

This thread covers the font manager part of your question: http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthre...t=font+manager

And yes, I still swear by FontRainbow!

[grymmjack]

I use FontExpert 2005, and use it's groups (alot like Adobe Type Manager, but much friendlier in FontExpert IMO), and create a new group for each new client where there is a need for fonts beyond my selection of favorites. Then it's simply a matter of install/uninstall the folder (groups are folders) and voila, no problems. I try to keep to minimum of under 1000 (including family variations) just to keep the fontcache down and speed up some functions of design environments.

I prefer to use OTF formats over type1 and truetype because of it's robustness and cute single file format (unlike type1 which can have more than one file as a dependency on a font/family).

[The Alien]

I used to be a real "font whore" - if you don't mind the expression - back in my highschool days where I had to write essays/reports. I always used some weird freaky font for the front pages, titles and headings. But now things are supposed to look professional so I don't do that anymore. I also heard having lots of fonts slows down windows.
Since I'm not a bigshot designer, more of a hobbyist, I just have the "usual" fonts on my system. I let the creativity come out of my own drawing and not from someone else's font. Currenty, there are 70 fonts on my system

[stratocast]

Like grymmjack, I also use FontExpert in virtually the same way as he describes. It's an excellent, comprehensive, user-friendly font manager, I can't think of a better one, actually. I have 172 installed fonts at the moment with the rest (2000+) in a seperate folder. I install/uninstall fonts or groups of fonts as required using FontExpert. Works well.

[David O'Neil]

Thanks for the info. That 'FontRainbow' looks particularly impressive, I must say. Looks like it saves a lot of time chosing fonts.

(And here I didn't want to spend any more money until my current project was complete... )

David

[amoore]

I try to keep active fonts to 200 or less.
- machine boots faster
- I don't have to scroll through so many unrelated fonts while I work
- some apps develop behavior problems when I go over 200 active fonts.

The only fonts I keep in Windows\Fonts are:
- those that Windows has to have there
- those that insist on reinstalling every time I use the Microsoft installer
- a few that other apps have to have in that folder.

Everything else is stored on another partition and activated on the fly via my font manager (Bitstream's FontNavigator). In the storage folders, fonts are segregated by format and source.

Some maintenance is required because so many installers dump fonts in Windows\Fonts without telling you or giving you a choice. It's very annoying, but keeping things clean makes a big difference when you're troubleshooting or trying to find a specific font.