From the earliest days when the first fonts crawled out of the digital slurry, we’ve needed tools to round them up and whip them into shape. In this session, we’ll explore where we’ve been, the issues surrounding fonts in creative workflows, the current tools available, and how to explore your options.

1. THE EVOLUTION OF
FONT MANAGEMENT
Presented by Jim Kidwell

2. Agenda

3. Linotype machines
Letraset
Phototypesetters
Evolve to Survive

4. Macintosh + PC (r)evolution

5. Digital Font Formats
• Bitmapped
• PostScript
• TrueType
• TTC, Multiple Master, dfont, AAT, etc.
• OpenType

6. More Fonts, More Problems
• Limited disk space
• Limited system memory
• Printer fonts didn’t render well onscreen

8. Adobe Type Manager

9. Font Suitcases

10. Mac OS X
• Native onscreen PostScript rendering
• ATM no longer required
• Font Book application

11. Font Book

12. Windows

13. Windows 7 & 8

14. Single User Font Management

15. Modern, Professional
Single User
Font Management

16. Modern Single User
Font Management

17. Activation States

18. Library Organization

19. Multiple Preview Types

20. Detailed Font Data

21. Searchable

23. Plug-in based font activation

24. Panel-based management

25. A little Fontspiration

26. And… for Windows as well

27. Server-based Font
Management

28. Font Distribution &
Synchronization

29. Why Distribute &
Synchronize?
1. Solve technical issues
a. Missing fonts
b. Incorrect fonts
2. Brand control
3. Font compliance

30. Workgroup Organization

31. Organize by User Type
Production
Design
Editorial

32. Organize by Client
Ford
Macy’s
Nike

33. Organize by Project
Website
Collateral
Event

34. Font Compliance

35. Font Licenses
• Typeface designs cannot be copyrighted
• Fonts are licensed as software

36. Compliance Strategies

37. Compliance through
workgroup access

38. Compliance through
user permissions

39. Extending Compliance
to ALL users

40. Fonts and the Web
• Old problem
• The new solutions
• How to deal with it?

41. Previous font use on the web
• Design for end user’s machine
• About 12 “web safe” fonts
• Clunky & boring
• Text locked in images

42. The @font-face Revolution
• Browsers modernize
• @font-face tag
• Fonts can now be on web servers

43. The rub
• Most fonts were not licensed for
distribution on web servers

44. Web Font Solutions
• Type foundries sell new licenses &
font formats
• Web font services

45. Web Design Process

46. Designing with Web Fonts
• License desktop fonts from foundry
• Plug-in for Photoshop

47. Evolution…

48. Resources
Font Management Best Practices:
Single User & Server-based
• www.extensis.com/fmbpg
Web Font Plug-in for Photoshop
• webfontplugin.com
Connect on Twitter
• @extensis
• @webink
• @jimkidwell