Print font samples & all characters & key commands.
FontBook is the ultimate font utility for all Mac OS users who require a quick, easy and comprehensive overview of all their fonts. Let FontBook display uninstalled fonts on the screen in various layouts. You can print reference pages with selected fonts to assess the typeface, sizes and impression. Or you can find keyboard shortcuts for less-used special characters.
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I downloaded & installed the software.
My first objection was the installation process ( pkg installer + reboot )
Then I decided to get rid of the software but I could not find in the documentation a procedure for a clean uninstall. Also contacted their support through their website and received no answer.
Prints one font per page
rsparks1
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Although Font Book 4.5 offers numerous page layouts to display font characters, I haven't managed to get the app to print any of them reliably. Most often, it comes out of the printer with only one font per page, ending up printing hundreds of pages. Not very useful!
Ignores actual keyboard selection
ashkenaz
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Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />While this application purports to give the key combinations necessary to produce a given glyph, it in fact ignores the actual active keyboard being used and limits the user to chosing from an arbitrary set of keyboard layouts which may or may not even be installed. Worse yet, it knows nothing about many standard Macintosh keyboard layouts, even those which come inside the U.S. Tiger box. How does one generate a letter using the Polish keyboard? the Hebrew-QUERTY keyboard? (to name only two). FontBook doesn't have a clue.
Needs Work
moosetrax
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Several bugs with the Demo version. Although there is hope, I noticed that there is a new version in the works (on Lemke's site). Hopefully they clean some things up a bit because this would offer everything you could want from a font preview application.
My biggest issues were that:
If you try to print a group of fonts to PDF each page is an individual PDF (all though this isn't tough to deal with it makes the process a bit time consuming).
For whatever reason it leaves gaps when printing PDFs of fonts. I set it to display 6 faces per page (2 rows of 3) and in most cases I got only one or two fonts per page.
One star for now....Four stars if fixed.
jkb4
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />This application would be great if it worked properly. If you try to make a pdf of the fonts in a folder, (which is one of the options it offers, called "Multiprint"), it prints all the fonts in the folder. Unfortunately, it prints them in a non-alphabetical order, and is even worse that the previous version. All I want is to print samples of different font sets in alphabetical order....they come up right in the font menu of every application, but FontBook butchers the order, once again making this a useless application.
* I have to say, though....if this one issue were resolved, it would be a very useful application. He has added a lot of features, new page layouts, customizable text, etc. And it IS pretty easy to use. So, if Mr. Lemke could just resolve that one issue, I'd have to give it four stars.
Don't wast your money on FontBook.
cmehling21
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Unlike Lemke Software's Graphic Converter this program is only 50% useful. That's not even good for a beta release. It can only print the fonts in you system fonts folder. Forget printing activated fonts in the user folder or in any other folder. The extensive manual gives instructions on how to print fonts in other locations but it can't do it! Don't waste your money, Don't waste your time with this program.
Very very strange.....
jkb4
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />
When trying to print out a book (or make a pdf) of a folder, it alphabetizes by style. For example, many fonts come up in the B's with the name Bold or Bold Condensed.
This makes the product absolutely USELESS. It defeats the purpose of the program.
I find this program quite useful
MBKennedy
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />This is my favorite program for finding keyboard commands in any of my fonts for odd characters that I sometimes need. I use the reference layout, and find it fast and reliable. I have never had it crash. In contrast, I have found commercial programs like suitcase difficult to use and crashy.
Crashes Constantly
krawzik
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I bought version 4.1 so that I could print out a reference binder of all my fonts. The program prints out installed fonts fine, but what I really need is a program that can print out all my unistalled fonts easily.<p> Fontbook 4.1 crashes every time I attempt to print out my unistalled fonts. <p>Adding to the inconvenience is that you can only print by either font suitcase or font folder -- you can't just tell it to print out your uninstalled fonts. If you select your top-level font folder, it definitley crashes. If you go deeper and select a folder with just a few suitcases, it might print, but if you get to one that has several fonts, it crashes. I'm using a dual 1.25 G4, so my computer is plenty fast to keep up with the processing.<p>Bottom line, the program is much more of a headache than it's worth. Even at $10, I wouldn't buy it if I knew how poorly written it was.
They are different
X37215X
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Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Apple's and Lemke's Font Books are different. Lemke's existed first. They do different things. Lemke's product is geared toward people who use fonts for a living and need PRINTED references to these fonts. If you know what I mean, you know what I mean, if you don't, you don't need this program.