How do you use Bitstream Font Navigator properly?

I understand that it's not a good idea to keep a lot of fonts in the windows/fonts directory. I'm not understanding how you would design from scratch without being able to experiment with different fonts. If the fonts aren't installed for use I don't want to have to keep going to font navigator to load/uninstall the ones I may or may not want to use for the design. Perhaps I'm not using Font Navigator properly.

  • I pick a line of copy and simply use the sample text feature in FN to try different fonts, they do not have to be loaded in Windows to do that.

    • And once you got a font you like? You install that font and continue with designing?
        • Then after design is complete you uninstall the font? Seems like a lot more work to me. My system runs fine with 2000 fonts.
          • I would like to say my memory is that good but many times the projects draw out for months, I do clean up the font folder on the local system about once a month, making sure all fonts are archived on the server. The Swiss, Times New Roman, Garamond and many others never get removed

            • I have more than 80.000 fonts, but I have less than 200 installed on my work computer, although I receive and open several files every day, and I send several jobs each day. Nobody use more than 100 fonts at the same time, it's only laziness for install and uninstall. But the performance of the system decreases if you have a lot of installed fonts, maybe your computer run fine but most of the problems of speed and stability are related to have a lot of installed fonts.
              Me too, I choose the font using Fontnavigator (you can change the sample text). then install the font I want. Once on a week I uninstall all unused fonts. A simple and easy way to clean up your fonts is the use of Groups. You can add several fonts to the group, then install the entire group, and for uninstall, you can uninstall the entire group. For example, a group could be "Fonts for Medicine Magazine". You can install the gropu instead to install each font individually, and unisntall the entire gropu after finished. And yes, that works fon inDesign, Quark and other programs too.
              also, i creat my own cutom groups, such as "Handwriting" "ExtraBold", "grunge", etc. So, if I need to looking for a handscript font, I don't need to search the entire collection, I only look at the group. Each tme I see an "useful" font, i added to one or more groups, for use later.
          • What version of Windows are you using? It's always a good idea to tell us what OS and version you are using. For all we know you could be running on a MAC under IOS and we'd be wasting our time offering you advice.

            I use Windows version 7, 64 bit. but this tip will work on Version 7, 8 and 8.1 and may even work on Windows XP or older! You can use 'font linking' to get your fonts out of the font folder. This is installing a link to your fonts instead of installing them to the fonts directory. Sadly Adobe doesn't always recognize this great feature but Corel does.

            Here's how:
            Open your fonts folder. On the left is a link to 'Font Settings' Use it. Then in the window that opens, under Installation settings, tick the box that says: "Allow fonts to be installed using a shortcut (advanced)". Make sure if you have your fonts on a different drive, its not a portable one. Windows won't load fonts it can't find.

            And who said I was a dummy!
            • that was how FontNavigator works. Each font is installed as a shortcut, never is copied or moved to the Windows/font folder
              • I believe FN can install to the Windows folder if you want, I need to check.

                • You're absolutely right David. FN 'might' install to a directory of its own as installed or it might not. You can choose which it should do.
                  My opinion is: Why bother doing that when if you keep all your fonts in one particular folder, you can easily access them with links?
                  Here's tip #2. Font Navigator installed 'font links' don't get recognized by several Adobe products. Use the Windows 'install font links' and only one Adobe program won't find them.
                  • Herein lies the issue with font managers, which is why I install with Windows.

                    • None of the mainstream font managers have issues. They all can/do work via a folder of fonts that one activates them either as needed or via a plug-in for, well, Adobe applications. They almost all fool the OS by using links but also entering the font to the OS font cache. Some actually copy the font to the OS font folder but there can be issues in Windows with deactivating them at times.

                      Claude indicated in a thread a while back they were looking at either updating or replacing BFN--which I think was gonig to be in-built to Corel products. At least if I recall properly.

                      I wouldn't be without a good font manager. Saves time. Just need to spend a little for something that is actually a current font manager.
                      • The real problem with all font managers when using links is when you store your fonts on a remote drive. We've got 5 PCs here and keep our fonts and other common files on a portable drive so we can keep track of where they are. If you use Bitstream Font manager - one of the better font managers in my opinion, it will go ahead and install the font link. Windows will still boot showing the font in its options but your applications will not.

                        For us at any rate... Storing many 10's of thousands of fonts on each PC just doesn't make sense when we are trying to keep each PC audited properly. There is no one answer for every situation. What suits you may not suit me.