Fonts: Worth The Bloat?

[siouxdax]

Hello all (once more):
I've always had a habit of collecting fonts, and I admit I don't use all of them. What I'm wondering is: do fonts just make my system bloated despite having a relatively small footprint? I've heard many conflicting opinions on this topic. So I bring it to you, hoping to find out if I'm just fattening up my hard drive. I am in love with typography, so acquiring a large number of fonts doesn't take me long. And while I'm on the topic: does anyone know of some slick font viewing/organizing app for typographic freaks like me? Currently I use MainType and Unicode Font Viewer.

As usual, any help/suggestions/advice/irritation of my frequent posts here are much appreciated.

[wreckedcarzz]

I've never noticed fonts doing anything noticable to performance except when I fire up OpenOffice Writer and hit the font menu and the system crawls loading my several hundred fonts...

*Goes off to 1001freefonts.com*

[housetier]

I assume once you load all the fonts to display them, they will use more resources; however, I do not think the mere presence of font files will make your system slower.

I do not know for sure though

[tomos]

AFAIK they can make windows startup and also programme startup slower but no references or proof !

I used MainType to uninstall a lot of my less used fonts and to "load" them when I want them - they're gone then on next Windows restart.
That may or may not suit ?

"Currently I use MainType and Unicode Font Viewer."
are you unhappy with either of them ? I think MainType is generally acknowledged as very efficient *and* user-friendly
Have you seen the thread: Font managers reviews and opinions

[lanux128]

there was an obscure tip in the days of Win 3.1 that too many fonts will slow down the system but i can't recall any links pointing to it. i myself use WinXP and have never experienced any slowdown due to fonts. as for your other question, you can do a search in the forums..

• http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=14780.0
• http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=10591.0

[siouxdax]

Wow. How I managed to not find the myriad of options for font management is beyond me. Thanks for the links to prior discussions. Now I have to (happily) wade through all of the possibilities and have some fun. I do wonder, though, about installed versus uninstalled fonts and the space they take up.

[siouxdax]

A Note:
I would like to see an app that sorts fonts according to type, such as serif, sans-serif, humanist, modern, etc...  But I'm guessing that information is not part of the font file.

[tomos]

A Note:
I would like to see an app that sorts fonts according to type, such as serif, sans-serif, humanist, modern, etc...  But I'm guessing that information is not part of the font file.

It should be part of the file info but I have no idea ... would be great to have as a sort option all-right -
you could do it manually in MainType by adding fonts to a group ....

[Veign]

A Note:
I would like to see an app that sorts fonts according to type, such as serif, sans-serif, humanist, modern, etc...  But I'm guessing that information is not part of the font file.

My Cfont Pro application has a Quick Detailed view that lets you sort by information stored in the font file.

[siouxdax]

Veign: Thanks for the link! Choices, choices. So many choices!

[Kurios]

I use Advanced Font Viewer
< http://www.styopkin.com/ >
here's thier blurb ;

The simple user interface is designed to guarantee quick access to the tools. There are many customization features as well. Many options can be customized to suit your preferences. AFV continues to be a fast and easy-to-use font viewer software that everyone, no matter a novice or a professional, can use and enjoy.

Scroll down & on the left is a simplified free version to "try before you buy"