We highly recommend FontExplorer Pro for accessing large font libraries. Search and browse fonts, then preview and activate them to add to your font menus immediately. Note: if your organization uses FontExplorer Server, please see these instructions instead.
FontExplorer X Pro looks like a child’s toy block in the dock. If you have FontExplorer Pro, don’t use the OS X Font Book, Font Agent, Suitcase or other font apps which may interfere with FontExplorer Pro. Click for FontExplorer Pro purchase & installation instructions.
Browsing, previewing and activating fonts
- Click Fonts to browse or search the entire font library. Or select a set to narrow your search.
- Search for a font by name or other criteria by typing in the search box.
- Click Activate to add selected fonts to your apps. Note: you need to quit and relaunch Microsoft to update font menus.
- Click Deactivate to remove the font from your apps. It remains downloaded on your Mac for next time.
- Check the box next to a font or set to quickly activate them. System fonts are locked and cannot be deactivated.
- View a sample of the selected fonts on the right. You can type your own text, change sizes, color and background.
- Click Ungroup Font Families to show each style separately. Now you can see font names in their own font, or turn off WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) for standard listing.
- Click Information to see larger samples and every detail about the font, from the vendor, history, classification & uses - even which keys to press to type a specialized character. (See image below.)
- Print sample sheets of the selected fonts.
- Show fonts automatically activated by a particular application.
- Click the triangle next to Device Sets to choose from standard web, Mac and iPhone/iPad fonts.
- Browse fonts by format. OpenType is the modern Mac & Windows font format that include fractions, ligatures, alternate characters, swashes, small caps and more. TrueType is a good choice for building a Microsoft Office file or a web page. PostScript is an obsolete format from the 80s and 90s but they still work on Macs today.
- Custom sets let you group fonts by client, project or usage.
- Standard fonts come with Adobe, Apple & Microsoft products.
- Vendors shows all the fonts from each major manufacturer.
- Click the + button to create a new font set. Then drag fonts from one of the other sets to organize fonts into a custom group.
- Click Import to add more fonts. Select the font files and they are added to FontExplorer's library.
- Click export to save copies to transfer to another computer. Or drag fonts to your desktop or use your app’s Package function (found in InDesign and other apps) to make copies of the fonts needed for your project.
When you open a document, most fonts are automatically activated. Special plugins are installed for Adobe apps to help you get the right font and reduce the need to visit FontExplorer. Your fonts even stay active even if you restart. If some of your favorite fonts are not in the font menus, just open FontExplorer and check the box next to the ones you use most.
Missing a font? If you notice any fonts are completely missing from FontExplorer, search for them on your computer (using Spotlight's magnifying glass in the upper right corner of the screen. Drag the font's folder (not font files themselves) to your desktop. Then open FontExplorer and click the Import button. FontExplorer only copies the parts that were missing.
There’s a lot more you can do with FontExplorer, including printing sample sheets and buying new fonts directly from Monotype. Look in the help menu for more information. Read complete documentation or watch a short video tutorial.
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