Software questions for Building and Managing fonts

e.davis
15.Mar.2010 6.33am

Hi everyone,

I promised my boss I would find out some information for him and I knew this was the best place to come.

Questions 1: What software is out there for Macs to built fonts in?

Questions 2: Is there software out there that can be used to convert fonts across platforms? Most of the office is Mac based but a couple of people are PC and we need to have our fonts working on both.

He also wants a way of managing the fonts but I told him you can group fonts in font book and that gives you the ability to turn fonts on and off etc. I think he said he used to use Suitcase.

Thank you for the help in advance,
E

frode frank
15.Mar.2010 6.50am

1: Fontlab is your best bet, but there’s also Typetool and Fontographer (the latter freeware).
2: I know Fontlab can convert fonts to other formats, but remember to read the EULA carefully as this — in most cases — isn’t allowed. I’m guessing the other two can as well. This is rarely an issue as both TT and OT is cross platform, at least with newer Macs.

frode frank
15.Mar.2010 6.50am

I use Linotype FontExplorer X to manage fonts.

Mark Simonson
15.Mar.2010 7.18am