We Need Flexible Font Categories

[David in Mississippi]

One of the biggest problems in all design programs (including Affinity) is FONT OVERLOAD. It is horribly difficult to find just the right font.

Currently, in Designer and Photo, the only font categorization options we have are All,Recent, Used, and Favorites:

We need additional categories, and we need to be able to add our own custom categories.

SUGGESTION: change the All/Recent/Used/Favorites list at the top of the font selector to be a DROPDOWN, with those four categories at the top of the list, but then with Affinity-added categories to follow, such as

• Serif Fonts
• Sans-Serif Fonts
• Monospace Fonts
• Script/Handwritten Fonts
• Decorative Fonts
• Fat-Body Fonts
• (New Category)

Your programmers should populate these lists from the most common fonts installed by default on PCs and Macs.

Next, the category lists should be EDITABLE.

Next, in the All Fonts list, beside the heart-favorite icon out to the right of the font name, add a Category Selector icon, such that we can go down the list of all fonts and add the selected font to any category we choose.

Finally, this feature should be application-wide, such that if we add a font to the Fat-Body Font category in Photo, it will also show up in that category in Designer and Publisher.

I believe this feature would make a huge difference in usability for all people using Affinity products.

[Oufti]

You should be able to do all what you want via the Mac FontBook application.

If you define some collections in FontBook (these can be automatic, "intelligent collections", or manually created), you will see them in your Affinity programs aside the favourite and recent items, through the Text>Character palette. 

https://support.apple.com/en-us/guide/font-book/fb34860/mac

Edited January 1, 2023 by Oufti
Precision about the palette, after reading the following post.

[Old Bruce]

For some reason the list in the Context Toolbar doesn't have access to the font collections I make with Apple's Font Book application. But those collections are available in the the Character panel's font collection list. So I have learned to use the Character Panel and in Publisher the Text Styles dialog to choose my fonts. First thing I do is set up the Collection in Font Book which I have named Current Project and then I can select from that while working in Publisher, Photo or Designer. I will also make Collections with fonts similar to what you have described.

I have no idea why my collections are not available in the context toolbar. I also don't know if Windows has anything akin to Apple's Font Book application.

All in all I wish the Affinity applications would use my Font Book Collections in the context toolbar.

[fde101]

1 hour ago, Old Bruce said:

I also don't know if Windows has anything akin to Apple's Font Book application.

Not even close.

As was recently discussed in another thread, Windows for the past few versions has had feature to hide specific fonts within the font lists of applications, but applications are expected to implement that themselves, and there is no API provided for identifying which fonts the user asked to have hidden, so the only way for applications to identify them is to look it up in the registry - not a good situation.

[Andreas Scherer]

On 1/1/2023 at 3:59 PM, David in Mississippi said:

One of the biggest problems in all design programs (including Affinity) is FONT OVERLOAD.

Inkscape 1.3 is testing a new approach.

[David in Mississippi]

On 1/1/2023 at 10:23 AM, Oufti said:

You should be able to do all what you want via the Mac FontBook application.

Thanks for this suggestion, but as seems typical for responses on this forum, you have redirected the request to a different topic. I was not asking about external applications, but for something to be built into the Affinity suite. I use both a PC and a Mac, and Mac-only apps like this are not available on PC. In addition, this won't resolve the dilemma of wading through a kabillion already-installed fonts while scratching my head wondering what's the difference between those 6 fonts that look identical.

My point is that Affinity needs to build flexible font management (e.g. user designated categories) into all their Apps.

It seems as though the official answer to that is "too bad."  Sigh.

[David in Mississippi]

On 1/1/2023 at 10:23 AM, Oufti said:

You should be able to do all what you want via the Mac FontBook application.

Thanks for that suggestion, but again, you have redirected the thread from the topic by suggesting an outside application. I use both a PC and a Mac, and Mac applications aren't available on the PC.

We need this capability BUILT INTO the Affinity Apps, so we aren't required to turn to a third-party provider to e able to make fast use of one of the most essential elements of design work.

I appreciate you trying to help, but I'm sorry I cannot use that.

[David in Mississippi]

It has been just short of a year since my original post here, and the only response I have gotten is from a few kind souls suggesting I use a third-party Mac-only application to do something CLOSE to what I need.

While I appreciate everyone who wants to help, the fact remains that this lack of font management capabilities is a serious deficiency in all the Affinity applications.  Here's why:

1. FONTS are one of the most crucial elements of just about anything we do with the design work for which Affinity is built.

2. EVERY computer today comes with hundreds of pre-installed fonts, many of which are near identical to other fonts. It is a confusing mess to try to find "just the right font" when we are required to browse through the entire load of installed fonts.

3. Often, even the installed fonts don't serve the purpose, so we have to go out and download additional fonts. I came across a post from another forum user who confesses to being a "font hoarder" and has downloaded hundreds more fonts. When she asked for help, other forum users kindly suggested she needed therapy. Some help

4. EVERYONE, in what I bet is more than 99% of all the things they do on Affinity products, uses only a small number of fonts for everything they do. For people who only use a dozen or fewer, the current "Favorites" list will serve just fine. But what about when I need to find a different slab font, or browse only the handwritten fonts, or am looking for something truly decorative for a unique poster? That's where Affinity has dropped the ball.

We don't need or want to be required to search out external, third-party apps to be able to do what we SHOULD be able to do right in the app.

So how can we get the Affinity designers to LISTEN to requests like this? And hopefully at least let us know they heard it.

Finally, I came here to the forum because I've been continually frustrated by the lack of font management in Affinity, only to find I'd already posted this about a year ago.

Sigh.

But the complaint is still valid, and is now reinforced.

[MikeW]

The 2024 edition of QXP added such a thing. The various classifications work--at least for fonts wherein the metadata in a font is properly encoded (like most font managers). But do fail to sort/classify fonts where the Panose information is set improperly.

[loukash]

On 1/1/2023 at 5:25 PM, Old Bruce said:

font collections I make with Apple's Font Book application

When I got the new MacBookAir running Ventura earlier this year, the first step I did regarding any font management was to figure out which system fonts can I disable right away. Then I put them all into a Font Book Collection which I named "Disable!". It contains a whopping collection of 153 typefaces, from "Adelle Sans Devanagari" down to "Yuppy TC".
I disabled them all and haven't looked back.
That has shortened the maddening font list by quite a bit.

As for Affinity, the first step there was to add my favorite fonts to… wait for it… the  "Favorites" menu!
Amazingly enough, it helps.  

As for other custom Font Book collections, I have a few basic ones, but since I don't use Font Book for font management otherwise – and thus 3rd party fonts remain invisible to Font Book – I never spend much time on them.

Sadly, the FontExplorer X app as we knew it is dead, so on Ventura I have opted for the Typeface app because it allows at least partial import of FontExplorer collections which I have maintained for almost two decades.