Font slowness

[calseeor]

Hello all. My name is Eryk and I'm a font-a-holic.

I just got Affinity to see how it will work compared to Illustrator and unfortunately, at this point, I can't really try it because the loading time is unacceptable due to the number of fonts on my system. I don't want to remove my fonts, or deactivate/reactivate as needed. I like to browse different fonts as I'm working on a project, I rarely go into a project with a set font in mind. 
Is there anything I can do on my windows 10 PC, to speed up Affinity's loading of my fonts? 

Sorry if this question has been answered already. I promise I did a search on the forums for slow loading with too many fonts, and I didn't find anything relevant. 

Thank you and warm regards,

--Eryk

[MikeW]

I have nearly 100k fonts. I don't know what that makes me...

I use a font manager. I browse through the fonts with it, maybe viewing a specific string, then activate a half dozen or so for using in the layout until I make a decision (usually one of the top 3 I activated).

I cannot think of working without a font manager. The whole system works faster, not just particular applications.

[calseeor]

Heya Mike, thanks for the reply. 
I've seen talk of font managers but never used one. Do you mind suggesting one that works on Windows 10? 

So if I had a project open in Affinity and got to the point of selecting fonts, I assume I would open said Font Manager and browse through it (it would show me what they look like and not just their font names, right?) and then activate the ones I want to try which would then be available in Affinity? Or would I have to reboot Affinity for the fonts to be available?

 

[MikeW]

Hi Eryk,

I have two installed (er, three but see the last paragraph for the third one). My favorite one hasn't been updated in a few years, and it may never be though they haven't announced it as dead yet. TypeDNA is that one. I also have owned a license for MainType for many versions. I like it for various reasons but TypeDNA is still my fave.

There are many others. All with some good points, but not as comfortable to me as either of the above. Suitcase wouldn't be one I would ever recommend. Hate the thing.

The one that comes with CorelDraw isn't bad and it certainly has future potential but hey, that takes having a license for CD!

[calseeor]

Thanks very much, I really appreciate it.

Let's see how this works out.

[MikeW]

Oops. Working with a FM...

For myself, I generally am designing something on paper before I ever start on the computer. Part of that is picking initial fonts though I still may experiment once the computer work has begun. Sometimes when doing say an ad or other rush work, I'll already have a general design direction and so the picking of happens later while working. In either case, yes, I'll pull up the FM (which are actually running and in the system tray) and go to a category or two and browse. I'll either tag them or create a new group based on client/job name and copy them into it (it's not really copying in the physical sense). Activate them and return to whatever I am using for designing.

[walt.farrell]

5 minutes ago, MikeW said:

TypeDNA is that one.

TypeDNA seems to be licensed on an annual subscription basis ($49/year). Or is there a free edition I'm not seeing?

[MikeW]

It's not free. Though it says subscription it is a perpetual license. Last I knew there was a trial version.