Extensis Achieves Desktop Fusion

Extensis melds two popular type managers into one: evolved application or FrankenTypeManager?

Once upon a time, in the land of Macintosh OS X, there were two stalwart guides who provided the typographically inclined effective font management in the new and confusing geography of the Macintosh OS X file system. The were known far and wide as Sir Suitcase and Sir FontReserve, and they served their constituencies well. Their patrons, Queen DiamondSoft and King Extensis of the West, charged them well, and they competed but still coexisted.

Then, in a royal wedding, King Extensis acquired the employ of Sir FontReserve. For a while, they still coexisted, but under the suzeranity of the good King; eventually, the King Decreed that Sir Suitcase needed to grow. A period of retraining of our good knight obtained perforce; and the result has a new, bigger shinier Sir Fusion. Sir FontReserve still has much work to do as ambassador to the land of Wintel, but Sir Fusion aims to champion the interests of both FontReserve and Suitcase partisans in the land of Macintosh.

Can the good knight succeed in his new mission? Read on, MacDuff, read on…

Why Use a Third Party?

Extensis itself raises a good point; why go pro? After all, modern Mac OS X from Panther forward offers Font Book, a basic font organization and managment tool. It allows one to organize fonts in sets, quickly install and uninstall fonts, offers previews, and gives basic information about installed fonts on one’s Macintosh.

It is notable, however, for the lack of certain features pro users value (and savvy amateur users could make use of: gathering and consolidation of font files, efficient libraries, activation by face, and direct control of system fonts amongst other things. And the interface provides basic information, which may be good but might not be enough. This is the gap that Suitcase and Font Reserve have filled.

Since Extensis acquired Font Reserve from DiamondSoft, development for both applications continued to version 10 for Suitcase (Suitcase X1) and version 3.1 for Font Reserve. Presumably it was seen that each user base could benefit from features each other’s applications had but both did not offer. Therefore, Suitcase Fusion.

At last … too much information! (which is a good thing when it comes to font files)

Greater Than The Sum Of Their Parts?

First, my cards on the table: I am a long time Suitcase user. I have always enjoyed the Suitcase interface, the ease of setting up and activating sets for temporary use, and the quick and customizable previews. And, with OS X’s different places for stashing fonts depending on system, user, or users, what’s not to like about having quick access to information and previewing in one place along with automatic activation for my favorite applications?

Fans of Sir Suitcase will be encouraged by the interface. There was no major redesign; the interface is the same familiar face shown by Suitcase X1, with an obviously new feature: the “Keywords” button is gone in favor of an “Attributes” button. Clicking this opens a drawer with a list of predefined font classifications; double-clicking any one will filter out a list of the appropriate fonts in the font list pane.

Setting up sets uses the same method familiar to Suitcase users, Suitcase Fusion now also includes the ability to set up nested sets as well as application-specific sets.

You get some, we get some

Both Suitcase and Font Reserve users will see benefits to the new program. Suitcase users get font identification and database enhancements never before known to them; the huge amount of information available to the user and to the applications that depend on Suitcase Fusion; technologies such as Font Sense provide integrity and uniqueness to each font so that when an application or document calls for a certain font, the original font used is the one activated, preventing text reflow problems.

Font Reservists will get the benefit of a customizable interface and precise, customizable previews. All users will benefit from the innovative Font Vault, a centralized repository that is meant to eliminate font conflicts and assure overall integrity thoughout the system, as well the overall flexibility to use the program to any level they wish; fonts can be put in the vault or not, system fonts can be managed or not, original fonts can be left in place, and the user can stick with their own font management scheme or let Suitcase Fusion do it all.

How may it help you? The Suitcase Fusion user interface.

The Personal View

We have had a copy of Suitcase Fusion on our desktop for a couple of weeks now, giving it the go around. In the beginning, I mentioned on how I have used Suitcase X1 for while now; Suitcase Fusion give the same ease of use that I had with X1, with the addition of new information available quickly. I like organizing my own fonts using Suitcase Fusion as my access point; it’s an improvement that’s transparent.

The idea of the new font organizing capabilities, nested folders and application-specific sets, strike me as something I can certainly make use of. Suitcase Fusion runs well and with no problems to speak of; it’s a tool I can see myself depending on.

Unlike Font Reserve, Suitcase Fusion must stay active to manage fonts. This may be a weakness to some, but it fits my personal workflow style just fine.

The Skinny

Suitcase Fusion is intended as an upgrade product for Suitcase X1 and Font Reserve 3.1 Macintosh users (Font Reserve is still maintained as a separate product for the Wintel crowd). Extensis has a long history of producing useful tools and it shows; for Macintosh users, Suitcase Fusion gives font wranglers the best of both worlds in one tight program. If it’s time for the partisans of Font Reserve and Suitcase to unite, Suitcase Fusion ought to do the job.

By The Numbers:

• Program: Suitcase Fusion
• Rating: Recommended
• By: Extensis, Inc (http://www.extensis.com)
• System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or better, G4 or faster, 256MB RAM, 30MB disk space (300 MB for Font Reserve upgrade) and sufficient drive space for your font library
• Street Price: USD $99.95, USD $49.95 for upgraders from Suitcase X1 or Font Reserve 3
• Availability: Direct from Extensis at http://www.extensis.com/suitcasefusion, by telephone toll free 800.796.9798 or 503.274.2020, or select dealers or Extensis resellers.
• Bottom line: Good evolution of a trusted resource, merging what is good about two great programs into one integrated whole. New storage and managment features ensure font integrity while protecting the fonts themselves, weeding out duplicates and corrupted files. Customizable interface and previews and flexible approach to user’s management styles means you’ll be organizing font your way, not the program’s.