Posts Tagged ‘Mac OS X’

64-Bit Auto-Activation in FontAgent Pro Yields Top CS5 Performance

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

FontAgent Pro 4.140 for Mac includes new plug-ins that maximize auto-activation speed and accuracy in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop Creative Suite 5. The release includes an all-new, 64-bit plug-in framework that takes full advantage of Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard advanced architectures.

Unique Technology that Ensures Correct Activation

Built on Insider’s unique FontSavant™ technology, the new release ensures that FontAgent Pro’s auto-activation manager always selects the right font in your documents—not just a close match or one that has the same name.

FontAgent Pro gives you full control over the font auto-activation process. It begins by detecting the most subtle differences among fonts to deliver the most accurate font activation possible. When no installed fonts match one required by a document, it provides a list of alternate fonts in your collection—with a relevancy ranking that shows how closely they match the font your document requested—so you can choose the best font. You can also activate a preferred font format (e.g., Type 1, OpenType, TrueType) automatically.

Availability and Pricing

Release 4.140 of FontAgent Pro is free to users who have already licensed FontAgent Pro 4. The product retails for $99.95 for new purchasers and is $49.95 for registered users of FontAgent Pro 3 and earlier. Cross-grades from qualifying competitive products are also available. Existing users and those wanting a 30-day trial version of FontAgent Pro can download the latest release from:

http://www.insidersoftware.com/downloads/FontAgentPro4.dmg

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Font Management, Mac OS X Issues | Comments Off

Font Server Adds Live Reporting, Backup and Auto-Failover

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

We’re very proud to announce FontAgent® Pro™ Server 4, which includes live font-usage tracking, live backup, automatic failover, and enhanced directory and security services. The new capabilities increase its sizable lead as the best font server for agencies, departments and enterprises.

Real-Time Font-Usage Manager
FontAgent Pro Server 4 now tracks font distribution and usage in real-time–an industry first. It shows which users have access to libraries and fonts, and when they activate and deactivate them. You can even use your favorite scripting language to export usage data into various file formats, and then use Excel, report scripts or asset managers to analyze and report on font usage and ensure compliance with font-license agreements–and be prepared for licensing audits at any time!

Live Font Server Backup
We’ve also added live backup services to FontAgent Pro Server 4. It backs up its fonts, users and groups without locking out users… something Extensis UTS doesn’t do. Better yet, you can restore a server to a previous state with just a few clicks. The backup manager lets you set the backup times, and you can also add font-server archiving into your existing backup scripts. Another important point: you can backup your font database to any networked drive–again unlike Extensis, which seems to force backup to only local drives, a practice which at best seems dangerous.

Failover Services Add to Lead in Multi-Server Environments
FontAgent Pro clients now include failover services that allow them to automatically connect to alternative servers when their primary font server is unavailable. Used in conjunction with FontAgent Pro’s server replication, these failover services make FontAgent Pro the clear choice in multi-server environments.

Enhanced Directory Services, Security and Permissions
We’ve also added faster Active Directory, Open Directory and LDAP synchronization to FontAgent Pro Server 4, along with improved support for nested groups, standalone users, keychain-based password protection and non-standard directory schemas. You can now identify group and font administrators who can upload fonts, create users and groups, edit licenses, upload and edit sets, upload and edit font libraries, assign fonts and users to groups and view font usage information–and allow IT administrators to maintain control of the font server itself.

Kerberos Single-Sign-on Support
Using Kerberos in your organization? FontAgent Pro clients now check if users have previously logged in via Kerberos. If so, they are automatically authenticated to FontAgent Pro Server. If not, FontAgent Pro asks them to enter their username and password. It’s that easy.

For More Information
We’re excited about FontAgent Pro Server 4, and we hope you are as well. If you have questions or would like more information, just let us know. We’ll get you the Inside Scoop.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Font Management, Mac OS X Issues, font server | No Comments »

Font Caches: #1 Font Management Problem

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

The number-one issue that Insider technical support specialists deal with is not even caused by Insider products. Instead, the top problem we solve has to do with troublesome little files called font caches.

A little about font caches

Font caches are data files that help your OS and applications speed the display of text on your screen. You can open and examine most cache files with a text editor because they often just list font files or their properties. Mac OS has its own cache files, as do applications in software suites such as Adobe Creative Suite, QuarkXPress, Apple iWork and Microsoft Office.

Every time you activate or deactivate a font, these cached lists need to be updated or activated fonts might not appear available in many applications. In addition, when the updates don’t occur, the cache files easily become corrupt or damaged–or simply fall out of sync with their associated applications–and cause additional application instability.

It is difficult to tell if a cache is corrupt simply by looking at the file. Often the first indication is bizarre or unexpected behavior in your applications. So how can we go about solving this pesky issue?

In comes Smasher

SMA_md

Smasher provides preventive font maintenance for your Mac OS X design applications and acts as a companion technology to your existing font manager, such as FontAgent Pro. Smasher is an essential utility for anyone who uses a lot of fonts because it clears your font and application caches on a regular, scheduled basis. So you can install Smasher, set its preferences to clear your caches at every reboot, and say goodbye to cache problems for good.

Every time you reboot, Smasher removes old cache files. Then, as Mac OS X and your applications launch, they create new cache files that better reflect the activation status of the fonts on your system. So fonts show up in your application menus as they should, and you are better  protected against display problems, garbled fonts, strange font substitution, printing problems and application crashes.

Smasher also performs routine maintenance on CUPS print spool files and other temporary system files to keep your Mac running smoothly. To learn more about Smasher or to download a demo of this handy utility, click here.

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Mac OS X Issues | No Comments »