Cool Tools for Design Fools
For years I’ve been using an ancient but venerable font manager called HP FontSmartLite. Problem is it was originally made for Windows 95, and with a few fonts that had been corrupted and running on a much newer opsys, it just doesn’t do the job anymore. It always was limited in one very important way– you had to scan ALL files to find fonts, there was never an option to just scan one. And since I had a corrupted font and didn’t know which one it was, I couldn’t scan any, since it would freeze up everything. Time to ditch the program and find something new.
Someone on the webdesign-l list asked recently for a font manager recommendation, and a few programs were suggested. Of the four I checked out, Main Type, from High Logic Software, is the keeper. This is a truly awesome font manager. Fonts install seamlessly from the interface. It shows all the characters in each font so you know if you’ve inadvertently grabbed a stripped down font, and it also will show the fonts in EACH directory you choose. I also appreciate the size it shows them in. This does everything my old font manager did, does those things better, and does a lot more besides. I didn’t have it installed an hour before I coughed up the 40 bucks for the single user license.
The download for Main Type happened to be at download.com. I don’t know about you, but ending up there “accidentally” is usually good for at least an hour wasted and three downloads I end up uninstalling. Yes, I’m a software junkie. Well this time I only downloaded one– a SERIOUSLY cool tool called ArtRage2 from Ambient Design. This is a weird but wonderful program that simulates art brushes and freehand painting, including brush pressure and amount of paint on the brush. The UI is very unusual, but also very intuitive. You’ll be playing with it inside of a few seconds and be astounded at its ability to intuit and interpret movement in brush strokes. I can’t wait to try it out with the tablet. Now I warn you, the trial only has a couple tools that work, just enough to whet your appetite for more. I was all ready to curse them out for tempting me so, until I saw the price for the full version– which is $19.95, less than the cost of a dinner out, and the enjoyment I’ll get from this will last a lot longer!
Enjoy!
Technorati Tags: Font Manager, Painting Program, Web Design Tools
