Do I have too many fonts installed?

April 21, 2004 12:10 PM

I currently have 885 fonts installed on my XP-pro box (with 512Mb of RAM). Is this an issue? Should I trim down my font list?
Tangentially, what does the number after font's name mean (e.g.: Frutiger 45, Frutiger 55)?
posted by signal to computers & internet (9 comments total)

I think some applications might have issues, but if it works fine, why bother?

Frutiger is a special case for the number, he, when making that typeface, came up with a number system to describe the font. The first one being the weight of the font (light to extra bold), with 5 being normal. The second number being the type of weight (5=roman, 6 is italic etc). See Linotype Font of the week: Frutiger for more info.

Most typefaces don't follow that system for naming the fonts, instead they tack on "Italic Extra Bold" or what not.
posted by skynxnex at 12:25 PM on April 21, 2004

skynxnex: I'm not sure if it is an issue, as my computer has been acting kind of stupid lately and I'm looking for ways to get it back in shape.
Good info in that link, thanks.
posted by signal at 12:29 PM on April 21, 2004

The more fonts on your system, the longer startup will take. That is the biggest problem I have had with a ton of extra fonts on a (PC) system. I have also noticed that certain programs, such as Adobe PageMaker, will only recognize a certain number of fonts - though I don't know what the magic number is.
posted by rhapsodie at 12:53 PM on April 21, 2004

This might help..
posted by headspace at 1:45 PM on April 21, 2004

Win2k/XP no longer have the too-many-fonts problem. The biggest reason to not have a shipload of fonts, though, IMO, is that it makes the font menu in most applications just a bugger to use.

You want a font-wrangling program that will let you load the fonts on the fly for a given project. This keeps your default font set nice and small, while providing the flexibility you need for your clients.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:07 PM on April 21, 2004

if you are looking to do a little cleanup - or just browse your font collection - this is an awfully handy little app
posted by specialk420 at 2:16 PM on April 21, 2004

The Font Thing. Best font cataloging/management utility ever (assuming you don't need to manage Adobe's proprietary font formats, that is.)
posted by Danelope at 3:19 PM on April 21, 2004

Danelope, got it, but I use both Type 1 and Open Type fonts, so I end up using this. I've been poking around with Suitcase, but am annoyed that it insists that I move all my fonts out of the windows/fonts folder.
I don't have a problem with long font lists in my applications or startup times. Is there any other reason to limit the number of fonts on my system?
posted by signal at 10:22 PM on April 21, 2004

You have to move the fonts out of the windows/fonts folder, otherwise Windows will load them.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:13 AM on April 22, 2004