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MaMug's Dan East takes a look at the font package from MacXware
So, you are lovin' iLife and looking for more iWork, but you don't have all of the bigtime fonts to make your presentations look their best on your budget? MacXware has done it again with an enormous library of TrueType¨ fonts, and including OpenType fonts in volume 2, that will serve nearly any need and then some.
If you are working in iMovie, for example, and want to create more of a personal look or even create an "electronic press kit" (EPK) for your GarageBand creations, having the right fonts can make all the difference in the world. The output quality is excellent and there is even a proprietary FontManager (TrueType, OpenType and Postscript compliant) for the installation and activation (either temporarily or permanently) of your selected fonts from their library. They provide a handy reference guide that is not collegiate textbook-sized monster that is found with some collections; however, this also helps filter out some fonts from the collections, for which you may never actually have use.
With a wide range of styles and faces, you'll find that some typefaces look familiar; however, MacXware reports that these are "professionally designed font faces" with everything from elegant to earthy and country to crunchy. With over 1,000 to choose from in each collection, you may find it helpful to employ something like YouControl: Fonts, as well as to be sure that you are actually installing what you intend to use. While OS X.3 no longer limits the maximum number of installed fonts, an excess of them can bog down your available RAM. It may also be helpful to use a font cache cleaner like Yasu and FontDoctor on your current font library prior to installation to insure best performance after installing MacFonts. The Mac OS' FontBook will support MacFonts and the instructions on how to best install these products for its use are available.
One thing that is important to consider would be that these fonts are labeled "for personal use only" and are not intended for commercial applications. For professional typeface libraries, many OpenType and PostScript (as well as some TrueType) are available to license from Adobe, Monotype Imaging and others. Also, and like any large collection, you'll want to pick and choose which fonts are going to be used as there may be quite a few you can do without depending on your particular taste, style and need(s).
If you are getting into Apple's iWork applications, iLife and/or anything that needs more than the OS, by itself, can offer, check out MacFonts. A whole lotta fonts for just a few bucks.
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