76. Install a New Font  BEFORE YOU BEGIN 73 Create a New Text Document
 SEE ALSO 77 Create a Font Collection
Mac OS X comes with a large variety of fonts , or typefaces , to use in your applications. However, nobody who has used computers for any length of time has ever been satisfied with their system's default font selections. Fortunately, there are hundreds of sites on the Web from which you can download new fonts, and catalogs of commercial fonts from which you can order if you do professional layout work. Fonts available for download are generally available in either "Windows" or "Mac" format. Both Windows and Mac OS X can use TrueType or PostScript Type 1 fonts; however, there are subtle differences in formats, such as between the Windows and Mac versions of "TrueType" (originally an Apple technology, but popularized in a reduced format by Windows). Because Mac OS X can read Windows TrueType fonts without trouble, don't worry too much about whether to download the Mac or Windows version, if you have a choice. In fact, it might be easier to simply download the Windows version, as the Mac version is often designed for use in Mac OS 9 and earlier, in which fonts were distributed either as "suitcases" (unified files containing multiple styles) or with multiple files for the "outline" and "bitmap" font definitions. These conventions are largely obsolete with Mac OS X's smooth font technology, so you can save yourself a headache by simply downloading the unified Windows versions of fontsbut if a Mac version is available at the website where you have found a good font, try downloading both versions to see which one is higher-quality and better packaged. 76. Install a New Font 
The bottom line when it comes to fonts is that the technology is somewhat in transition, as Mac OS X and its font technologies and standards are still fairly new. Either Windows or Mac fonts ought to work for you, but Windows font packages often contain fewer files and are less confusing to use. KEY TERMS TrueType The most popular font technology today, TrueType was developed jointly by Apple and Microsoft in the early 1990s as a response to the Adobe-owned PostScript. "Mac" and "Windows" versions of TrueType fonts are slightly different. PostScript A font technology developed by Adobe in 1984, first popularized on the original Macintosh with PageMaker from Aldus.
Mac OS X lets you install new fonts so that all users of your computer can have access to them, or you can install the font just for your own use. Using the built-in Font Book application, you can preview and install fonts directly from the Finder. When a font has been installed using Font Book, any application can immediately use it in its documents. (Some applications may need to be quit and relaunched before they see the newly installed font.) | 1. | Download the Font
Download the font from the Web, or insert a disc containing new fonts in your CD-ROM drive. Downloaded fonts are usually in an archive, such as a .zip or .sit file; Safari should automatically expand the archive into a folder on your Desktop after it's done downloading. If it does not, locate the archive file and double-click it to unpack it.
| | 2. | Preview the Font Double-click the font file. A panel appears showing you all the letters , numbers , and symbols in the font. Many fonts come in folders that contain several style variants (bold, italic, shadowed , striped, and so on) on the font; if you select more than one font file and then double-click on one of them, all the variants will be available using the drop-down menu in the panel.   A valid font file is recognizable by its icon, which is of a document with the Font Book icon on it, or (for native TrueType fonts) a capital italic letter A . The label of the icon can be one of many different types (for instance, TTF, DFONT, LWFN, or FFIL, among others); Mac OS X can use any font file whose icon has the Font Book logo (or a large italic A ) on it. If you have a choice between TrueType and PostScript (Type 1) fonts, go for TrueType. | | 3. | Open Font Book
With the font preview window open, you're already in the Font Book application; select Font Book from the Window menu to open the main Font Book window.
| | 4. | Add the Font Select File, Add Fonts . A dialog box appears, allowing you to navigate to the location of the new font file. Select the valid font file you were just previewing (files that aren't valid font files or folders are grayed out). TIP You can choose whether to install new fonts by default into your own user -level Library folder (so new fonts are available only to you), the global Library folder (so new fonts are available to all users of your computer), or the Mac OS 9 system you've selected for use with Classic. Set this in the Font Book Preferences (choose Preferences from the Font Book menu). In this example, several valid font files for the Airmole font appear in the TrueType subfolder inside the newly downloaded airmole folder. The different font variants are well labeled by their filenames here, but often this is not the case, as with Windows fonts that are packaged with short filenames. For example, if you had downloaded the Windows version of the "Airmole" font, inside its folder would be files with much more inscrutable filenames than those seen here. However, if you double-click each file in the Finder, the preview panel that appears tells you (in its title bar) the font's full name . For instance, airmole.ttf is simply "Airmole"; airmolea.ttf is "Airmole Antique"; airmoleq.ttf is "Airmole Stripe"; and airmoles.ttf is "Airmole Shaded." You can install all of these variations, or just the ones you like. Every font site packages fonts differently; some archives will be more confusing to navigate than others. The ease with which you can install a free font to your system depends a great deal on the individual font and the site that packaged it. This is one reason why commercially sold fonts are popular: ease of installation. NOTE When you install a font, the font file is moved (not copied ) to the appropriate Fonts folderthe one in your own Library if you're installing it just for yourself, or the one in the global Library if you're installing it for all users. TIP You can also install a font using the Install Font button in the font preview window. This button installs the font into your personal Library and makes it available for you only. Another method is to install a lot of fonts at once by dragging them all into the Font Book window from the Finder. | | 5. | Use the Font in an Application
In any application that supports multiple fonts, select Format, Font, Show Fonts . This command brings up the Font palette, which floats over your application window and lets you choose fonts visually. You can also use the Font palette to tune the font's display style, including its foreground and background colors, underlines and strikethroughs, and even drop shadows.
| TIPS Click and drag the control button in the top middle of the Font palette to open the Preview pane, showing you the font's name in the selected style. The Font palette changes its format to show more options and information as you make it bigger. Enlarge the palette using the grip in the lower-right corner, and more options and information will appear.
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