Illustrator Font Samples
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- leftwave
I’m using CS3 and both Photoshop and InDesign have a feature where if you select the character dropdown menu, all of the fonts are displayed with the word "SAMPLE" next to them written in that specific font. This is a great way to see what each font looks like, especially since I have over 5,000 fonts to choose from. Why does Illustrator not have this feature? The only way I can preview fonts in Illustrator is to use the Type-->Font menu, but this menu takes a long time to use and is really clumsy to use. Does anyone know of a way to get the “SAMPLE” fonts to show up in Illustrator, or a better way than using the existing type menu??
- horton0
check the "font preview" box in prefs/type
- detritus0
You have 5000 fonts installed? Weren't you going to install some sort of font manager on there?
I used to periodically print out all my fonts and stick them in a binder, so I could flick through them away from the computer - I found this particularly useful as I appreciate fonts differently on-screen versus in print.
I really should do that again.
- horton0
but it won't say SAMPLE (never noticed that in PS or ID?)...
and 5000 active fonts is asking for trouble.
- horton0
safe to assume that no immediate response from leftwave means that AI locked up and crashed after setting the pref to preview 5000 fonts in the type menu... ?
:D
- leftwave0
ok, maybe 5000 was an exaggeration, but there's a lot of fonts to sort through. here's a screenshot to explain things....
- horton0
simple answer: use a font manager to view your font collective and activate only those you need... even 1000 active fonts is a strain on your apps.
i've got 20000+ fonts loaded and viewable in font explorer X. but never activate more than 750-1000.. 350 of which are fulltime for system and apps.
- ninjasavant0
Here's the answer to the question you're asking.
When you use the font list in the bar at the top you get no preview. Click on Character to make the character palette show up. If you use that font list you get the preview.
- isn't the character palette that you're talking about the 2nd screenshot that i posted?leftwave
- ninjasavant0
Nope, to the left of your font list in the last screen cap click on the blue word "character" to the left of the list. This will drop down the character palette (which you can also view by going to Window>Type>Character). Drop down the font list in that palette and you should see the sample text.
- leftwave0
ninjasavant, i clicked on the blue "character" and got the palette that you're talking about. however, the list of fonts doesn't have any sample text. it looks the same as the list in my last screenshot. am i doing something wrong?
- doesnotexist0
PUSH APPLE + T FOR TYPE PALETTE there are sample previews there.
- ninjasavant0
Ah ha! Figured it out. I use a Mac at home and thats how it works on mac but on my windows machine I see that it doesn't work the same way. I get the font preview by going to Type>Font
- leftwave0
right! i can get the font preview from the type menu, but that one displays the entire font name as the sample. this loads really slow (see the 2nd screenshot in my list from above). what i'm looking for is the quick loading/scrolling font list that shows each preview with the word "SAMPLE".
anyone know how to do this? i think there has got to be a way since both photoshop and indesign do it.