Monthly Archives: September 2010
What’s New in Portfolio Server 9.5 Webcast
September 30th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
Next week we’re hosting a webcast to showcase the new features in Portfolio Server 9.5, and we’d like to invite you to join us.
We will cover the new features that make digital asset management easier, including the enhanced functionality of the Portfolio Web Client, ease of installation and setup, and much more.
Webcast Details
- Thursday, October 7, 2010
- 11:00 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time) / 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time)
- Click here to register for the webcast
Please note that if you are unable to attend, we will email all registrants a link to a recording of the webcast.
Application Sets and Suitcase Fusion 3
September 29th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
There’s nothing more annoying than opening a document and being immediately warned that the fonts required for the document aren’t available. We’ve developed features in our products that help make it much less likely that you’ll see these errors.
If you’re using professional design application such as Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop or QuarkXPress, we have an array of plug-ins that store required information with your documents, and then automatically activate the required fonts when you open the document.
But what happens if you use an application that doesn’t have specialized plug-ins for font management? Suitcase Fusion 3 includes a new feature that automatically activates a group of fonts when you launch that application.
For example, I frequently develop presentations using Keynote. I know that all of my presentations use a specialized set of fonts. What I can do in Suitcase Fusion 3 is create an application set for Keynote, and then every time that I open Keynote, the fonts that I have added to my Keynote application set are automatically activated. No more missing font dialog boxes when I open my presentations!
If you’d like to check out Application Sets and the other new features in Suitcase Fusion 3, you can download a fully-functional trial copy and use it free for 30 days. I’m sure that you’ll find it as handy as we do.
A Distributor Walks Into a Whiskey Bar…
September 28th, 2010 by Amanda Paull
Do you ever think you’ve forgotten what its all about and then *BOOM* ? Something hits you in the face and reminds you?
Well, I had one of those recently.
The scene: Dublin, Ireland
The event: The Extensis International Distributor Conference
The purpose: Educate our partners on our new products, etc.
The REAL Purpose: Have our partners tell us everything they like, want, and hope we can do for them.
I am lucky to have been asked to attend this conference on 4 separate occasions since joining the company. Prior locations include: England, France, Portugal, Italy… This year the event was held in Dublin. Well, the outskirts of Dublin- a castle, to be exact! What fun. We Americans groove out on stuff like that because…well, plainly put, we have almost no history (its all relative). But everyone seemed to enjoy it. Or maybe what they enjoyed most was the whiskey tasting and the Irish music? (Note: whiskey is from Ireland- without the ‘e’ means it’s from Scotland.) With or without the ‘e’, it’s my kind of drink!
Some of these partners have been selling our products since before I joined the company- which says a lot about them (and possibly about Extensis). And of course there were a few new faces as well. They are the face and voice of Extensis in their respective regions, and while we are supposed to be there to educate them, it almost always turns out that they are educating us. And I guess, as you say, that’s what its really all about.
Just want to say a big thank you to everyone who attended, to our UK team that planned the shindig, and a special thank you to a really insightful customer who gave us some of his time, Richard from the National Museum of Ireland. He’s a Portfolio user and a genuine metadata guru. We really appreciate him taking the time to join us.
To that person who made that to-the-point comment while standing next to the Suit of Armor (no joke!)- you know who you are. Thanks for putting it all in perspective. I’m on it.
* Some images courtesy of the talented Aurélien (aureliens.fr)
What’s New in the Suitcase Fusion 3 Font Manager
September 27th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
Wondering what’s new included in the latest release of the leading single-user font manager? I’ve got a couple of resources for you to check out.
Firstly, I’d recommend that you check out the What’s New page on the Extensis website.
If you’re more of a visual learner, we also have a published a recording of our most recent What’s New webcast to view at your convenience.
The main list of new features includes:
- Adobe CS5 compatibility
- Web font enabled with WebINK
- Find similar fonts fast using QuickMatch
- Web Previews
- Font Snapshots
- Font auto-activation by application
- Integrated font corruption checking
ATypI 2010: web fonts and more
September 22nd, 2010 by Thomas Phinney
There are only a few conferences specifically about fonts and typography, and the most international of these is the annual ATypI (Association Typographique Internationale) conference. This year’s conference was held in Dublin, Ireland, just ten days ago. It comprised two days of preliminary talks and workshops and three days of the main conference.
Of the 33 talks in the “PreFace” section of the conference, ten were on web fonts (including Dave Crossland on the Google Fonts API and Directory, pictured at right). Another major theme running through the PreFace section was a series of talks around legibility, the reading process, and learning to read, with some seven talks on those topics.
Then we moved on to the larger main conference, with a lot of talks on Irish typography, from ancient to modern, and a series of talks and a panel on collaborative type design. There was also a huge variety of other subjects, from Arabic calligraphy to Romanian typography under communism. My own talk on type foundry business concerns around web fonts, in the main conference, was standing room only—to my surprise, as I thought it would be a small crowd of mostly font industry folks.
This year’s conference seems to have been very successful overall, with rave reviews from attendees. The PreFace sessions were held at the Dublin Institute of Technology, and the main conference at Dublin Castle (pictured, right), in the heart of downtown Dublin. The city was amazing, the people remarkably friendly, and the beer plentiful—especially for the evening event at the Guinness Storehouse!
A special call-out to conference host and sponsor the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) who also hosted the PreFace section, and their entire organizing team, notably co-chairs Clare Bell and MaryAnn Bolger (pictured, at the Guinness Storehouse).
Further interesting tidbits:
- Yuri Yarmola (FontLab Ltd.) and type designer Yuri Gordon previewed new type design technology they called “Proteus,” which may some day be a very powerful environment for type design. By abstracting some key elements of type design, it allows for things such as designing and modifying serifs independently of the letters they attach to, and adjusting various parameters globally rather than letter-by-letter. Don’t hold your breath waiting for this, however; our Russian friends at FontLab are currently starting work on FontLab Studio 6, and this tech will not be in that release, they say… so it’s several years away.
- ATypI 2011 was announced, to be held in Reykjavik, Iceland, in early September. Key organizers are Hörður Lárusson and (newly elected ATypI board member) Gunnar Vilhjalmsson. No, I can’t pronounce their names either, but they are lovely fellows, very organized and enthusiastic. Local sponsors include the Association of Icelandic Graphic Designers, the Icelandic Academy of the Arts, and the Icelandic Design Center.
I have to say, Irish hospitality and friendliness to strangers turns out to be every bit as fabulous as one hears told. Three particular incidents:
- Several of us in an evening out at a bar (the Stag’s Head, if memory serves) were chatted up by a rather inebriated but garrulous and friendly Irishman, who asked what brought us to Dublin, etcetera. As luck would have it, it turned out he was a web designer, so we actually had a bit to talk about! [Irishman at left, type designers Kent Lew (center) and Mark Jamra (right).]
- I was walking down the street one day, and was accosted by a young lass with a rather punk appearance, who told me that she needed to tell me that my hat just suited me perfectly, and that her boyfriend (pointed out nearby) had encouraged her to tell me so!
I may not be entirely impartial about ATypI, as this year I was elected to my third three-year term on the board of directors, where I serve as treasurer. So I admit a vested (albeit volunteer) interest in encouraging people to attend the conference and join the organization. I am particularly pleased that this year Eben Sorkin and friends have done a great job at lining up a series of benefits for ATypI members, including free WebINK service and a discount on both upgrades and new purchases of Suitcase Fusion 3. Extensis is pleased to support ATypI in its global endeavors of typographic education.
Suitcase Fusion 3 font auto-activation
September 21st, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
What’s the best thing a font manager can do for you? Give you the fonts that you need without even asking for your input. That’s exactly what Suitcase Fusion 3′s font auto-activation plug-ins can do for you.
When used during document creation in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign or QuarkXPress, the auto-activation plug-ins save Font Sense metadata into the documents that ensure the exact fonts use in the document’s creation are enabled every time the document is opened. Check out the all of font auto-activation features of Suitcase Fusion 3 in this video.
Enabling web fonts on Posterous with WebINK
September 20th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
If you’re a Posterous user, you already know how easy it makes it to setup a website that is easily updated. Making your site more visibly creative just got easier. You can now useWebINK fonts on your Posterous site.
To show you how, we’ve created a Posterous site that walks you through the simple steps of adding WebINK fonts to your site.
So, get started with a Posterous site and hookup your web fonts today.
Font Snapshots in Suitcase Fusion 3
September 17th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
There are many great new features included in our single-user font manager, Suitcase Fusion 3, one of which is the ability to quickly generate a PNG file of any font using whatever preview text you want. Check out this video for the complete scoop.
Visit Extensis at Photokina 2010
September 17th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
Become an expert in managing your digital images. Learn best practices and see the latest techniques and technology for effectively managing your digital library of photos and images without disrupting your workflow. In addition, we will be showing the newly released Portfolio Server 9.5, our latest Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution each day on the ComLine Stand (D040/E049 in Hall 4.1).
- 21 – 26th September 2010
- Comline Stand (D040/E049 in Hall 4.1)
- Cologne, Germany
- http://www.photokina.de
Visit us at Web Directions Atlanta for a web font demo using WebINK
September 16th, 2010 by Jim Kidwell
Want to get an up close and personal demo of how you can use Real Fonts on the web with WebINK? I’ll be more than happy to do so when I’m at Web Directions in Atlanta.
Web Directions is a worldwide conference tour that takes place in many locations around the world. Atlanta is the only stop in the United States this year, so if you’re a web professional looking for some good networking, knowledgeable speakers and an all around good time, check it out.
Full details
- September 23-24
- Web Directions
- Loews Atlanta Hotel
- 1065 Peachtree Street, Atlanta, GA
- http://north.webdirections.org/
