Syncing fonts and font groups between computers

General discussion of the use of FontExpert font manager
Post Reply
bblackmoor
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2016 9:49 pm

Syncing fonts and font groups between computers

Post by bblackmoor »

I have synchronize my fonts and font groups between my computers. This is how.

First, I use Dropbox. I pay for it, so I have 1 TB file space -- more than enough for my fonts (which are about 900 MB). In DropBox, I have two folders:

Font_Groups
Font_Storage

Already, my fonts and font groups are synchronized between computers. However, this is not enough, because the Dropbox folder is not in the same exact directory on every machine -- but the shortcuts in the Font_Groups folder must be, or else the shortcuts will be broken. So I use Junction Link Magic to create a NTFS junction link from the "Public Documents" folder to the Dropbox folder on each machine, like so (because of the way Dropbox works, the actual files need to be in the Dropbox folder, and any junction links must be elsewhere):

On one computer...
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups is a junction link to D:\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Groups
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage is a junction link to D:\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Storage

On another computer...
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups is a junction link to C:\Users\Brandon\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Groups
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage is a junction link to C:\Users\Brandon\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Storage

And so on. So now, when creating shortcuts in Font_Groups, I always point the shortcut to the font's file in C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage. That way, the shortcut path will always be correct. For example...

The shortcut "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups\Art Deco\Bernhardt.ttf.lnk" points to "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage\B\Bernhardt.ttf"

I have FontExpert set up so that the starting folder is always C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage, and the font group directory is C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups.

Using this method, my fonts and font groups are always kept in sync on my computers.
admin
Site Admin
Posts: 321
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2005 10:20 am
Location: Proxima Software

Re: Syncing fonts and font groups between computers

Post by admin »

In new FontExpert 2016 we suggest simple ways to synchronize fonts between computers.

Synchronization units should be backup ZIP files.

To synchronze Library:

1) On Computer A create full backup ZIP of your fonts, including Library. This is a snapshot of all your fonts, tags and groups.
[x] Groups
[x] Tags
[x] Library
2) Restore this full backup on Computer B. Result: you have two comuters with the same Library, Groups and tags.
3) If you add new fonts to Libary on Computer A, just add the same fonts to Library on Computer B.

To synchronize only Groups:

1) On Computer A create partial backup ZIP, not including Library.
[x] Groups
[x] Tags
[ ] Library
This partial backup ZIP will be small.

2) On Computer B restore this partial backup ZIP.
(To get absolute copy of groups delete all Groups on Computer B before you restore partial ZIP created on Computer A.)

The advantage of Library in FontExpert 2016 is that the font in Groups and in Library is identified by unique Font ID (not by path to font file as in earlier versions of FontExpert).
The Library contains only unique font files. FontExpert does not add duplicates to Library, so you have only one copy of a font in Library.
bblackmoor
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Nov 16, 2016 9:49 pm

Re: Syncing fonts and font groups between computers

Post by bblackmoor »

That is more work and requires manual effort for every synchronization. I prefer my method, which works in FontExpert 2015 and before, which is set up once, and then stays in sync automatically.
Post Reply