Using the Sets Sidebar

The Sets Sidebar appears on the left side of the FontAgent® window and lists sets, which are logical associations of fonts in your FontAgent catalog. The blue number to the right of each set shows the number of fonts the set contains.

When you select a set in the list, FontAgent displays:

  • An activation slider that you can use to activate and deactivate the fonts in the set
  • The fonts contained in the selected set

Filtering Sets

To filter the sets displayed in the Sets Sidebar, use the Search field that appears at the upper-right of the top pane.

Enter a keyword into the Search field. As you enter characters, FontAgent automatically searches your for the characters entered. As you type, the List or Table View appearing below the Search field displays the sets that match your string.


Note: When FontAgent finds a subset that matches the characters entered, the subset is displayed in the parent set.

Types of Sets

The Sets Sidebar organizes your sets in groups for easy access.

All Fonts

All fonts in your FontAgent catalog.

Imported Fonts

Fonts you have imported into your FontAgent catalog.

System Fonts

Fonts residing in the Fonts Control Panel on your PC.

Sets

Logical sets of fonts created manually by you.

Smart Sets

Sets you create whose fonts match criteria that you specify.

Defined Sets

Sets automatically created and tracked by FontAgent.

Import History

Groups of fonts that have been recently imported into your FontAgent catalog.

Subscription Fonts

Adobe Fonts are subscription fonts  that are automatically recognized by FontAgent. It displays a set for these services in the Sets Sidebar. Fonts activated by other subscription services appear in the All Fonts set.

Display and Hide the Sets Sidebar

To toggle the display of the Sets Sidebar (the left sidebar), type Ctrl-L.

Best Practices for Organizing Fonts and Sets

Here is a summary of best practices for organizing and simplifying your Sets Sidebar in FontAgent:

Create dynamic Smart Sets based on criteria rather than static sets when you can, since Smart Sets automatically update their contents as you add fonts to your catalog.

    

If you want hierarchical sets, use standard, nested sets instead of Smart Sets.

  • Organize your fonts so you can use disclosure triangles to shorten your list of fonts and preserve the usability of your Sets Sidebar.    
  • Use tags to associate fonts with temporary projects or ones that come and go over time.    
  • Use tags to describe qualitative properties of fonts.    
  • Instead of using tags or sets to describe font metrics (such as italic, bold, etc.), use Smart Sets whose criteria are based on the metrics.
  • For infrequent searches, instead of defining sets, use FontAgent’s powerful Search facility, which finds any matching font information automatically.
    

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