Suitcase Fusion 3 User Guide for Mac OS - Extensis

Working with Auto-Activation
Plug-ins
To automatically activate precisely the correct fonts used in documents, Suitcase Fusion includes plug-in
software modules that use the Extensis Font Sense technology.
The plug-ins save Font Sense metadata—information that uniquely identifies fonts—with documents, and then
use that metadata to automatically activate the correct fonts when you open a document.
In addition, to enable precise font identification and activation, the plug-ins can identify all the fonts used in a
document, and then create a set or collect the fonts for delivery to a service bureau. The Create Document Set
feature and the Collect Fonts for Output feature both streamline the process of locating all of the diverse fonts
used in documents.
NOTE
Adobe Photoshop restricts what a plug-in is able to do within the application. Instead of individual menu
commands, Photoshop provides a single panel with buttons and menus to access the various plug-in features.
These differences are specifically identified in this documentation.
Understanding Font Sense Technology
As most publishers know, when you open a document and it requires a specific font, activating any font with that
name is not an option. In the font world, Helvetica is not Helvetica is not Helvetica. Even fonts from the same
foundry, such as Adobe Garamond, exist in multiple versions. Using the wrong fonts can result in text reflow,
which can alter line breaks, affect the design, cut off text, etc. To ensure that you’re always using the correct
fonts, Suitcase Fusion and Font Sense provide unique font identification and automatic activation.
Font Sense technology is designed to overcome the limitations of font names. Most applications record the
names and sometimes the types (OpenType, PostScript, etc.) of fonts used in documents. But with the various
types of fonts, vendors, and versions that exist, font names are not unique identifiers. Most users have multiple
versions of many fonts on their computers—particularly common fonts such as Helvetica and Times—and the
applications they use cannot identify which versions are used in their documents. Font Sense solves this by
saving complete font metadata into documents.
The font metadata generated by Font Sense starts with the name, type, foundry, and version number of the
fonts. Then, for truly unique font identification, the metadata includes additional items such as checksum values.
The final result is the Font Sense identification number, which you can view in Suitcase Fusion (View > Columns
> Font Sense).
Each time you save a document in a supported application, the plug-in records updated Font Sense metadata
with the document. The documents no longer rely solely on names to identify the fonts used in them.
When you open documents containing Font Sense specifications, the plug-ins use the Font Sense data to
determine and activate precisely the right fonts. Since the font metadata is saved within the document, detailed
font information travels with it. No matter where the document is opened, Font Sense knows precisely which
fonts to activate.
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