Welcome to Font Explorer for Mac OS X!
This program is freeware. Enjoy! And please send us your feedback and your suggestions!

Font Explorer Copyright © 1998-2002 Alexandre Trottier. All rights reserved.
A program by Alexandre Trottier.

EasySoft Creations
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	Pointe-Claire (Québec)
	Canada  H9R 2V4
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E-mail: 	alexandre.trottier@videotron.ca
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Font Explorer for Mac OS X (v1.0) — Read Me

This document contains important information about Font Explorer. Please read it before using the program.

Note: You can view this Read Me file again by choosing the “Font Explorer Read Me” command under the “Help” menu.

Description

Font Explorer makes it easier and faster to find specific characters in a font. It shows all the characters of your fonts in an interactive grid. Its zoom feature lets you see all the details of the glyphs. The key combinations required to produce specific characters are displayed, including key combinations that require multiple separate keystrokes. Font Explorer also fully supports Unicode, and lets you quickly jump from one Unicode section to another. A text entry field lets you preview and copy text in the selected font and style. And finally, Font Explorer has an elegant, Aqua-style interface. Font Explorer is freeware.

Known Issues

We are still working on these. Feel free to tell us about any additional issues you may encounter.

•	Although Font Explorer has proven to be stable in our tests, some characters in some fonts might cause the program to stop responding when they are selected (the cursor will change to a spinning beach ball). This was especially true with characters in the “Combining Diacritical Marks” Unicode range, so this range was disabled altogether. The cause of this problem is not known yet, and is still being investigated. If the program stops responding, simply Force Quit Font Explorer (by typing ⌥⌘Escape) and launch it again. The other applications will not be affected.
•	The process of redrawing the grid (i.e. when you select another font) is relatively slow compared to the pre-Mac OS X versions of Font Explorer. This seems to be due to the fact that Mac OS X uses true anti-aliasing to draw characters on the screen, whereas Mac OS 9 used text smoothing. Anti-aliasing takes more time than text smoothing but produces much better-looking text. We are still looking at ways to accelerate Font Explorer's drawing mechanism.
•	The text entry field might display the system font instead of the currently selected font. This is because some fonts are not compatible with Mac OS X's text-handling mechanism. Font Explorer will detect them and let you browse them, but you might not be able to actually use these fonts in other Mac OS X applications.
•	The keystroke combinations are only shown for characters that are supported by the Mac OS Roman encoding (ASCII characters supported by Mac OS 9 and earlier).

Version History

New in version 1.0 for Mac OS X

•	The character grid now has 65,000+ cells to allow for Unicode support. It also has a scroll bar and separators (darker lines) that mark the limits of Unicode sections.
•	A “Unicode” menu and a “Go” menu were added to make navigation easier.
•	The “Style” menu only shows the existing variations of the currently selected font (just like Mac OS X's Font Panel).
•	Font Explorer now has a customizable toolbar.
•	The character information was divided into two tabs: “Character Info” and “Unicode Info”.
•	Font Explorer's user interface and icon have been enhanced to support Mac OS X's Aqua look and feel.
•	The Read Me file is available directly from within Font Explorer.

New in version 1.3 for Mac OS 9 and earlier

•	Font Explorer now features a Previous Font / Next Font command that makes font browsing easier.
•	The Style menu now includes the Condensed and Extended styles.
•	Guidelines in the zoomed view show each character's width, as well as each font's line height and descent.
•	The keystrokes for multiple-keystroke key combinations are no longer separated by a comma, and are now easier to read.
•	The Font Explorer icon has been changed.

New in version 1.2 for Mac OS 9 and earlier

•	Font Explorer now includes a text entry field which lets you copy more than one character at a time, and a Style menu which lets you change the font style.
•	It also includes a Copy Char button, which lets you copy the selected character in the grid, as well as a Copy Text button, which lets you copy the entire contents of the text field.
•	Standard Edit menu commands are also available for editing the text.
•	Font Explorer now remembers the position of its window, as well as the selected font, style and character, when you quit the program.
•	The arrow keys no longer change the selected character; instead, they let you move the caret in the text entry field.
•	And finally, Font Explorer now uses the Appearance Manager.

New in Version 1.1 for Mac OS 9 and earlier

•	Font Explorer now shows the key combinations required to product specific characters, including key combinations that require multiple separate keystrokes (for example, “Option-E, then Shift-E” produces É on the U.S. keyboard).
•	The octal value display has been removed.
•	Also, the arrow keys now change the selected character.

System Requirements

Font Explorer for Mac OS X (v1.0) requires Mac OS X 10.1.4 or later.

Distribution Information

Font Explorer for Mac OS X (v1.0) is distributed as freeware. You may upload this program to any online service, bulletin board, network, or the Internet, as long as the program is not modified and the Read Me file is included. You may NOT make copies of this program for any commercial purpose. You must get permission to include this program on CD-ROM, floppy disk, etc.

Legal Information

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS. EASYSOFT CREATIONS MAKES NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL EASYSOFT CREATIONS OR THE AUTHOR OF THIS PROGRAM BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR ANY DATA SUPPLIED THEREWITH. USE THIS SOFTWARE AT YOUR OWN RISK.