How Do I Change My Fonts in OS X?

[Amie]

In Classic it's simple. You click on Apple, click on Appearance, click on Fonts. And up pops the fonts menu. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to do it in OS X. I've been looking in System Preferences in Appearance, but I see no "Fonts" option, whatsoever. I want to customize the font appearance of menus, windows, main menu bar, etc.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

You cannot do this without 3rd-party help.

http://unsanity.com/haxies/silk

[Amie]

Originally Posted by ElDiabloConCaca

You cannot do this without 3rd-party help.

http://unsanity.com/haxies/silk

Hmm. OK. Then, I need to ask two questions:

1. Are you sure? Because I've been reading about (and peeking into) Font Book. And there are a boatload of "font suitcases" already in the folder and ready to go. Can't I just drag one into the Fonts folder--sort of how you replace an .rsrc file for app skins?

2. These third-part font haxies that you speak of ... are they safe? I don't want to mess with something that's going to screw up my system fonts (and default fonts) or anything like that.

[ElDiabloConCaca]

Originally Posted by Amie

Hmm. OK. Then, I need to ask two questions:

1. Are you sure? Because I've been reading about (and peeking into) Font Book. And there are a boatload of "font suitcases" already in the folder and ready to go. Can't I just drag one into the Fonts folder--sort of how you replace an .rsrc file for app skins?

Sure, you can activate and deactivate fonts all you want, and you can move them all over the place. That doesn't allow you to change the system fonts, though. Mac OS X does not natively allow users to change the system font, period.

2. These third-part font haxies that you speak of ... are they safe? I don't want to mess with something that's going to screw up my system fonts (and default fonts) or anything like that.

I don't use them, simply because a prettier or more industrial system font isn't going to make my computing experience more pleasant. From what I've heard, they cause problems sometimes, but not all the time. Rarely have I heard of Silk causing major problems with a machine.

[Mikuro]

Download TinkerTool. It'll give you access to a bunch of font settings. It doesn't all work perfectly, though — there's a REASON these settings are hidden, after all. Some apps just don't respect the standard system settings, so changing them has no effect.

[powermac]

This is one area I do miss from OS9. I wish OSX gave us more custom options like OS9. Come on Leopard!!!

[Amie]

Originally Posted by Mikuro

Download TinkerTool. It'll give you access to a bunch of font settings. It doesn't all work perfectly, though — there's a REASON these settings are hidden, after all. Some apps just don't respect the standard system settings, so changing them has no effect.

Actually, I've had TinkerTool for a while, I just forgot about it 'cause I never use it for anything. And now I learn that I can use it to change my fonts! I KNEW it had a use for SOMEthing! lol OK, so what do I do--just open TinkerTool and click on Fonts ... and then what? Anything I should know before going through with this?

[Mikuro]

Originally Posted by Amie

Actually, I've had TinkerTool for a while, I just forgot about it 'cause I never use it for anything. And now I learn that I can use it to change my fonts! I KNEW it had a use for SOMEthing! lol OK, so what do I do--just open TinkerTool and click on Fonts ... and then what? Anything I should know before going through with this?

Well, I recommend taking a screenshot of TinkerTool's fonts panel before changing anything so you'll now how to change it all back.

Aside from that, go hog wild. It shouldn't hurt stability or anything like that.