Frequently asked questions.

The answer is yes and no.

The plan is for FontCurator to fully support SVG and colour fonts, however it is a work in progress. At the moment, v9.3.0, some fonts render properly while others do not. You will notice when the rendering fails as the specimen in the Font Details dialog renders in the apps default font.

You will also notice that SVG/bitmap/colour fonts sometimes appear a little blurred (out of focus) in the list view and font details dialog, this is because we have to render the images into the preview text and we have not yet perfected it.

We are busy ironing out the kinks to make SVG and colour font rendering more reliable. More to come in future updates.

The short answer right now is No.

It is not a definite no, but we (just one person) are already maintaining multiple builds (MacOS silicon and Intel and more recently the Free trial for Silicon and Intel), which when you think about a $20 price point, it is already is a massive effort, it just adds more builds and more time, which means higher costs and that was never the goal. FontCurator was supposed to come in at the cost of a font!

The longer answer.

This all started with Nicky being fed up with her Font Manager App, her go to tool for a couple of years. Everyone is moving from pay once to subscriptions and obfuscating the library and then the apps features were just not working for her anymore. Enter FontCurator, a simple MacOs tool that offers a typographer a focused working tool. It has taken a year to get here from the first build and we never intended to sell it, but Nicky likes it so much that we thought, why not. That lead to more features and trying to round out a focused typographer app into something we could launch.

If one day FontCurator goes big! Sure we will make a windows version. But FontCurator was never meant to be a Windows App and was never meant to be a public app.

At the moment, it is a team of 1 and Nicky and I are very happy to keep it focused and small and perhaps one day it will pay for itself, if we ever get there, then perhaps a Windows version will happen.

1. Open the Apple menu (top-left corner of the screen) and choose About This Mac.
2. Read the first line of the panel:
   • A Chip line reading Apple M1 / M2 / M3 / M4 (or newer) → you have Apple Silicon. Choose the Apple Silicon build.
   • A Processor line that mentions Intel → you have an Intel Mac. Choose the Intel build.

FontCurator is a standard MacOS app and lives in exactly 2 places on your machine. Before removing FontCurator, we recommend backing up your files using the "Export" feature inside FontCurator.

NB! We cannot recover your library from this backup, it is a one way export of your data for your safe keeping.

Once you have backed up your data follow these steps:

• Delete the application from /Users/[your username]/Applications/FontCurator
• Delete the files from /Users/[your username]/Library/Application Support/FontCurator

This will completely remove FontCurator from your Mac.

NB! Fonts that were installed before you removed FontCurator will remain installed in FontBook on your Mac.

Your order confirmation email has the instructions on how to recover slots by deactivating your devices.

Lost your order confirmation email? Contact us.

NB! Device rotation is limited to 2 rotations per license.

Font scanning is the core of what FontCurator does and to be able to provide fast and accurate information about each font the scan has to work hard up front.

Font scanning only happens on the first run or when ever you request it. It normally takes 2-3 minutes for Font Libraries (system + user) with less than 1000 fonts on a M1 Mac.

Once it is has completed the first scan, then it is per font that you install, which is much quicker, nearly imperceptible, even if you drag in 10 at a time.

One note is, on first scan, you will see the scanning process slow down every now and then, this is when it is unpacking system based .ttc font packages. These tend to go quite a bit slower.

A note for Intel users! The intel scan on a 2017 iMac Pro showed significantly slower scan times. The system font scan (only happens on first launch) took approx 4mins. This scan only runs once, and thereafter we noticed comparable app performance, with Apple Silicon still outperforming the Intel but not enough on day to day operations to be worth calling out.

One purchase, up to 99 “seats” — each seat is a Mac (Single User).

Activate each license up to two times (i.e. your desktop and your laptop). Need more seats? Buy more at checkout.

Bought a new computer and need to recover an activation? Your order confirmation email has all the details for recovering your download and deactivating slots. Lost your email Contact us.

We recommend the latest version of macOS for both Apple Silicon and Intel builds.

We have tested the following on various M series Apple Silicon Macs:

• macOS 14 (Sonoma)
• macOS 15 (Sequoia)
• macOS 26 (Tahoe)

We have tested the following on Intel Macs:

• macOS 15 (Sequoia)

The FontCurator baseline for macOS integration is macOS 12.0 (Monterey) and while all features should be supported, we have not yet tested it and is therefore not advised.

Intel Macs are supported as of v9.2.0.

If you are having issues, please log a bug report.

Yes. The version you buy today runs for as long as your Mac supports it — no forced updates (free) or upgrades (paid).

• Updates are free patches that fix bugs or issues with the current version. Most updates are recommended, but not mandatory.
• Upgrades are paid new releases with improvements and new features. Upgrades are optional and we will not switch off your version.

We don’t commit to issuing OS-compatibility patches, but when a new major version offers something worth having, existing customers get discounted upgrade pricing. Enter your old key at checkout.

Yes! We offer a completely Free Trial for you to test drive FontCurator.

Once you have purchased a license, digital purchases are final — once a licence key is delivered we can’t take it back.

Try it first and read the feature pages, then make a decision if FontCurator is right for you. Contact Us with any questions you have before you click buy.

We do not store your license key in the clear so cannot recover it for you.

Please send support an email from the email address linked to your PayPal account for verification and we will gladly assist in the process of re-issuing your license key.

NB! License reissue is subject to your account being in good standing and our Terms of Service.

Download links are valid for 7 days from purchase.

After that, look for your FontCurator purchase confirmation email — it carries the instructions to get a fresh download link any time.

If the email is gone too, Contact us using the email address you bought with so that we can get it sorted out.

Yes. Each seat is a separate licence key that activates on up to two Macs (a single licence covers your laptop + desktop).

NB! FontCurator is not a cloud app, so your font collection will more than likely be different on different Macs.

Buy more seats at checkout for additional users — default is one seat, up to ninety-nine.

Need to move an activation? Contact support to release a stale one.

When you launch FontCurator for the first time on a Mac, it prompts for the key. Paste in the 25-character key from your purchase confirmation email (with or without hyphens, case doesn’t matter) and you’re done.

NB! You will need to remain connected to the internet to verify and activate your license.