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Add-on: Easy Font Management with "Font Selector"

14

Samy Tichadou writes:

Hi all blenderheads, here's my new addon for blender : Font Selector

I often do motion design and after effect and blender, and Blender's management of font file had always bothered me, so i tried to implement a better way to manage them, like in after effect for example !

I explain myself : when you do motion design, you often have to chose a font accordingly to the word position and scale in your composition, and so far, i found this impossible to achieve in blender directly in 3D view. Because you have to import your font first through a filebrowser, then assign it and then toggle between your 3 imported font to select the best one.

Font Selector allows you to dynamically visualize available fonts applied to a text object without this painful process of importing a font through filebrowser.

Here are Font Selector's features :

  • Font Folders configuration : the addon allows you to setup several font folder on your computer through the addon user preferences. Sudirectories of the font folders will also be scanned for fonts. If you have uninstalled fonts on this computer, you can use them aside installed fonts, just create several font folders. You can save this configuration in an external file, in case you uninstall the addon, and want to keep track of your font folders. The external file is in a simple txt file, stored in a custom folder (by default in config folder of blender, you can change this through user preferences of the addon). This means you can load a previous font folder configuration in one click, in case you uninstalled your addon...
  • Browse dynamically through fonts without leaving the 3D view and with direct visualisation of the font on active text object, like in any other compositing and editing software
  • Refresh operator checks for you all available fonts in your font folders and subdirectories. It may take some time, but the result will be externally stored in your prefs folder. You don't have to do it again, except if you installed (or add) or uninstalled (or remove) fonts in your font folders
  • Favorites font system : because browsing through hundred of fonts can be painful, you can mark fonts as favorites, these favorites fonts can be easily access by turning on the favorite filter !
  • Export Favorites Fonts : If you have to go work somewhere else and want to bring your favorites fonts with you, go to export (under File in the Info Panel) and export them in a zip file
  • Remove unused Fonts : To work, the addon has to create an extra vector font datablock (extra font imported) and replace it when you browse from font to font. This leads to an unused datablock at the end of the day. A simple Operator allows you to remove it quickly !
  • Choose the default size of the Font List (number of row) in the addon preferences. If you use only a few favorite fonts, no need for a huge panel !

Hope this addon could be useful for some ! :)

14 Comments

  1. YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!! Thanks so much for this. Probably one of the most underrated features I've been crying for but such a timesaver!

  2. WOAH! WOAH! WOOOOOAAAA! Your amazing. It would really kool if you could implement loads more font features.

    F6 as after all object generstion after brings up a menu for assets. Generating font could give the artist the option of generating a curve tied to a font would be amazing. A parent curve to font check box might be really kool as well.

    Here is a YouTube clip about how I currently work with font:

    https://youtu.be/S0D8w49OF1c

    Freakn great work man. Loven it

  3. Thank you. It is really great.

    For Mac users - if you have trouble with system fonts folder try to remove:
    ヒラギノ明朝 ProN
    ヒラギノ角ゴシック
    font families.

    PS.
    You are a Genius.

    • thanks for the comment and tips about corrupted font files, they're now supported by the addon (meaning it avoid them while refreshing, and store them in "to avoid" list !) grab the last version if you want to have this feature ! :)

  4. This is a very useful addon. I also use Blender for Motion design or Motion Graphics, So I have been wondering how this can be possible in Blender. And now here is it!

    Thanks man!

  5. Great addon thank you. incase anybody wanted to use it here is a website with a huge amount of fonts. If you just create a folder to keep them in. I just moved all the fonts I wanted to a font folder and mapped to it. Website as follows. https://www.1001freefonts.com/ of course I use a Mac so I couldn't create a folder for those fonts just yet. Im sure Ill figure it out. :-)

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