Filed under: Enterprise, Graphic Design
Extensis Universal Type Server: Font management for workgroups
Another product announced at Macworld Expo, Extensis Universal Type Server, is now shipping. Universal Type Server is designed for corporate font management, requiring Mac OS X or Mac OS X Server 10.4 or 10.5 on a G5 or better machine. My personal opinion is that this would be a perfect application to run on a headless Mac mini.There are two flavors of Universal Type Server - Professional, which is scalable to any size workgroup, and Lite, for workgroups of up to 10 users. The server and client applications are cross-platform, running on Windows as well as Mac.
Migration paths are available for users of Font Reserve Server or Suitcase Server. The Lite package is available for $1395 directly from Extensis, but you'll want to contact a reseller for the Professional version. If you want to kick the tires before you buy, you can download 30-day free trials for both Pro and Lite.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joseph said 7:09PM on 6-18-2008
Amazing Idea, unfortunately it is out of budget when i can manage them myself. I work for a church and the administrative assistants sometimes shoulder some of the design-load. It would be cool to have this, maybe on next years budget.
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Tomahawk said 11:30PM on 6-18-2008
Umm...... have you never heard of LinoType FontExplorer™ X? LinoType looks to be far more powerful, not to mention free!!!
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John P. said 8:26AM on 6-19-2008
Tomahawk,
THis isn't really for an individual user (a-la FontExplorer™ X), rather for large workgroups. I'm quite excited about this, as it looks like a *vastly* improved version of the previous font server app (which did not seem to be a true "server"). Not only this, but the client is now UB, so it is actually compatible with the latest hardware.
I'm really hoping this is a sign of things to come regarding Portfolio.
Joseph said 1:49PM on 6-19-2008
I use linotype font explorer, but sometimes fonts are not able to be embedded and to export out of LTFE and attach it is a pain when working in illustrator. In Indesign, I can atleast package it all.
iphotostuff said 8:39AM on 6-19-2008
Burn in hell Extensis.
I groomed you, I had patience when you stopped working for me, I tried to save you for many years by throwing cash at you and yet, you never performed. You acted like an open wound crippling me at every turn.
And then... on one evening of great despair, I saw her across the room. I didn't know her name. She seemed a stranger to me, and yet, so familiar. "Who are you?" I asked. Her sweet moist lips pushed against my ear and she answered:
"Call me X. Font Explorer X."
I never even looked over my shoulder to say goodbye to you Extensis. But now I do. You sicken me with your wicked ways. You are a trap, luring people and hiding all of your filth. I only hope that your demise is slow and painful.
My life has never been so sweet since I left you.
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Garrick said 8:57AM on 6-19-2008
hahahahahahahaahaha!
Cute. Teh lite version is >a grand.
I'll stick with FEX for managing my 14 workstations.
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Jeff said 2:36PM on 6-19-2008
Curious how you use FEX to sync multiple machines? I have never really had much luck...
Cindy Valladares said 12:38PM on 6-19-2008
Hi Joseph,
We have very attractive pricing for non-profit organizations. If you
need a
(http://www.extensis.com/en/products/font-management-for-professionals.jsp)professional
font manager for less than ten people, Universal Type (http://www.extensis.com/en/products/universaltypeserverlite/what-is-it.jsp)Server
Lite might be the way to go. Download a
(http://www.extensis.com/en/products/universaltypeserverlite/free-trial.jsp)30-day
trial, or give us a call (800-796-9798) so that we can help you with
your needs.
Cindy Valladares
Product Marketing Manager, Extensis
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Joseph said 1:51PM on 6-19-2008
woo hoo! Calling on monday, once we make it through the weekend.
itbedave said 1:42PM on 6-19-2008
When I saw this announcement, I immediately had questions about how they can control font use based on it's license? I mean, is there some new technology we've not been told about that is going to limit a font being used based on the hardware it's on (aka DRM?)
If so... there are LOTS more questions.
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Jim Kidwell said 6:39PM on 6-19-2008
The idea is that you will be able to enter and track detailed licensing information directly in the software. This way administrators can decide to only give a number of users access to fonts based upon how many licenses that they have purchased.
Say that you purchase a 10-user license of the Adobe Font Folio. You can place all of these fonts into a workgroup, and then only give 10 users access to that workgroup.
Since users can belong to many workgroups, they can have access to as many or as little of the organization's font assets as licenses are available.
Jim Kidwell
Extensis
mr kitty said 9:37PM on 6-20-2008
I've managed a couple of different Extensis X1 font servers for my clients and I have to say I consider it a colossal waste of money.
Aside from the "license management" (that none of my clients actually used), I fail to see what the product offers that can't be accomplished with an AFP share and FontExplorer X. Load all the fonts onto a central read-only volume, add them with FEX. When you modify those fonts, clients go and resync. My experience is that standard font set changes on average of once or twice a year.
The X1 server was something like $1500, plus an extra $100 for every client, not to mention the machine dedicated to run the server (which needed it's own -- separately licensed -- client running 24/7).
The corruption checks never worked, and the client caused all sorts of problems (conflicts with office font caches causing every font to be separately reported as corrupt, tiger booting to spotlight when a font was added from the network and set to be always active, the list goes on) and it is frankly super fracken expensive to run.
I'm glad that extensis is continuing to push forward and improve -- and maybe this version will actually address all the problems and it will finally run smooth as butter -- but I still can't see how their server product adds $3k+ value to the typical agency.
I suppose it comes down to how concerned you are about license compliance.
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