Review: Suitcase Fusion 5

Bob Levine

9

I first started using Suitcase Fusion when version 3 was released about three years ago. Recently I upgraded to version 5, and found that it offers some interesting new features, while remaining an indispensable part of my digital toolset.

I have a license for Adobe’s Font Folio and scores of others, so with more than 6,000 fonts on my computer I rely heavily on Suitcase extensively to manage them. Suitcase Fusion makes this simple by allowing the creation of font sets and the ability to activate fonts with a simple mouse click.

Taking that one step further, you can activate the fonts permanently or temporarily. Temporarily activated fonts will not be activated the next time you start your computer, saving you the trouble of deactivating them manually.

Smart sets continue to be an easy way to group fonts by searching for common attributes such as a word in the font name. The screenshot below shows a smart set based on Garamond being in the name:

You can set as many conditions as you’d like and choose to match any of them or all of them.

Did you ever wish you could create a set from fonts those used in a particular document? Piece of cake. Open the Suitcase Fusion 5 menu from InDesign or Illustrator (this feature is available in Photoshop as well, but is located under the File > Automate menu) and choose Creative Document Set. 

Collecting the font files from Suitcase Fusion 5 is also snap. Just right-click on the font or the set and choose Collect Fonts for Output (you’ll want to check the license before sending the fonts anywhere).

The Extensis panels introduced in Suitcase Fusion 4 are back in version 5 as well and just as handy as ever providing easy access to your complete font library plus Google web fonts. Activating a font is just a click or two away from Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign (CS4 and later). Photoshop users can access fonts from Extensis’ web font service, WebInk to easily create comps for web sites.

This is a real timesaver especially early on in the creative process where a lot of experimenting is going to take place.

What’s new in version 5?

As with many applications that have been around for a while, Suitcase Fusion 5 is an evolutionary upgrade, not a revolutionary one. That said, there are some noteworthy new features. Let’s take a look.

Creative Cloud Compatibility

Suitcase Fusion 5 includes auto-activation plugins for Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and InCopy. New in Suitcase Fusion 5 though are Creative Cloud versions as well as compatibility with Creative Suite 3 and later (InCopy support is CS4 and later). For QuarkXPress users, compatibility is for version 7 through 9. I would expect an update for versions 10 after it ships.

Quick Comp

How many times have you had to create a mock up of a page for a client to show the proposed font pairings? It’s grunt work that requires setting up a page, creating a layout and choosing a couple of fonts. Enter one of the more handy new features of Suitcase Fusion 5, Quick Comp.

Featuring a host of different templates to choose from such books, magazines and posters, you pick one, click on titles and body text, and choose the font you want. From there you can easily print a copy. Extensis is considering adding more templates if there’s enough interest among their customers.

Once you’re satisfied with your QuckComp, you can print out a page. Given that the result is one you’d likely be sharing with someone else, one addition I’d like to see for a future version would be the ability to export a PDF and attach it to an email.

Reorganized Interface

If you’ve used earlier versions you’ll feel right at home in Suitcase Fusion 5 but you’ll undoubtedly notice a few changes. These include moving the info and attributes panels to the right side of the screen where they’re very easily accessible. This makes tagging fonts with keywords and attributes a snap.

One License for Two Machines

Along with Creative Cloud compatibility Extensis is now offering Suitcase Fusion 5 licensing similar to Adobe’s license, for one user on two machines with no regard to platform while keeping pricing the same. This effectively cuts the price in half for anyone with two installations. Font Doctor, a separate tool for repairing common font problems, is still included as part of the purchase.

Should you buy it?

If you’re a Creative Cloud subscriber and have depended on earlier versions of Suitcase Fusion, this is pretty much a no-brainer upgrade, especially given the new two machine, cross-platform license.

If you’re not using any font manager and are tired of those “missing fonts” messages and the effort of manually move fonts in and out of folders, Extensis will let you take it for a test drive for 30 days. Givne the benefits of using Suitcase Fusion, I’ll be surprised after that time you won’t be convinced.

Suitcase Fusion 5 is available for Mac and Windows for $99.95. Upgrades from Suitcase Fusion 3 and 4 are $49.95.