Syncing fonts and font groups between computers
Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2016 7:49 am
I have synchronize my fonts and font groups between my computers. This is how.
First, I use Dropbox. I pay for it, so I have 1 TB file space -- more than enough for my fonts (which are about 900 MB). In DropBox, I have two folders:
Font_Groups
Font_Storage
Already, my fonts and font groups are synchronized between computers. However, this is not enough, because the Dropbox folder is not in the same exact directory on every machine -- but the shortcuts in the Font_Groups folder must be, or else the shortcuts will be broken. So I use Junction Link Magic to create a NTFS junction link from the "Public Documents" folder to the Dropbox folder on each machine, like so (because of the way Dropbox works, the actual files need to be in the Dropbox folder, and any junction links must be elsewhere):
On one computer...
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups is a junction link to D:\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Groups
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage is a junction link to D:\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Storage
On another computer...
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups is a junction link to C:\Users\Brandon\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Groups
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage is a junction link to C:\Users\Brandon\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Storage
And so on. So now, when creating shortcuts in Font_Groups, I always point the shortcut to the font's file in C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage. That way, the shortcut path will always be correct. For example...
The shortcut "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups\Art Deco\Bernhardt.ttf.lnk" points to "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage\B\Bernhardt.ttf"
I have FontExpert set up so that the starting folder is always C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage, and the font group directory is C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups.
Using this method, my fonts and font groups are always kept in sync on my computers.
First, I use Dropbox. I pay for it, so I have 1 TB file space -- more than enough for my fonts (which are about 900 MB). In DropBox, I have two folders:
Font_Groups
Font_Storage
Already, my fonts and font groups are synchronized between computers. However, this is not enough, because the Dropbox folder is not in the same exact directory on every machine -- but the shortcuts in the Font_Groups folder must be, or else the shortcuts will be broken. So I use Junction Link Magic to create a NTFS junction link from the "Public Documents" folder to the Dropbox folder on each machine, like so (because of the way Dropbox works, the actual files need to be in the Dropbox folder, and any junction links must be elsewhere):
On one computer...
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups is a junction link to D:\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Groups
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage is a junction link to D:\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Storage
On another computer...
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups is a junction link to C:\Users\Brandon\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Groups
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage is a junction link to C:\Users\Brandon\Documents\Dropbox\Font_Storage
And so on. So now, when creating shortcuts in Font_Groups, I always point the shortcut to the font's file in C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage. That way, the shortcut path will always be correct. For example...
The shortcut "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups\Art Deco\Bernhardt.ttf.lnk" points to "C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage\B\Bernhardt.ttf"
I have FontExpert set up so that the starting folder is always C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Storage, and the font group directory is C:\Users\Public\Documents\Font_Groups.
Using this method, my fonts and font groups are always kept in sync on my computers.