One of the unsung features of Mac OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”) is Quick Look , a useful tool in the Finder that allows you to preview collections of files at a glance. It’s commonly used for images, but Quick Look turns out to be immensely useful for fonts as well, as it allows both fonts and families to be easily examined in detail without ever leaving the Finder

One of the unsung features of Mac OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”) is Quick Look, a useful tool in the Finder that allows you to preview collections of files at a glance. It’s commonly used for images, but Quick Look turns out to be immensely useful for fonts as well, as it allows both fonts and families to be easily examined in detail without ever leaving the Finder.

In the Finder, select a bunch of fonts and hit the space bar. Shown here is the result for Archer; clicking any individual style reveals the core character set for that font, along with buttons for paging through the collection one font at a time. There’s even a slideshow mode, and the obligatory animation when switching modes that’s completely gratuitous but charming nonetheless. Check it out! —JH

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A Font Tip for Leopard Users