FontAgent Pro maker Insider Software has introduced Smasher, a new font utility that lets users view fonts in suitcases — including “legacy” fonts carried over from Mac OS 9. Smasher “streamlines” the font suitcase and cleans caches. It’s available for US$49.95 and requires Mac OS X v10.3 or later.
Smasher cleans font caches to eliminate corrupted copies of fonts that can cause problems with applications, sluggish performance, incorrect text and font menus and more. Smasher cleans the font caches maintained by Mac OS X itself, Adobe’s Creative Suite software, QuarkXPress and Microsoft office.
With Smasher, you select a suitcase and click the Smash button, or drag and drop suitcases or fonts to a target folder or the Desktop. Smasher then automatically creates a new, more efficient suitcase. In this way, you can use “smashed” fonts with any font management utility or design application, which using smaller, more precise suitcases that contain fonts that have been verified for basic font integrity.
A downloadable trial version that features the “cache smash” capability is available from Insider’s Web site.