Ok, there are ‘groups’, these are hard linked as folders (correct me if I’m wrong).
The way I personally like to structure my fonts are to have main groups such as; Sans, Serif, Retro, Script, etc. with various folders per font family in each.
But is there a way to make pseudo groups so that I can (without duplicating fonts) create breakdowns such as Festive, Valentines, Blocky, DJ, Feminine, etc?
If I’m understanding you correctly, this is what we already have.
There is the Installed Folder maintained by your operating system, and then whatever you want to do with your uninstalled fonts folder(s).
Some people like to keep them in one humongous folder in alpha-numeric order. Others like to put them in sub-folders by Designer, Foundry, Panose numbers (me!), Seasonal, you name it. That is where they are physically (digitally speaking) stored.
Groups are for address storage to the real fonts so we can get to the same font from a Project 5 group folder or a Christmas group folder, or a Panose group folder etc. Does that make sense?
Then when you return to Project 5, select all, Load, do your project and turn off your computer.
Project 5 fonts are no longer loaded, but eagerly awaiting the next time you want them.
Edit: Thanks Yehuda, “Shortcut” is a better description than my “address storage.”
Hmmmm…I know about the groups, but they create real folders for real fonts.
one thing i just tried is creating a group called “_project fonts” and then go to a chosen font in the normal location, right-click a chosen font and select “add to group”, then choose “shortcut” as the operation. this works perfect. was this what you meant? thanks for your reply, it got me snooping to find out some more!
While it is true that the groups are real folders, they do not have to contain real fonts. As you have discovered, when you tell Main Type to add a font to a group, one of the options is Shortcut. This is how I do groups.