FontTable­Viewer

While browsing the tables contained in the fonts, it will simultaneously display the respective OpenType table specs. FontTableViewer also allows you to create a sample HTML file for testing the selected fonts in a web browser.

How to use FontTableViewer

Managing fonts for comparison

First, make sure the main window is displayed (Window > Main Window):

Then, either choose File > Open, or click on the plus button at the bottom left. In the upcoming dialog, select one or more OpenType fonts (suffix .ttf or .otf), and confirm. FontTableViewer will list them in the left sidebar titled Fonts.

Alternatively, simply drag OpenType fonts from the Finder into the sidebar. To remove fonts from the sidebar again, select them and click the minus button in the bottom left, or press Cmd-Delete. Right-click on a font entry to bring up its context menu and choose Show in Finder to access the OpenType font in Finder:

Now, simply select one or more of the font sidebar entries to compare the fonts’ OpenType tables.

Comparing tables

In the Tables column, FontTableViewer will list all OpenType tables it can find in the open fonts. Select a table by clicking on its list entry. FontTableViewer will display the table content in columns in the top right window pane. If available, it will also display the respective OpenType table specification from the OT Specs on the Microsoft website:

You can adjust column widths to your liking by dragging or double clicking the separators between the column headers. Click on a table item to highlight it, and the spec display will jump to the description of the respective entry:

Generating a test HTML

Choose Tests > Generate HTML Test Document and appropriate settings in the upcoming dialog:

• All encoded glyphs: will display a sample string containing all glyphs that have a Unicode value assigned.
• Glyphs accessible through features: not yet implemented.
• Sample text: not yet implemented.
• Vertical metrics comparison: will show the specified characters next to each other in all selected fonts:

  

• Min/Max Size: all sample texts will be displayed in all point sizes from min size through max size.

Once you click Generate, FontTableViewer will create a test_page.html next to the selected fonts, containing the specified sample texts:

Installation and requirements

FontTableViewer runs on any Mac with macOS 10.9 or later. To install it, simply download and unzip the app, and move it to the Applications folder.

Currently, FontTableViewer is available for free.