Hellbox: live font proofing for Mac

jakeflem
jakeflem Posts: 6
in Type Design Software


Hi all. I make Hellbox, a native Mac app for proofing fonts while you draw them.

Some of you may recognize it. It launched in June as Font Proof, a name that sat too close to Font Proofer, so it's now Hellbox. A hellbox was the bin in a print shop where broken type waited to be melted down and recast. Kind of a weird name, but for an app whose job is finding busted glyphs, I think it works! And I am no stranger to weirdly named tools... (see idiotproofed.com)

Just like Idiotproofed, the idea is one idea: the proof keeps up with you. Hellbox watches your Glyphs file, and when you save, the open proof updates. It does the same with RoboFont and FontLab (in beta), no plugin required. Everything renders as a live PDF through CoreText, the Mac's native text engine, so what you proof is what your users get.

In the box: waterfalls, glyph sets, compare styles, columns and rows with per-cell control you can combine into complex layouts, mixed fonts and styles in the same proof, linked text files, markup on frozen proofs, proof templates and section templates, 70+ OpenType feature toggles. Pay once ($100, 14-day trial), no subscription. macOS 14+ (12 and 13 in beta).

More at hellbox.com, and the longer story is on the blog: From Idiotproofed to Hellbox

Release notes are on the site if you want a sense of how fast updates ship. If something's missing or broken, tell me and I'll fix it.

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Comments

  • James Puckett
    James Puckett Posts: 2,052
    This is cool as, well, you know!
  • jakeflem
    jakeflem Posts: 6
    James Puckett said:
    This is cool as, well, you know!
    Thanks, James!
  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,501
    is there a way to add our on text to this? I have several runs of text that I prefer to use and are part of my workflow for many years.

  • jakeflem
    jakeflem Posts: 6
    Yes! You can add any text you like. You can link text files, save section templates, save proof document templates. Since we all have our particular workflows, the goal of the app is to allow reusability of as much of that process as possible. 
  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,501
    Thanks!

  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,501
    Can I format in columns?

  • jakeflem
    jakeflem Posts: 6
    Yep! There’s a “columns and rows” section type. There’s also a “compare styles” section type that allows either a columns or rows comparison of styles. 

    This is a complex layout created in the tool with the “columns and rows” section type:


    You can also do less complicated layouts:

    Please let me know if you have any issues or more specific requests as you dig into the trial. You can email me at jake@hellbox.com
  • Chris Lozos
    Chris Lozos Posts: 1,501
    Looks good so far
  • Xiaoyuan
    Xiaoyuan Posts: 5
    edited July 16
    Hi Jake,

    Somehow I feel the idiotproofed sounds like a better name than hellbox...

    I'm wondering if you would make a video showcasing the main features? I think it would be so good to have a look, especially for people like me—downloaded it, tried it for a few minutes then got caught up by work and forgot about it and then 15 days gone, the trial has ended! and I don't know what's the main features... I would really like to see a demo video.

    not gonna lie, the main thing intrigues me is the auto updating pdf and ... one time payment.


  • jakeflem
    jakeflem Posts: 6
    Hi Xiaoyuan. Thanks for the feedback. I'm working on a video tutorial. Hopefully will go live soon. I like the name Idiotproofed as well, but it's a separate project. 

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