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Fonts
Font embedding and substitution
A font can be embedded only if it contains a setting by the font vendor that permits it to be embedded. Embedding
prevents font substitution when readers view or print the file, and ensures that readers see the text in its original font.
Embedding increases file size only slightly, unless the document uses CID fonts, a font format commonly used for
Asian languages. You can embed or substitute fonts in Acrobat or when you export an InDesign document to PDF.
You can embed the entire font, or just a subset of the characters used in the file. Subsetting ensures that your fonts
and font metrics are used at print time by creating a custom font name. That way, for example, your version of Adobe
Garamond®, not your service provider's version, can always be used by the service provider for viewing and printing.
Type 1 and TrueType fonts can be embedded if they are included in the PostScript file, or are available in one of the
font locations that Distiller monitors and are not restricted from embedding.
Note: (Acrobat) In some cases, TrueType fonts that have gone through a PostScript driver can no longer be searched,
copied, cut, or pasted. To minimize this problem, use Acrobat on the same system on which the PostScript file was
created, and make sure that the TrueType fonts used in the file are available on the system.
When a font cannot be embedded due to the font vendor's settings, and someone who opens or prints a PDF does
not have access to the original font, a Multiple Master typeface is temporarily substituted: AdobeSerifMM for a
missing serif font, and AdobeSansMM for a missing sans serif font.
The Multiple Master typeface can stretch or condense to fit, to ensure that line and page breaks in the original
document are maintained. The substitution cannot always match the shape of the original characters, however,
especially if the characters are unconventional ones, such as script typefaces.
Note: (Acrobat) For Asian text, Acrobat uses fonts from the installed Asian language kit or from similar fonts on the
user's system. Fonts from some languages or with unknown encodings cannot be substituted; in these cases, the text
appears as bullets in the file.
If characters are unconventional (left), the substitution font will not match (right).
Accessing and embedding fonts using Distiller
When converting a PostScript file to PDF, Distiller needs access to the file's fonts to insert the appropriate infor
mation in the PDF. Distiller first searches the PostScript file for Type 1, TrueType, and OpenType fonts. If the font
isn't embedded in the PostScript file, Distiller searches additional font folders. Distiller searches the following font
folders in Windows:
• /Resource/Font in the Acrobat folder
• /Windows/Fonts
Distiller searches the following font folders in Mac OS:
• /Resource/Font in the Acrobat folder
• /Users/[user name]/Library/Fonts
ADOBE ACROBAT 3D VERSION 8
User Guide
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