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wcn_dave
Inspiring
November 22, 2023
Answered

Identify Font Used in PDF

  • November 22, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 43152 views

I am editing a PDF flyer, and when I click on the text, the font shows as "Meta", however I don't have that installed, so cannot edit the text.

When I try to install the font, there isn't one called "meta".

I used an image from the PDF, and it said "nearest match = Helvetica something..." 

So my question is, how can I identify the font that's used in an Adobe PDF file, so that I can install exactly the right font?  I am sure it's simple, as it seems like a common thing, however I can't find any answers to this...

      Correct answer David__B

      Fonts within PDFs can be stored in different ways, such as text or as an image. Fonts that are part of an image cannot be edited or show what font was used. The fonts within the last two attached PDFs are images. Adobe does have a free option for trying to determine what font is used in an image here: https://adobe.ly/3ZEUBDl or PDF editing software (Adobe Acrobat) can convert the text in images into editable text and try to find a closely matching font with a process called OCR.


      Hope that helps,
      Dave

      3 replies

      Y
      Yonatan_Tesfaye9528
      Participant
      June 18, 2025
      ADVANCE_2.pdf
      David__B
      Adobe Employee
      David__BCorrect answer
      Adobe Employee
      June 20, 2025

      Fonts within PDFs can be stored in different ways, such as text or as an image. Fonts that are part of an image cannot be edited or show what font was used. The fonts within the last two attached PDFs are images. Adobe does have a free option for trying to determine what font is used in an image here: https://adobe.ly/3ZEUBDl or PDF editing software (Adobe Acrobat) can convert the text in images into editable text and try to find a closely matching font with a process called OCR.


      Hope that helps,
      Dave

      C
      creative_1725
      Participant
      March 31, 2025
      logo.pdf
      B
      Community Expert
      Bobby HendersonCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      November 22, 2023

      If you open the PDF in Acrobat DC or Acrobat Reader and select Properties it will list fonts embedded in the document. The same thing can be done in Adobe Bridge. However, the information displayed in both applications will be somewhat limited.

      The Meta typeface was designed by Erik Spiekermann and originally released by FontFont in 1991. There are various "builds" of the typeface in Postscript Type1 format and OpenType format. Even if you have a copy of Meta installed in your computer it may not be exactly the same as the font files used to create the document.

       

      FF Meta is available to sync via Adobe Fonts. You could try adding those fonts and apply them to any type objects with missing fonts warning related to Meta.
      https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/ff-meta
      https://fonts.adobe.com/fonts/ff-meta-serif

       

      Type objects using embedded fonts in PDF files can be converted to outlines when placed in applications like Adobe Illustrator by using the Flatten Transparancy trick. The type will be kept looking exactly how it's supposed to look, it just won't be editable.

      W
      wcn_daveAuthor
      Inspiring
      December 13, 2023

      So sorry it's taken so long to reply, I have been travelling the last couple of weeks.

      I see on the links you kindly provided, that there's meta-pro and meta-correspondence, but not one just called meta...

      They are very close though, so I will tell the source I just need to replace all fonts with some that I actually can find!

       

      Thanks again - really appreciate it!

       

      Dave

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