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Shashank_ae
Participant
July 18, 2018
Question

Helvetica font not Swapping to Arial on Windows 10 & Windows 7 when exporting PDF from Indesign file

  • July 18, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 1037 views

Hi,

We are experiencing issue related to the way Helvetica font is handled when it is being used in the indesign file on Windows 7 & 10. When we receive a Indesign file having Helvetica font it gets Swapped to the Arial font automatically on some windows workstations when we export the PDF file but on some workstations it did not. 

We checked the Indesign settings of both workstations on which font swapping happen and where it did not, but we did not observe any difference. We have also checked the Windows Registry entry at,

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes\

We did not observed any difference on both workstations and the Helvetica was mapped to Arial in windows registry on both these workstations.

Can you please suggest that how the indesign file use the substitute font set for ‘Helvetica’ in windows registry i.e. ‘Arial’ font. Please suggest the setting which will help us to auto substitute missing Helvetica Font with Arial font while exporting PDF from Indesign file. Please note that we do not want to install Helvetica font on our workstations.

We are using Windows 7 & Windows 10 machines.

Adobe InDesign version is CS5.5

Please let me know if any further details are required.

Regards,

Shashank

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    John Mensinger
    Community Expert
    John MensingerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 18, 2018

    We'll need you to clarify your explanation of the workflow. The second sentence of your post uses the word "when" twice:

    shashank_ae  wrote

    When we receive a Indesign file having Helvetica font it gets Swapped to the Arial font automatically...

    ...it gets Swapped to the Arial font automatically on some windows workstations when we export the PDF file...

    We know there is no case of a font being "swapped automatically" when you open the InDesign file. When a font isn't installed, that's not what happens, so I'll assume your entire question revolves around the second scenario; PDF export.

    A misguided belief that the font substitution is "automatic," and it has something to do with Windows Registry settings has led you off track. This is much more likely a result of differing PDF export settings with regard to font embedding. That's where you need to investigate. How are you exporting to PDF, and are the same settings in effect across all those machines?

    BobLevine
    Community Expert
    BobLevineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    July 18, 2018

    Swapped automatically? InDesign will always post an alert for missing fonts and give you the option of what to substitute it with.

    You’re going to need to expand on what’s going on and please note that CS5.5 is not supported under Windows 10.

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