Auto-tag document tool bug

Hello ​@Jacob38641654dtzp 

I hope you are doing well, and thank you for the detailed information.

Please note that Auto‑tagging does not change the authoring font of your content. However, during Auto‑tag, Acrobat rebuilds the tag structure and underlying text objects to create accessible content. If any text object references a font that is not embedded (or cannot be embedded due to font permissions), Acrobat will list that font separately in Document Properties > Fonts.

• Fonts must be embedded to avoid substitution or validation errors, and
• A font can only be embedded if the font vendor allows embedding
• See this Adobe article for more details: https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/desktop/create-documents/explore-advanced-conversion-settings/font-handling-distiller.html

Auto‑tagging analyzes font style, spacing, and structure to infer headings and lists.
If list bullets or the spacing after bullets are represented internally as separate text objects (for example, spacing characters), those objects may reference a default serif font if no embedded font is available for that element. When that font is not embedded, it appears as Times‑Roman / Times New Roman (unembedded) in the Fonts panel, exactly as shown in your second screenshot.

Please confirm font embedding status (before and after Auto‑tag): 

Open the PDF File > Menu > Properties > Fonts and compare the font list before and after running Auto‑tag Document.

Ensure fonts are embedded before accessibility work: 

Please note that embedding fonts prevents font substitution and validation failures.
If a font is not embedded (or embedding is restricted), validators such as CommonLook may flag it even though the visual appearance looks unchanged.

After Auto‑tagging:

• Re‑check Document Properties > Fonts.
• If a font still appears as unembedded, it indicates the PDF contains a text object that references a font that cannot be embedded.

Auto‑tagging does not intentionally change your document font. The appearance of Times New Roman after Auto‑tag indicates that some text objects (commonly list spacing or structural elements) reference a font that is not embedded.

To verify in Acrobat Pro:

Check the actual text objects

• Open the PDF.
• Go to All Tools > Print Production > Output Preview.
• Use the Object Inspector and click the list text and bullet spacing.
• Confirm the visible text still reports Aptos (or your embedded font).

Review tagging

• Go to All Tools > Accessibility > Reading Order.
• Inspect the list structure.
• Confirm bullets and list items are properly tagged as List / L / LI elements.

Recommendation would be creating tagged PDFs directly from Word.

From Word:

1. Use built-in Heading styles.

2. Use proper Bulleted List formatting.

3. Save as PDF using:

   • File > Save As > PDF

   • Ensure “Document structure tags for accessibility” is enabled.

   • See this article for more details: https://helpx.adobe.com/in/acrobat/using/creating-accessible-pdfs.html

Use Preflight:

1. All Tools > Print Production > Preflight

2. Search for profile: Embed missing fonts

3. Run the fixup

Also, ensure you have the latest build of Acrobat version: 25.001.21223. Planned update. Feb 17, 2026.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Anand Sri

Important to note, the elements I have in the Word document before converting to PDF are a Heading level 1 and a bulleted list. The auto-tag function appears to take the spaces after the bullets and changes them to Times Roman.