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Inspiring
July 23, 2025
Answered

Cannot extract the embedded font

  • July 23, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 1536 views

Hello,

 

I'm getting an error "Cannot extract the embedded font ...." and some caracters are not displayed (

The file reads perfectly on edge, firefox, pdf24, evince and okular.

 

The font is Raleway. The same error occurs with Montserrat and Arimo.

It happens only with italic or italic-bold sections of the file.

 

Example file attached.

Correct answer e._8131

A new information : I tried to use the very last version of Raleway (v4.101) for the generation, and it is actually WORSE : the message comes sooner and more glyphes are missing.


Damn, I've found a solution : by using the otf files instead of the ttf, I do not have the error anymore !

The difference between these two formats is obscure for me, but the document reads perfectly now.

 

Thanks a lot @creative explorer and @Randy Hagan for your support, I've really appreciated.

3 replies

itla2001
Participant
February 10, 2026

I have a font error question. don’t know how to post an original question so I’ll post here.  I always get a font error when opening pdf with fedex mailer as part of the file.  font not embedded.  but the font is on the computer.  I only have this issue on one computer not on others.  I have re installed acrobat, scrubbed the computer and am at wits end.  I can use the preflight to work around the issue, but would rather not have to since I have to deal with a lot of these files.

itla2001
Participant
February 10, 2026

cannot find or create the font helvetica-bold some character may not display or print correctly.  the address is missing from the fedex lable.

creative explorer
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 23, 2025

@e._8131 You can also download and use Google Fonts, https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Raleway And make sure you embed your fonts. You an't extract a font from a PDF. 

m
e._8131Author
Inspiring
July 24, 2025

I already have the fonts and they are embeded in the PDF file. It may be a misunderstanding there : I am not trying to extract the fonts myself, it is acrobat reader that complains it can't extract the embeded fonts.

creative explorer
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 24, 2025

@e._8131 I would disable the fonts in your Font Manager. Then remove them from the folder or Font Manager. Re-install the font from reuptable font sites only. IF it's a questionable site, I wouldn't dare add it then. Do a small batch. It might be a conflict somewhere?

m
Randy Hagan
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 23, 2025

If you don't mind me asking, where are you getting these fonts? 

 

If you're getting them from Adobe Fonts, they're not going to be embedded in your PDF. It will provide reference to Adobe Fonts to access the font and display it, but the characters are not intrinsic to the PDF itself like they would be if you used resident fonts in your system that have perpetual licenses.

 

It doesn't surprise me that you would be able to see them in web browsers, especially if the fonts used have Google font equivalents. The browsers can access those Google web font equivalents, but that's not intrinsic to the PDF file either. 

 

As a general rule, I would recommend against using Adobe Fonts in PDF documents. If only because it can cause conflicts with recipients who don't have access to the Adobe Fonts service.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Randy

e._8131Author
Inspiring
July 24, 2025

I have downloaded these fonts from the creator web site, some from Google fonts and some were preinstalled in my system.

I created the pdf file so the fonts are embedded, in order so they are in fact intrinsic to the PDF file and so that the reader doesn't have to rely on the fonts installed on the system or on an internet connection.

Randy Hagan
Community Expert
Community Expert
July 24, 2025

Google Fonts can cause conflicts with Adobe Fonts service files. If you have previously used Certain Adobe Fonts products on your system, and then went to use the same typefaces in Google Fonts because you wanted to provide "real fonts" that download onto your system rather than the "lent fonts" that Adobe Fonts offer, it can cause conflicts that result in issues like you're having.

 

Many users have found that the way to get past these issues is to 1) uninstall all copies of affected fonts on their system, anywhere they may be stored. After that, 2) shut off access to Adobe Fonts through the Creative Cloud application. Then 3) reinstall Google Fonts to clear the conflicts and be totally sure that you're running off the Google Fonts versions of your typeface(s).

 

Hope this helps,

 

Randy