Can OTF fonts be embedded in a PDF?

[honeyimabee]

I'm struggling with embedding fonts into my PDFs through Acrobat. I'm thinking of buying a pack of fonts to help in case the free commercial use fonts that I have been using are the issue, but I saw other people online posting about struggling to embed OTF fonts. Would this font format be able to embed in my PDFs using Adobe Acrobat?

This is for a children's book illustration project if that makes a difference, and I haven't been able to embed any fonts successfully, which I need to do in order to upload for printing etc. I have Adobe Acrobat Standard DC. When I check File -> Properties -> Fonts in Acrobat, it never lists any of my fonts there either.

Would really appreciate advice if anyone knows anything 🙂

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

Yes ... but ...

It's not the font format (such as OpenType/Unicode versus old ASCII fonts) that can prevent embedding.

It's the font user license that came with the font you used, and that's controlled by the font manufacturer.

It's a complex issue and we have a detailed blog with strategies at https://www.pubcom.com/blog/2019_12-06/font-licenses.shtml

Summary:

• Always check the user license (called an EULA) for every font you want to use in a document. Look for a SIL License or Creative Commons license that usually are very generous about using and embedding their fonts. Check the manufacturer's website for this information.
• On your computer, check the font's properties and look for words like "embeddable," "editable," "editable embeddable."
  • In Windows, go to C:/Windows/Fonts directory and right-click/Properties for each font file.
  • On Macs, use FontBook or another font manager to view the font file Properties or Info.

[honeyimabee]

Thank you so much for explaining this! This helps so much.

[Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com]

You're welcome, @honeyimabee.

Always glad to help.

—Bevi