Font in PDF not displaying properly after saving in MS Word

[Filip3744097435u2]

Hello,

I have issues with some of my fonts after I save them in MS Word document as PDF. These issues can be solved when I choose the Print as PDF option but that is something I would like to avoid because it is more time consuming for me. 

I am using MS Office Professional Plus 2021. I have downloaded some .ttf fonts (namely Rubik Light and Exo Semibold) and installed them as admin for all users. The issue arrises when I want to make some of the text bold. After I choose Save as PDF, the letters in PDF are not bold, they appear normal instead. I tried to embed it via MS Word option but it did not work. Tried to use different combinations of saving (standard vs minimal size) without any success. Also tried to use different fonts weight (like Rubik, Rubik Bold), without any success. 

Interestingly everything works with pre-instaled fonts like Arial or Cambria.

I have searched through this forum but did not find any solution that would work for me. Thank you for your help in advance.

Cheers,

Filip

[Filip3744097435u2]

PS: I am using recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. I would like to obtain permanent and quick solution as this is something I do with different documents several times a day. Thank you!

[powerful_glimpse8525 · Accepted solution]

Hi Filip,

This issue is likely related to Microsoft Office's handling of variable fonts. Some versions of Office, including MS Office Professional Plus 2021, have trouble correctly rendering variable fonts when exporting to PDF.

A simple solution is to remove the variable font from your system and install the static font variants instead. These are usually included in the same ZIP file when downloading the font.

More details on similar issues can be found here:
🔗 Reddit discussion on variable fonts and PDF rendering

Hope this helps!

Cheers