Globally replace missing fonts in an old print PDF

Report · Apr 16, 2020

I have Acrobat Pro DC and have some old print PDFs that do not have fonts embedded. My commercial printer requires all fonts to be embedded. I can replace the missing AGaramond fonts with AGaramondPro fonts, but is there a way to globally change them?

Report · Apr 16, 2020

I need to mention, the best solution is to re-create the PDFs with all fonts properly embedded from the original application, but I assume that is not an option. Substituting the fonts in a PDF are likely to produce some unintended results, like missing letters or odd spacing. That said, the Plug-in PitStop can do this, although it's expensive. Which application produced the PDF? (File> Properties> Description) If it's Illustrator, you may be in luck, try to open the PDF in Illustrator and replace the fonts, then carefully check the formatting and save as a new PDF.

The next thing to try is placing the PDF into InDesign and exporting to a new PDF, once in a while InDesign will somehow convert the fonts and embed them (no guarantees here). Lastly, you could try converting all the type to outlines in Acrobat (using a preflight) which is not ideal for several reasons, but for the purpose of getting it printed, might work. Generally, a font would need to be embedded in order to outline it, but sometimes the preflight works anyway. There is an alternate method that involves adding a transparent watermark and the Flattener Preview tool to convert type to outlines.

Good luck.

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Report · Apr 16, 2020

I need to mention, the best solution is to re-create the PDFs with all fonts properly embedded from the original application, but I assume that is not an option. Substituting the fonts in a PDF are likely to produce some unintended results, like missing letters or odd spacing. That said, the Plug-in PitStop can do this, although it's expensive. Which application produced the PDF? (File> Properties> Description) If it's Illustrator, you may be in luck, try to open the PDF in Illustrator and replace the fonts, then carefully check the formatting and save as a new PDF.

The next thing to try is placing the PDF into InDesign and exporting to a new PDF, once in a while InDesign will somehow convert the fonts and embed them (no guarantees here). Lastly, you could try converting all the type to outlines in Acrobat (using a preflight) which is not ideal for several reasons, but for the purpose of getting it printed, might work. Generally, a font would need to be embedded in order to outline it, but sometimes the preflight works anyway. There is an alternate method that involves adding a transparent watermark and the Flattener Preview tool to convert type to outlines.

Good luck.

Report · Oct 07, 2021

It is astonishing that this extremely basic functionality isn't included in Acrobat tools. I now have this error message

The document could not be saved. There was a problem reading this document (135).

even though the document has been read as it is currently open. So I can't save it, and I can't resolve the font problem without paying an additional $30 to a third-party app.

Useless.

Report · Apr 16, 2020

Thanks Luke. Your assumption is correct in that I do not have access to the original files. I have tried your suggestions on other titles that have had similar issues with some success, but this one is not cooperating. I'll look into the plug-in you suggested.