Custom Fonts in document generation

[greg-stack]

Is it possible to apply custom fonts into a generated document? We have templates that are using Montserrat and Riforma, but getting returned in Calibri after JSON merge operations.

Alternatively, is there a list of supported fonts please?

[Joel Geraci · Accepted solution]

Save the fonts into the Word file. That should prevent font substitution. But because you are merging in variable data, be sure to uncheck the second box.

[greg-stack]

Thanks Joel. That works. Unfortunately it explodes the template size out to about 2MB, and slows down the docgen process via the API. We'll probably stick with standard fonts for now for the sake of speed. Good to know and thanks for your response.

[Johan21785658tmbv]

Hi Joel - I would like to follow up on this thread and confirm that embedding the font in the document only works 'sometimes' and hope to seek clarity as to why. The template contains two font families: Anybody Extra Expanded and Gotham (Book and Medium). When the PDF is returned the Gotham fonts have been replaced by Calibri... why would that be and is there a way to prevent this from happening. The other font (Anybody) converts just fine. 

[Joel Geraci]

Font embedding actually works in a consistent way but it's difficult for end users to understand why it seems to not be.  

OpenType fonts are just a container for either TrueType or Type 1 fonts. OpenType fonts that contain TrueType outlines can be embedded. OpenType fonts that contain Type 1 outlines cannot be embedded.

The easiest way to determine if your font will work is to convert to PDF using the Acrobat desktop product on Windows then open the Fonts tab in the Document Properties. If a font "Type" is TrueType, it can be embedded by Word and used in your templates. The opposite for Type 1.

When I'm doing this sort of thing, I just create a Word file with a single line of text using each font I plan on using and do the above. Then I adjust my font choices if necessary or find TrueType alternatives. Some fonts can be converted from Type 1 to TrueType.