Word not embedding fonts in PDF

Question

I've posted several similar questions, but it seems like each time I solve one problem, I have problems with the next set of fonts.

Windows 10

Microsoft Word 2016

Adobe Acrobat (currently trial version)

I have been using a variety of free and purchased fonts in Word, some ttf and some otf. In Word, File > Options > Save, I have checked "Embed fonts in the file." I save using "Save as Adobe PDF."

But about half the time, the fonts I added are not embedded. They do not appear when I right-click the PDF and examine the Fonts under the Properties tab.

In every case, I have examined the installed font on my system, and it is either "Editable" or "Installable."

Further complicating this, one font in particular embedded on one save, but didn't embed on another, and I don't think I changed any settings.

I am at a loss here - it seems almost random which fonts will embed and which won't. Is there a single consistent way to check whether or not a font can be and will be embedded? Are there any additional settings I need to double-check, in Word, Adobe Acrobat, or Windows? Is there some other folder I should install my fonts into? (Currently I find them in C:\Windows\Fonts when I use the Font viewer in the Control Panel - this seems to be a link to the actual install folder which is C:\Users\[myname]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts.)

Dov Isaacs · Accepted Answer

There are two issues here:

(1) Beginning within the last year, Windows 10 now differentiates between installing fonts for all users and installing fonts for the current user. Given some very well known “issues” in terms of compatibility between these Windows changes in font handling, drivers, and applications, your safest bet is to always install fonts for all users. The legacy method of installing fonts on Windows by dragging .ttf and .otf files to the Windows Font Control Panel only installs fonts for the current user. In your case, the fact that fonts are appearing in the C:\Users\myname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Fonts directory indicates that the fonts were installed only for user myname as opposed for all users! The only way to insure that fonts are fully and properly installed for all users under Windows 10 now is to run as an Administrator, right click on the .ttf and/or .otf font files, and select Install for all users. Then restart any applications for which you want those fonts to be visible.

(2) Multiple Microsoft Office applications provide an option allowing fonts or the subsets of glyphs of the fonts used by the document (i.e., .docx, .pptx, .xlsx) to be embedded within the document file itself. This feature is very problematic! Don't use it! First of all, when it works, it only works for .ttf (TrueType and OpenType TrueType) fonts and not for any .otf (OpenType CFF) fonts. It also has compatiblity problems with Acrobat's PDFMaker and even the Adobe PDF PostScript printer driver instance. If you already have such documents in which these fonts are embedded, go to Options and turn off this feature for the document and resave the document under the same name; this will remove the embedding.

This should solve your problems. Please confirm.

- Dov

PS: What you call a “trial version” of Acrobat DC is actually the full Acrobat DC with a limit of how long you can run it before it requires a paid subscription! 😀

assause · Answer

In the print properties of Adobe PDF, select High-Quality Print or Press-Quality.
Also, isn't the font installed in the user folder?
When installing by right-clicking, you need to be careful when selecting the installation destination.

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