Why does Illustrator outline text when I use saved artwork from my library?

[Jennifer376183986htq]

I took some extra time to save commonly used icons so I can drag and drop them when making labels for my job. Some of these saved artworks are just text boxes with web addresses or instruction info that I use on every label. When I try to embed these artworks I get a popup that says "The document contains PDF objects that have been reinterpreted. To preserve appearance, some text has been outlined." and then the text is extra thick compared to everything else. Is there a way to stop this? I embed everything because I had issues with losing image quality on linked images. Is there an alternative?

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Jennifer376183986htq,

Thanks for reaching out. Would you mind confirming if the icons were saved as a PDF? Also, kindly share a public link to a sample file after uploading it to Dropbox/Google Drive/etc., so we can check it on our end. 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thanks,

Anubhav

[Jennifer376183986htq]

When I saved the text to the library i just right clicked on the text box i typed in and selected 'add to library' so i am unsure if it became a pdf when i saved it. It was just a normal text box i added and typed in, nothing else was done. I will attach the sample link where i labeled both texts from my library by embedded and linked. Although after opening the sample on my pc it seems to show both linked and embedded with the thicker outlined text.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/19HfF6C2mXnC790ew3rKEA9aWqLsNBXjm/view?usp=drive_link

[PrepressPro1 · Accepted solution]

Also, consider NOT saving files to be linked into Illustrator as PDFs unless there is a diffinative reason for using a PDF link. Native .ai files can be placed as links too. 

[Jennifer376183986htq]

I went ahead and tried to save without linking the files and it worked just fine. Honestly I don't know why I assumed they had to be linked, I thought if I didn't then they wouldn't appear in the document. Thank you!

[PrepressPro1]

If you don't want some of the text to be forced into being outlined you need to make sure all the fonts are embedded in the PDF. If you save your PDF with Preserve Illustrator editing capability checked (turned on) you should be able to open the PDF in Illustrator without loosing or outlining fonts. This may also depend if you have all the fonts loaded in your OS when you open the PDF. If it's a really old .ai file there may be compatability issues moving the file into the current illustrator text engine. I'm just throwing ideas out because we don't have access to the files in question. 

Generally if you have some text which is outlined and some which is live type there will be a slight type weight difference between them. You can thwart this by selecting the live type and applying the Effect > Path> Outline Object to the text. Understanding then if you save a PDF from this illustrator file all the type with this Effect applied will be forced to outlines in the PDF. In which case always best to keep a native .ai file for the editing of the live text.

[Ton Frederiks]

If you place an Illustrator file from a CC library as Linked, you actually place a PDF representation of that file.

If you later embed that pdf object, you can get these problems, all the Illustrator editability is gone.

If you place the file as  a Copy, you will place the  editable Illustrator content.

You can also double click the item in the Library, copy the content and paste it into a new file.

[Jennifer376183986htq]

Thank you very much! I'll try copy and pasting it from now on. 

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, Copy and Paste is actually the safest way, it can even keep the layers (if you have Paste Remembers Layers checked).

[Monika Gause]

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@Jennifer376183986htq  schrieb:

Thank you very much! I'll try copy and pasting it from now on. 

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Copy and pasting artwork might go wrong as well, because there are several apps that interfere with Illudtrator's clipboard handling. If you experience any unexpected results when copying/pasting, that is what you have to search for.

[Ton Frederiks]

If copy and paste from one Illustrator document to another does not work, you have a totally different problem than this one.