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jay fresno
Inspiring
October 3, 2019
Answered

Embedding fonts in PDF from InDesign

  • October 3, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 6047 views

I would like to know BEFORE creating a PDF from InDesign whether I have used a font that can not be embedded.

Is there a way to check before creating a PDF if a font is not embeddable? 

Is there a way to know before purchasing a font if it can be embedded?

      Correct answer Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com

      Following up on Randy's suggestion, when you run the Package utility, look for "No" in the protected column. Protected fonts can't be embedded, so "No" = yes, you can embed them.

       

       

      Yes, you can learn this info about a font before purchasing (or activating in Adobe Fonts/TypeKit) by checking the end-user license agreement (EULA) and other information on the font foundry's website.

       

      You can check your existing fonts by either viewing them in a font management program (shown in Linotype's Font Explorer in the screen capture below), or by clicking on the font file's "Information" wherever your fonts are stored on your computer (Mac or Windows). There's no one phrase that's used industry-wide, so look for words like embeddable, editable embeddable, and such.

       

       

      Note: there is a movement in the font industry to charge you extra for embedding fonts into PDFs, EPUBs, and other file formats based on expected number of views the document will receive. (This is different from web-fonts.) At this time, Adobe's fonts are still embeddable without the extra fees.

       

      So buyer beware: check with the manufacturer about embedabble rights.

       

      4 replies

      J
      jay fresnoAuthor
      Inspiring
      October 3, 2019

      Someone marked an answer as correct, but it wasn't me. I still haven't been able to figure out how to mark an answer as correct. It was very easy before Adobe redesigned the forum. Now there is "Like" but no "Correct".

      Randy Hagan
      Community Expert
      Randy HaganCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 4, 2019
      Don't take it badly. We're all getting up to speed on these new forums. Likely one of the moderators here marked your question as answered. If that wasn't the answer you liked, it's OK. The whole thread will be archived and help other users with similar problems. So all is good. Glad things have worked out well for you, Randy
      Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
      Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.comCorrect answer
      Legend
      October 3, 2019

      Following up on Randy's suggestion, when you run the Package utility, look for "No" in the protected column. Protected fonts can't be embedded, so "No" = yes, you can embed them.

       

       

      Yes, you can learn this info about a font before purchasing (or activating in Adobe Fonts/TypeKit) by checking the end-user license agreement (EULA) and other information on the font foundry's website.

       

      You can check your existing fonts by either viewing them in a font management program (shown in Linotype's Font Explorer in the screen capture below), or by clicking on the font file's "Information" wherever your fonts are stored on your computer (Mac or Windows). There's no one phrase that's used industry-wide, so look for words like embeddable, editable embeddable, and such.

       

       

      Note: there is a movement in the font industry to charge you extra for embedding fonts into PDFs, EPUBs, and other file formats based on expected number of views the document will receive. (This is different from web-fonts.) At this time, Adobe's fonts are still embeddable without the extra fees.

       

      So buyer beware: check with the manufacturer about embedabble rights.

       

      |    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer, Trainer, & Technologist for Accessible Documents ||    PubCom |    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |
        J
        jay fresnoAuthor
        Inspiring
        October 3, 2019
        Can anyone tell me how to mark an answer as "Correct". I was able to do that before Adobe recently scrambled up the forums.
        John Mensinger
        Community Expert
        John MensingerCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        October 3, 2019

        "Is there a way to know before purchasing . . . ?"

         

        Check the EULA.

          Randy Hagan
          Community Expert
          Randy HaganCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          October 3, 2019

          It won't be universal, but you can get a significant amount of insight about font usage (and links/graphics too — though that's not relevant in this case) by "Packaging" your InDesign document before creating your PDF.

           

          Just use the File>Package... menu command to have InDesign take inventory of your document file and give you the lowdown on the elements within it. You don't havce to actually package the document file; you can always hit the Cancel button when you get the information you're looking for. And I find this often gives me insight into elements you can't get from InDesign Live Preflight because it's targeted at finding problems instead of just differences.

           

          Hope this helps,

           

          Randy

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