I finished converting my thesis to PDF but I’m worried the fonts aren’t embedded and it might cause issues on the university system. My deadline is Friday so I need to get this sorted quickly. How do I check and fix the fonts?
Easy check first: open the PDF and look under File, Properties, then the Fonts tab, it should say Embedded next to each one. If it doesn’t, go back to Word and re-export with “embed fonts in the file” ticked in the options, that usually fixes it. We do the same for drawing sets before plotting. You’ve got time before Friday, honestly.
When I had this issue with our office handbooks, the layout kept breaking on other computers. What worked best for me was uploading the file to pdfcap.com to embed the fonts so they stay fixed in place. It saves a fresh copy with the text locked in, which sorted it out straight away.
I learnt the hard way with my bakery price lists that standard saves often drop custom fonts. If you are using Word, export it as a PDF/A document because that format forces all fonts to embed. Avoid using a basic ‘Save As’ without digging into the options menu first. You can check the final file by viewing the document properties in your default reader.
Had the same panic before a conference submission last year. If you made the PDF from Word, go into Word’s save as PDF options and there is a checkbox for embedding fonts, make sure it’s ticked before exporting again. To check what’s embedded, open the file in Acrobat Reader and look at document properties, fonts tab, it lists each font and whether it says embedded. Learned the hard way that default export settings sometimes skip this step.
@SneakySteel That fonts tab check works the same in Reader on my old laptop. Small caveat, “embedded subset” still counts as embedded, so don’t panic if you see it.
@Emily.7 That’s a useful detail, especially when checking a thesis under deadline pressure. “Embedded subset” means only the characters actually used are included, and it should still display correctly on the university system.
I check this in Adobe Acrobat first: File, Properties, then the Fonts tab should say “Embedded” or “Embedded Subset” beside each font. If anything is missing, I reopen the original Word or LaTeX file and export again using its PDF option, not Print to PDF. I learned this the hard way with maths symbols, so I also open the final PDF on another computer before uploading.
Open the PDF in any reader and check Document Properties under File, it lists which fonts are embedded. If you still have your original file, just re-export to PDF and make sure “embed all fonts” is checked in the save options. I had to redo mine the night before a deadline so I know the stress.
@wallabies The Document Properties check is what I do too, takes 10 seconds and saves a lot of worry. One thing I add: check the fonts tab on the final file, not a draft. Re-exporting from the original always beats patching the PDF after.
first thing i’d check is file properties then the fonts tab in adobe reader, look for embedded next to each font. if they’re not there you probably need to re-export with font embedding on, whatever program you converted from. not sure if it’s the same on mac.