embedding fonts?

users
#1

I think this was asked years ago, but I came across needing this info now.

How to make specific fonts embedded into the .odt file that has been exported to a PDF file.

I have many fonts that are not common to others who I pass documents onto.

One font I use is "BlackChancery.ttf" - as seen in this logo image

http://aktionclub-elmira.org/logo--blue-color-700-wide.png

I use many script and handwriting styles of fonts, and other uncommonly installed fonts on Linux or Windows 10.  I am currently down to 288 fonts files in my font folder. Of course, many named fonts has 4 to 10 font files, one per font style [normal, italic, bold, wide, narrow, etc.]  Look up these fonts and tell me if you have one of these or like them - Andrade-Swash.otf, DelitschInitialen.ttf, Embossed_Black_Normal.ttf, GrecoFractonSSi.ttf - installed on your system.

To be honest, years a go, I had PDF files that did not embed the needed fonts - even just the characters used - for the newsletters and other multi page documents. At that point, I was pointed to an option to embed the needed fonts to the PDF file.

Two days ago, I was looking at both the Export to PDF and the CUPS-PDF driver and did not see any options to embed the whole font or just characters used. I could not find any for my Linux laptop.

So, how do you make sure Export to PDF will embed the needed fonts for all your specific fonts needs?  I do not want to uninstall the fonts buried and protected in some system folder, or use some package like Synaptic Package Manager. I cannot go to my systems and play a game with my installed fonts every time I need to use a new one.

This may be a simple answer, like it is no issue at all anymore, but I need to make sure.

#2

How to make specific fonts embedded into the .odt file that has been
exported to a PDF file.

​This point is not clear. Do you want to embed fonts in a PDF (easy-ish,
see later) or in a ODT that is itself embedded in the PDF (as far as I
know, not feasible right now)?​

So, how do you make sure Export to PDF will embed the needed fonts for all
your specific fonts needs? I do not want to uninstall the fonts buried and
protected in some system folder, or use some package like Synaptic Package
Manager. I cannot go to my systems and play a game with my installed fonts
every time I need to use a new one.

This may be a simple answer, like it is no issue at all anymore, but I
need to make sure.

​From recent discussions on either this list or the french one, subsets of
required fonts should be automatically embedded into a PDF export EXCEPT if
the font file explicitely sets a flag to not be embeded. It is something
font specific and made to accomodate licensing issues. That's why there are
no option to actually embed fonts. Some viewers (okular comes to mind)
allows you to easily know what is embedded in the PDF and what isn't.​

#3

">File >Properties >Font" and check "Embed fonts in the document".

Just be aware that including fonts makes the documents incredibly large.

By way of example, my test example:

* ODF, fonts excluded: 361.4 KB;
* ODF, fonts included: 137.8 MB;
* PDF: Hybrid (ODF + PDF) with fonts: 139.9 MB
* PDF: Hybrid (ODF + PDF) no fonts: 2.5 MB
* PDF, no fonts: 2.1 MB

jonathon

#4

PDF - embedded font in some cases. ODT or DOC - embedded only when truly needed.

Years ago, I sent a PDF file using specific fonts that 99.9% of users would not have installed on their system, There were problems with trying to get the needed font[s] to view correctly to the person I sent the PDF document to.

To get around that problem, was to send the font to the person who was going to print copies for his meeting. That was a private action and could be a legal nightmare.

I really prefer to send a PDF document, but if I must, I will send an editable document for them to add/modify the text or add images. Then they sent it back to me for more cleanup and my edits. I get that a lot with posters and newsletters.

What I am doing now is sending posters and other documents to people who need them for meetings, or other needs for printed materials I make for them.  Also, I have had to pass the documents back-and-forth to get it right. If they did not have the fonts in the documents, then it will not look like what I see.  There use to be a limited font embedding use where only the characters used are embedded and not the full list of characters/letters/glyphs.

Jonathon -

Yes I know the file can balloon in size, but it may be needed if you have to use a specific character[s] that are in a font of "specialized" font.

Look at the font called "Humeur.ttf".  It is a set of face icons in a single font.  How about a bar code font?  How about a font that is all Hieroglyphs or other non-Latin characters.

If I/they need to have these fonts used for my/their documents, it may be less of a file size to include the font[s] than adding 20 to 50 large image files containing the same characters or glyphs.

I prefer sending final documents via PDF, but I have had to send then in DOC/DOCX format.  Most of the people I deal with these days do not have LibreOffice, since their bosses requires the work done with Word.  Since the boss pays for MS-Office, he/she does not want them using anything else.

Yes, I try to use as many free fonts as possible when I need something that might not be in their font list. Of course, I have the Microsoft core fonts installed. I do not have the Adobe 2000-something font set currently installed, but I have it if I need one for those people who have the Adobe fonts installed. To be honest, I have had over 500 font files installed before, though I try to keep the file count lower than 200 or 300. I have over 150,000 font files in my font collection - i.e. 14+ GB.  I pull certain fonts out and place them in the ".font" folder [Ubuntu] when I need them. Later, I will remove them and add different fonts for other projects.

It is nice to have free fonts that look very similar to paid versions. I use to look for these free fonts and lave them in a list.  That "similar" font is something I look at for Cascading Style Sheets in web pages I create or monitor for others.

Below are two lines of "code".  I listed similar fonts most likely installed on a Windows or Apple system. This is to help make the view of the pages look similar across several platforms. This goes the same for which fonts I use in the posters or other documents that have needed fonts that may not be on the other user's systems. You can see the list[s] of font names.  This list goes from preferred to less preferred fonts, so the reader will view the documents with the same look and feel that I am trying to get across.

"font-family: "Tahoma", "Geneva", "Verdana", "Arial", "Hevetica", "Trebuchet MS", "Monico", san-serif;"
"font-family: "Georgia", "Palantino Linotype", "Book Antiqua", "Times New Roman", "Times", serif;"

For ODT or DOC documents, if I really need the font, then I have to embed it for the co-authors to do their part of the work and not loose the look and feel.  Of course by a simple change in the font used, the format of the document can change. Some are wider, while other are narrower. Some have different spacing between one line of text to the next one below it. I got "bit" by this when I was told that the document should have a newly specific font instead of the one they originally wanted.  It messed the alignment of the pages, images attached to the specific line of text.  The worse was having a newsletter that was 4 pages [double sided and folded tabloid sheet] go over to a part of a 5th page.

So getting the right font, and keeping it "attached" to the document is a concern to me.
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