Don’t Forget Your Fonts: How to Embed or Outline Fonts for Print

Quick summary (for the skim-readers):

If you want your fonts to behave in print:

• Always export a proper print PDF, not just whatever default is there

• Make sure fonts are embedded in that PDF

• Keep one editable master file with live text

• Make a separate print version (and outline logos/headlines there if needed)

• Never rely on your printer “having the font installed.”

If you do just that, you’ll avoid most font disasters.

You can have perfect colours, the right size, proper bleed, great images – and still wreck a print job with one tiny detail:

The fonts.

You hit “export,” send off the PDF, everything looks fine on your screen… and then the proof comes back with:

• Different line breaks

• A headline wrapping badly

• A brand font was swapped for something that “almost” matches

The press did its job. The file didn’t.

This is the longer version of one of our favourite tips:

When you’re creating a PDF for print, always embed or outline your fonts.

Let’s walk through what that actually means, in plain language.

What Goes Wrong When You don't embed or outline fornts for print

When your file leaves your computer and lands on someone else’s:

• If they don’t have your fonts, their system quietly swaps them out

• The replacement font has different spacing and proportions

• That tiny change is enough to:

  • Push lines over

  • Change where text wraps

  • Make text drop out of boxes

  • Mess up carefully aligned layouts

This is why business cards, brochures and postcards get into trouble so often. There’s no room for the layout to “move” without breaking.

So the goal is simple: don’t rely on the printer having your fonts. Send a file that already knows exactly how everything should look.

There are two main ways to do that:

1. Embed the fonts in the PDF

2. Outline the fonts (turn text into shapes)

Option 1: Embed Your Fonts in a Print-Ready PDF

Think of embedding as packing your fonts inside the PDF before it leaves your computer.

When fonts are embedded:

• The PDF carries the font information with it

• The printer can output your type exactly as you designed it

• Text is still “real” text:

  • You can search it

  • You can copy/paste it

  • Screen readers and accessibility tools can use it

In most modern workflows, a good PDF with embedded fonts is all you need.

Typical process in design software:

• Export as a print PDF (not “smallest file size” or “for web”)

• Make sure “embed fonts” (or “subset fonts”) is turned on in the export settings

• If you use Acrobat, you can check under Properties → Fonts to confirm they’re embedded

Good use cases for embedded fonts:

• Brochures and flyers

• Reports and manuals

• Booklets and multi-page documents

• Anything people might search, archive, or reuse later

For many clients, simply exporting a properly embedded print PDF resolves most font issues.

Option 2: Outline Your Fonts Before Sending to Print

Outlining is different.

When you outline fonts, you convert the text into vector shapes. Your design software no longer sees letters – it just sees paths and fills.

That means:

• You no longer need the original font file to output the job

• There is zero chance of font substitution

• What you see is truly what you get

The downside:

• You can’t edit the text as text anymore

• Spellcheck won’t work on outlined text

• You can’t search or copy it as words

Because of that, outlining should be a final step, not something you do at the beginning of a project.

Where outlining makes sense:

• Logos and wordmarks

• Headlines and display type that absolutely must not change

• When you have to send your working file to someone who doesn’t have your fonts, and you don’t want to package or share font files

Best Practice: One Editable File, One Print File

The cleanest, least painful workflow looks like this:

1. Editable “master” file

   • All text is live

   • This is the file you use for every edit and update

   • You never outline fonts here

2. Print version

   • Make a copy of your master

   • In this copy, optionally outline logos and key headings

   • Export your final print PDF from this version

Example naming:

• CETTEC_Brochure_8.5x11_MASTER.indd – fully editable

• CETTEC_Brochure_8.5x11_PRINT_2026-01.indd – print version (with outlined display type, if needed)

• CETTEC_Brochure_8.5x11_PRINT_2026-01.pdf – actual print-ready PDF

This way:

• You always have something you can easily edit

• You also have a “frozen” version that behaves nicely on press

So, should you embed or outline?

You don’t have to pick one forever. Use both, on purpose.

Default: embed fonts

Do this for most projects:

• Export a print PDF with fonts embedded

• Send that PDF to your printer

• Keep all your text live in your master file

This covers almost everything:

• Brochures

• Flyers

• Reports

• Booklets

• General marketing pieces

Add outlining where it helps

Outline selectively when:

• You’re dealing with logos and key headings that must not move

• You’re sharing working files and don’t want to send font files

• You’ve had font substitution issues in the past

A common approach:

• Keep body text live and embedded

• Outline logos and main headings in the print version

• Export a PDF that mixes outlined artwork and embedded text

That gives you stability where you need it, and flexibility where you want it.

Font Checklist Before You Send Files to Your Printer

Before you send a job to print, ask yourself:

1. Am I using the latest approved version of the artwork?

2. Did I export a print PDF, not just save the working file?

3. Are fonts embedded in that PDF?

4. If I outlined anything:

   • Did I do it in a copy rather than in my master file?

   • Do my logos and headings still look sharp and clean?

5. If I’m also sending working files:

   • Did I either package the fonts or outline the type we agreed on?

If you can tick those boxes, you’re miles ahead of most files that land at a print shop.

How CETTEC Printing Helps Prevent Font Issues

We see font problems in incoming files all the time. The good news: they’re usually very easy to catch and fix before anything goes on press.

When clients ask us to review artwork, we:

• Check for missing or substituted fonts

• Confirm fonts are embedded properly in PDFs

• Flag layouts where outlining key type would be safer

• Help set up a simple “master vs print” structure for future jobs

If you’re not sure whether your fonts are safe, send us your PDF and tell us how you built it. We’ll have a look, point out any risks, and help you set up a font workflow that just works—so you can stop worrying about surprises between your screen and the press.

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This post is part of our ongoing Friday Print Tips for Designers series, turning real-world print problems into simple, practical fixes.