Embedding fonts

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Before we start, let me wave you Mac folks off before getting your hopes up. Mac versions of PowerPoint can't embed fonts, and they can't use fonts that have been embedded. That's a real pity and a real impediment to cross-platform compatibility.

[Thanks to Trina Roberts for the most complete treatment of PowerPoint font embedding I've ever seen or wished I'd written. I've tried to keep it updated for later versions of Windows and PowerPoint and font formats - SR. If there are aspersions to be cast, throw 'em my way.]

It is possible to embed fonts in your PowerPoint presentations.

• PowerPoint 97
• Choose File, Save As
• In the Save As dialog box, check the "Embed TrueType" box under the Save and Cancel buttons
• Click OK and continue saving normally
• PowerPoint 2000
• Choose File, Save As
• In the Save As dialog box, click Tools then click Embed TrueType Fonts
• Click OK and continue saving normally
• PowerPoint 2002, 2003
• Choose File, Save As
• In the Save As dialog box, click Tools then Save Options
• In the Save Options dialog box, put a checkmark next to "Embed TrueType fonts"
• Click "Embed characters in use only" if you want smaller PPT files but don't need to let others edit the files if they don't have the embedded fonts or ...
• Click "Embed all characters" if others will need to edit the presentation using the embedded fonts. This will produce larger PPT files; if you embed unicode or doublebyte fonts, the files will be MUCH larger.
• Click OK and continue saving normally
• PowerPoint 2007
• In the Save As dialog box, click the "Tools" button in the lower left corner, then click "Save Options" on the drop-down menu that appears.
• Under "Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation" put a check next to "Embed fonts in the file" then choose to embed only the needed characters or all characters.
• Click OK and continue saving normally.

But there are GOTCHAS

No font embedding for Macs

Mac versions of PowerPoint can't embed fonts or use fonts that have been embedded in a PC-made PowerPoint file.

Only TrueType fonts need apply

• Only TrueType fonts can be embedded. TrueType fonts will show up in your Windows Fonts folder with a little blue "TT" icon and there's a TT icon next to them in PowerPoint's font menus.
• PostScript/Type1 fonts usually appear with a printer icon in PowerPoint; they can't be embedded.
• You'll often see an "OT" (for OpenType) icon. OpenType fonts can contain either TrueType or PostScript/Type1 font data. Only the TrueType ones can be embedded.

And not ALL TrueType fonts will work

And not all TrueType fonts can be embedded. There are four "levels" of embedding assigned by its maker. If you attempt to embed one of these fonts, PowerPoint gives you an error message saying that the font could not be saved with your presentation because of a license restriction. There are three levels that allow embedding:

• Preview/Print
• Editable
• Installable

Editable and Installable are the truly embeddable fonts (I'll address P/P shortly). PowerPoint 97 treats them identically, but there can be differences in later versions of PowerPoint.

Embedding one of these fonts saves the font with the presentation. When you open the presentation on a computer that doesn't have the font, the text displays correctly. You can edit the text, add more text in the same font, and save the changes with the font still embedded. However, if the font was embedded using a more recent version of PowerPoint, the user may have chosen the option to embed only the characters used. This embeds only a partial font, one that includes only some characters; you probably won't be able to edit the text satisfactorily using this font.

Embedding will not install the font on the computer, so you will not be able to use that font in any other presentation.

WARNING: If an embedded font isn't editable/installable and you open the presentation in PowerPoint 2003 on a computer where the font isn't installed, the presentation will open as read-only. You won't be able to edit it. You won't be able to save it, even to a new name. If you run into this situation, here are some workarounds/fixes:

• Update your copy of PowerPoint 2003 to SP2 or later. You'll then be able to choose replacements for the embedded problem TT fonts. Once you do that, you can edit and save your presentation.
• If the needed font is available, install it on the computer where you need to edit the file in PowerPoint 2003
• Have the originator of the file save it again without fonts embedded and send it to you again
• If you have an earlier version of PowerPoint available, open the file there, use Format, Replace Fonts to substitute a different font for the embedded ones and resave the presentation

There's a bit more info here: PowerPoint opens presentations as Read Only, won't allow editing when fonts embedded

Preview/Print embedding is a little bit touchy. It basically allows what the name implies--you can preview or print a presentation with the font embedded, but you cannot make any changes to the presentation. This doesn't just apply to the text using the embedded font; you can't make any changes to anything in the presentation. Actually, that's not quite accurate; you can make all the changes you want, but you cannot save them. If you try to save the presentation after making changes, you will not be allowed to re-embed the font. In other words, P/P fonts can only be embedded once in a given presentation: once you open the presentation on a machine that doesn't have the font installed, you can't save any changes without losing the embedded font.

How do I know what's embeddable and what's not?
You may be wondering how you're supposed to know what embedding "level" a font has. If you bought the TrueType font, your original license may tell you. I've found it easiest to use Microsoft's TrueType font properties extension.. With that installed, you can right-click on a font, choose Properties, and see lots of useful information about your font, including embedding level.

Watch out for file size

If you embed a font, you're adding font information to your presentation file, so the file will get bigger. If you embed lots of fonts in a presentation, you will start to notice that your file is large. Unicode fonts and East Asian fonts can be HUGE.

Miscellaneous gotchas

• Many fonts, especially those that have been converted from some other format like Type1, are tagged "No Embedding Allowed."
• PowerPoint 2002 and 2003 don't "see" fonts that you've selected as part of a "Change Font" emphasis animation effect. If you need to embed these fonts, add a text box in the same font on at least one slide. It can be hidden behind some other shape or even dragged just off the slide. That's enough to make PPT "see" the font and embed it.
• Your computer may be set not to embed some typefaces at all, at least in older versions of Office/Windows. Look for a file called ttembed.ini. Fonts listed therein and set to 0 will not be embedded even if you check Embed TrueType Fonts in PowerPoint--to keep file size down, it assumes you don't want to embed the things that the recipient almost certainly has anyway. Delete 'em from the list, and they'll embed again.
• PowerPoint doesn't "see" fonts that are part of embedded objects, imported graphics, WordArt and similar "external" graphics. If you know you're using a font in one of these but not in the presentation itself, you can either ungroup the object before saving the presentation and embedding fonts or you can add a text box (hidden behind something else or off the slide if you like) and format it using the same font as your "problem" graphic. This way PPT will see and embed the font if possible.

Why bother with embedding at all if it's this difficult?

You may also be wondering why you should bother with embedding at all--why not just send the font file along with the presentation and have the person install it? The main reason is licensing.

Fonts are software. To the maker of the font, sending the file along with your PowerPoint presentation is like sending your client (or whomever) the PowerPoint CD so they can install the application. In short, it's illegal.

You've bought the font, and that gives you the right to use it, but the client hasn't. It's illegal for them to install the font on their computers.

Solutions to the whole mess? Learn how embedding works and use it. It's simple to use, most of the time it works and when it won't, PowerPoint will usually warn you.

Or, stick to "basic" typefaces--Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Symbol. Boring, but reliable.

To learn more about fonts

• FontEmbedding.com
• The Microsoft Typography site
• You can find out everything there is to know about your fonts with the free Microsoft Font Properties Extension tool
• Adobe's Typeface Licensing FAQ
• Before copying or sharing fonts with others, see Information about type as intellectual property
• Bitstream is a major font vendor
• From Design Science, Inc., the people who brought you Equation Editor and its more capable big brother, MathType, Sharing Documents Containing MathType Equations

Contents © 1995-2008 Stephen Rindsberg, Rindsberg Photography, Inc. and members of the MS PowerPoint MVP team. You may link to this page but any form of unauthorized reproduction of this page's contents is expressly forbidden.

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