Why does my PDF say fonts are not embedded, and how do I fix it?

A font that is not embedded is only named in the PDF, not included in it. Anyone without that font sees a substitute, which can change letter shapes, line breaks and page count. Export the PDF again with fonts embedded. Amazon KDP asks for all interior and cover fonts to be embedded.

The four results you will see

A font report puts every font in one of four states.

A fifth kind is worth knowing about. A Type 3 font draws its letters from instructions stored inside the PDF, so it is self-contained and counts as embedded, but it often comes from older software that stores letters as bitmaps. A good report flags it for a second look rather than passing it silently.

Why fonts end up not embedded

• The export was set up for screen use. Many programs offer a small-file option and a print option. The small-file option may leave fonts out.
• The font is one of the standard 14. PDF viewers have traditionally carried replacements for Times, Helvetica and Courier (each in four styles) plus Symbol and ZapfDingbats, so software sometimes leaves them out. This is why a font such as Helvetica can show up as not embedded in a PDF that otherwise looks fine. A PDF is allowed to do this, but some print services still ask for every font to be embedded, as KDP does.
• The font's licence does not allow embedding. Some fonts carry a setting that stops software from embedding them. The export may then warn you or leave the font out. If you see that warning, check the font's licence or choose a different font.
• One page came from somewhere else. A PDF assembled from several sources can be fine on every page except the one that was placed from another file. That is why a good report says on which pages each font is used.

How to fix it

1. Find the font and the pages. The report lists each font, how it is embedded and the pages that use it. If only one page is affected, the cause is usually that page's source.
2. Re-export from the original file, not from the PDF. Choose a print or press quality PDF setting and make sure fonts are embedded. In Microsoft Word the path is File > Save As > More Options > Options. Microsoft describes the choice between Standard (publishing online and printing) and Minimum size (publishing online); for a print file choose Standard.
3. Be careful with the bitmap option in Word. Word's PDF options include Bitmap text when fonts may not be embedded. Microsoft explains that if a font cannot be embedded, the PDF then uses bitmap images of the text so that it looks the same, and that without the option a PDF reader might substitute another font. It keeps the look, but text stored as pictures is only as sharp as the resolution it was rendered at and can no longer be selected as text. Prefer a font that can be embedded.
4. Last resort: outlines. In design software you can convert text to outlines, which turns the letters into shapes so no font is needed. Keep an editable copy, because outlined text can no longer be edited as text.
5. Check the new file. Open the exported PDF and run the font check again. Do not assume the export did what you intended.

A worked example

We generated a two-page test PDF. Page 1 uses a font embedded as a subset, named ABCDEF+TestSans (a synthetic name for the test). Page 2 uses Helvetica without embedding it. We ran it through the Font Embedding Checker with the General print profile.

The report gives one finding, marked Fix: Font not embedded: Helvetica, used on page 2. It explains that Helvetica is one of the 14 standard PDF fonts, which viewers substitute, that printers may still require it embedded, and that the printer will substitute its own font, which can change spacing or characters. The suggested remedy is to re-export with embed all fonts.

After the fix, a file whose only font is embedded as a subset reports Passed: All 1 font(s) embedded, 1 as subsets and 0 in full.

What a font check does not cover

It tells you whether each font travels inside the file. It does not check whether an embedded font contains every character you typed, how small your text is, or whether you hold a licence for the font. A clean font result does not mean the file is ready to print. Page size, bleed and image resolution matter as well.

What to do next

Re-export with fonts embedded and check the result. If the PDF is going to a printer, also look at the page size and trimming, covered in How much bleed do you need for printing?, and at image sizes, covered in What DPI do you need for printing?. For how these checks work and what they leave out, see how Check Before Submit works.