PDF Fonts to Outlines

Your printer asked for fonts converted to outlines, and you only have the PDF. Open it here and every character is replaced by its own shape, drawn in exactly the same place, so the page looks identical but no longer needs a single font. It works even when a font was never embedded in the file: a similar font stands in, as it would on any machine without that font, and its letters are fitted to the space the page gives them. Nothing else is touched: pictures, colours, layers and the order things are drawn in stay as they were, and letter spacing, stretched, rotated and outlined lettering are carried over. When it finishes it draws the first page both ways, compares them, and shows you the two side by side, along with every font it converted. Everything happens on your device, so the file is never uploaded.

How it works

PDF Fonts to Outlines is a web page that does its work on your own device. The file you choose is opened by your browser, changed there and saved from there; it is never sent to a server, so there is no copy of it anywhere to delete, no queue and no waiting for an upload. Most online tools of this kind send your file to their servers and work on it there, and many keep it for a while. This one does not. There is no account, no watermark and no limit on how often you use it, and the result downloads the moment it is ready.

What converting fonts to outlines means

Text in a PDF is normally stored as characters plus a font, and the font supplies the shape of every letter when the page is drawn. Converting to outlines, which some programs call converting to curves or creating outlines, replaces every character with its shape drawn directly on the page. The words look exactly the same, but they are no longer text and no longer need a font.

Printers ask for it because it removes a whole class of failure. If a font is missing, damaged, licensed against embedding or handled differently by their software, a letter can change shape, a line can reflow or a character can vanish, and nobody notices until the job is printed. Shapes cannot go wrong that way. Sign and banner printers, engravers and cutting machines often insist on outlined files for the same reason.

How this tool does it

It reads each page's drawing instructions and leaves every one of them exactly as it was, except the text. Each piece of text is put back as letter shapes in the same place in the page's instructions, so a word that sat under a picture still sits under it, and colours, spacing, stretching, rotation and outlined lettering are carried over. Each letter shape is stored once and placed many times, which keeps the file small. Fonts that nothing uses any more are then removed from the file.

It does not guess. The page is read twice, in two different ways, and the two readings have to agree on every font and every piece of text. If they ever disagree, that page is left exactly as it was and the report says so. When it finishes, the first page is drawn from the original and from the result and the two pictures are compared, and both are shown side by side.

Fonts that were never embedded

Some PDFs name a font without carrying it. The file says "set this in Arial" and trusts that whoever opens it has Arial. When such a file is opened on a machine without the font, the program quietly shows a similar one instead, and that is how surprises happen at the printer. It is also why such a file most needs outlining.

The shapes of a font that is not in the file cannot be read from it, so this tool does what every PDF program does to show the page, and then makes it permanent: a similar font stands in. Arial, Helvetica and other sans-serif fonts get a sans-serif of the same widths; Times and other serif fonts a matching serif; Courier and other fixed-width fonts a fixed-width design, each in the right weight and slant. Symbol and Zapf Dingbats have stand-ins of their own. For a font the stand-in was not cut to match, each letter is fitted to the space the page gives it, so lines keep their length and letters do not collide.

The words will be in a slightly different typeface from the one your designer chose, exactly as they would be on any machine that lacks the font, but from then on they are shapes and cannot change again. The report lists every font this was done for. If the exact typeface matters, export the PDF again from the program that made it with fonts embedded, and convert that instead.

What is left as text

• Symbol and non-Latin fonts that are not embedded, other than Symbol and Zapf Dingbats. Nothing similar can stand in for a font of pictograms, or for Chinese, Japanese or Korean text, so that text is left as it is and named in the report.
• Type 3 fonts. These already carry their letters as little drawings inside the file, so there is no font to go missing and nothing to gain.
• Vertical text, as used in some East Asian typesetting, is left as text for now.
• Text typed into form fields and comments. Flatten the form first if that text must print.

What you give up

Outlined text is a picture of words. It cannot be selected, copied, searched or edited, and a screen reader cannot read it aloud, so an outlined PDF is the wrong thing to publish on a website or send to a customer. Very small text can also look a touch heavier on screen, because programs sharpen real text in ways they do not sharpen shapes; in print there is no difference. Keep your original, and send the outlined copy only to the printer.

Look through every page of the result before you send it, and ask for a proof on a large or costly job.

What it does

• Replaces every character with its shape, in the same place and the same order on the page
• Converts fonts that were never embedded too, using a similar font fitted to the same spacing
• Leaves pictures, colours, vector artwork and drawing order exactly as they were
• Keeps letter spacing, word spacing, stretching, raised text, rotation and outlined lettering
• Works on TrueType, OpenType and Type 1 fonts, including text inside placed artwork
• Removes the fonts from the file afterwards, and stores each letter shape only once
• Checks itself: reads each page two ways and leaves it untouched if they disagree
• Draws page one before and after, compares the two, and shows them side by side
• Names every font it converted, and says where a similar font had to stand in

Questions

How do I convert fonts to outlines in a PDF?

Open the PDF here. Every character is replaced by its shape, in the same place, and the fonts are removed from the file. You get a report of what was converted and a before and after view of the first page, then download the outlined copy. It takes a few seconds and nothing is uploaded.

Why do printers ask for fonts converted to outlines?

Because a font is the one part of a file that can behave differently on someone else's machine. If it is missing, damaged or handled differently, letters change shape, lines reflow or characters vanish, and the mistake is only seen after printing. Shapes carry no such risk. Sign makers, engravers and cutting machines often require outlines for the same reason.

Is converting to outlines the same as converting to curves?

Yes. Create outlines, convert to curves and convert text to paths are different programs' names for the same thing: replacing live text with the shapes of its letters.

Will my PDF look different afterwards?

In print, no. Each character is drawn with the very shape its font would have drawn, at the same size and in the same place, and the tool compares the first page before and after to confirm it. On screen, very small text can look slightly heavier, because programs sharpen real text in ways they do not sharpen shapes.

What happens to fonts that are not embedded?

They are converted too. A font that was never embedded has no letter shapes in the file, so a similar font stands in: a sans-serif for Arial or Helvetica, a serif for Times, a fixed-width design for Courier, in the right weight and slant, with each letter fitted to the space the page gives it. This is what any PDF program does to show such a file; the difference is that afterwards the words are shapes and cannot change again. The report lists every font this was done for.

Will a stand-in font look the same as my original font?

Close, not identical. Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman and Courier have stand-ins cut to exactly the same widths, so the difference is hard to see. For other fonts the letters are a similar style rather than the same design. If the exact typeface matters, export the PDF again from the program that made it with fonts embedded, then convert that file.

Is any text left unconverted?

Rarely. Text is left as it is when it uses a symbol or non-Latin font that is not embedded, because nothing similar can stand in for it, when it uses a Type 3 font, which already carries its letters as drawings, or when it is set vertically. The report names any such font and says why.

Can I still edit or search the text?

No. Outlined text is shapes, so it cannot be selected, copied, searched or edited, and a screen reader cannot read it. That is why you should keep your original and send the outlined copy only to the printer.

Does the file get bigger?

A little, usually. The fonts are removed, which saves space, and the letter shapes are added. Each shape is stored once and reused wherever that letter appears, so a long document grows far less than it would if every letter were drawn separately.

Does it change my pictures, colours or layout?

No. Only the text is rewritten. Every other drawing instruction on the page is copied across exactly as it was, in the same order, so pictures, colours, vector artwork and anything layered over or under the text stay as they were.

Is my PDF uploaded?

No. The PDF is opened and rewritten by your browser on your own device. It is never sent to us or to anyone else, and closing the tab clears it.

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