Saving an embedded font from a PDF in PDF by Zaweba

Fonts are part of what makes a PDF look the same everywhere. When a document is made, the fonts it uses are usually embedded inside it, often just the letters the document needs. Every so often you want to know exactly which font a piece of text uses, or to get hold of it. The Text panel in PDF by Zaweba has Save font file for that.

What it does

Select some text while editing, and the Text panel's Save font file saves the font program embedded for that text. Depending on the font, it is saved as a .ttf, .otf, .cff or .pfb file. Those are the common kinds of font file, so the result opens in the same programs any font would.

Along with saving, it tells you two useful things. It says whether the font is embedded at all; some PDFs refer to a font by name without including it. And it says roughly how many letters a subset holds.

Subsets explained

A subset is a cut down copy of a font with only the letters the document actually uses. If a one-page letter uses forty different characters, the PDF may carry just those forty rather than the hundreds a full font contains. It keeps files small, and it is very common.

Knowing the size of the subset tells you how useful the saved file will be. A subset with only a few dozen letters can't type a full sentence of new text. It may lack capitals, numbers or punctuation the original document didn't need.

This links to how PDF by Zaweba edits text. When you change words, it writes them in the PDF's own font wherever it can. Only letters the embedded subset lacks use a stand-in, and the status bar names those letters. Save font file shows you the same subset from the other side.

Licences matter

Fonts are software, and most come with a licence that says what you may do with them. Installing a subset on your computer is only allowed if its licence says so. Being able to save the file doesn't give you the right to install it or use it elsewhere.

In practice, the safest use of a saved font is to identify it. The file tells you the font's name, and from there you can find out where to get the full font properly, whether that means buying a licence or downloading a free font from its makers. For your own documents, where you already own the fonts, saving them back out of a PDF can help when the original files have been lost.

When saving a font helps

Matching a style is a common one. A client sends a PDF and wants new material to match. Saving the font file tells you exactly what was used, so you can get the same font rather than guessing from the look.

Checking before printing is another. Printers care whether fonts are embedded, and Save font file confirms whether a particular piece of text has its font included.

Recovering your own work is the third. If you made the document and the font has gone from your PC, the embedded copy can help, licence permitting.

A tool for the occasional question

Save font file sits in the Text panel alongside the controls for font, size, colour and style. It is a specialist tool and most people will use it rarely, but when you need to know what font a PDF is really using, it gives a straight answer, in PDF by Zaweba, offline.