Embedding Fonts Illustrator

Brief Description

Font embedding is a process by which fonts used in the creation of a given document, are incorporated within, and travel with, the document. When a document with an embedded font is viewed, the viewer sees the document exactly as the creator intended the document to be seen. The formatting and stylized design of the document are retained.

What your issue is

How to outline a font?

How to fix this issue

You can use the following procedure to convert a font into outlines using Adobe Illustrator:

To convert this text to outlines, simply pull down the contextual menu (right mouse click on the PC or control click on the Mac), and select "Create Outlines" (The option is called "Convert to Outlines" in older versions of Adobe Illustrator).

The text has now been converted to a series of outlines and fills. The reference to the font Helvetica Neue is no longer present, and it is unnecessary for anyone to have access to the original font. However: it's not possible to edit the text anymore so be sure to keep a backup copy of the section of typography you are converting in either another document or outside the canvas.

Use this technique with care though as you won't be able to edit the text after you convert it to outlines.

More Details

Illustrator allows you to include the fonts used when saving files in the Illustrator format. Embedding fonts ensures that they will be available when the image is opened on different machines or in different programs. When a font is not embedded and it is not installed on the computer opening the file, another font is substituted. However, that font may not have the same spacing, appearance, or size as the font originally used and, therefore, the appearance of your image can be altered, sometimes drastically.

You also have the option to subset a font, which results in only the characters used being embedded in the file. Subsetting helps keep file size small but restricts editing possibilities since not all characters will be available. In addition, font embedding is available only when the file is saved as an Illustrator 9 document. Saving a file to be compatible with an earlier version of the program eliminates the option.

One other aspect of font embedding deserves attention. Fonts are copyrighted. You may or may not have acquired the right to embed the font when you acquired the font itself. If you are sending a project to a print shop or service bureau, and it does not own copies of the fonts, you must have permission from the fonts' creators to embed them. Adobe allows embedding of all its fonts (as long as you have acquired the fonts properly). Other foundries may not.

References:

Font embedding and substitution

How to embed fonts

Embedding Fonts

How to outline a font