Re: embedding of fonts * To: PDFTEX@TUG.CS.UMB.EDU * Subject: Re: embedding of fonts * From: "Nelson H. F. Beebe" * Date: Wed, 3 Dec 1997 15:09:31 -0700 (MST) * Cc: beebe@math.utah.edu * Sender: owner-pdftex@tug.org On the subject of embedding of fonts in PDF files created by pdftex, I felt it would be useful to report what Adobe does in this area. Here is what my manual pages for Adobe Acrobat Distiller have to say: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ... Font Embedding Parameters All PDF viewers support a standard set of fonts, called the ``Base 13 fonts'': Courier Courier Bold Courier Italic Courier Bold Italic Helvetica Helvetica Bold Helvetica Oblique Helvetica Bold Oblique Times Times Bold Times Italic Times Bold Italic Symbol They are never included in PDF files, and they are always expected to be available to printers and previewers. In addition, Adobe Acrobat products support one additional font, the Zapf Dingbats font. -alwaysembed ... Always embed the fonts in the list. By default, only fonts which have non- standard encodings are embedded. -embedallfonts on, off Embed fonts used in the document unless specifically mentioned in the never embed list. -maxsubsetpct Set the default percentage for subset- ting characters in a font. If the percentage of characters used exceeds the character threshold set- ting in a document, then the entire font will be embedded in the file, rather than a subset of it. The default is 35%. When you combine PDF files with the same font subset, the subsets are not combined. As a result, combining files with subsetted fonts may result in a large file. -neverembed ... Always embed the fonts in the list. By default, only fonts which have standard encodings are not embedded (including the Base 13). -subsetfonts on, off Subset embedded fonts to include only characters used in the document. If a ``significant'' number (default: 35%) of the characters are used, then the entire font is embedded. Font subsetting provides a way to com- ply with copyright requirements on fonts: a subsetted font is not use- fully extractable, whereas a complete embedded font can be, thereby violat- ing copyrights. ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Following excellent advice from Berthold Horn on the tex-fonts list, I have set system-wide defaults for distiller on my system in /usr/local/share/adobe/Acrobat3/Distillr/Startup/Example.ps like this: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ %%% FONT EMBEDDING %%% Specify that all fonts (other than those in the /NeverEmbed list) are to be embedded. %%% as subsets. This is the recommended setting for Acrobat Distiller 2.0. %%% Note that the core 14 fonts (Times, Helvetica, and Courier families, Symbol, and %%% ITC Zapf Dingbats) are never embedded. % << /EmbedAllFonts true /SubsetFonts true >> setdistillerparams % NHFB: Change to suggested setting in mail from tech-help@YandY.com, % dated Fri, 8 Sep 1995 21:13:49 -0400, available in % ftp://ftp.math.utah.edu/pub/tex/mail/tex-fonts_19951231.txt << /EmbedAllFonts true /SubsetFonts true /MaxSubsetPct 99 >> setdistillerparams % List specific fonts to always be embedded % << /AlwaysEmbed [/Carta] >> setdistillerparams % List specific fonts to never be embedded % << /NeverEmbed [/Carta] >> setdistillerparams ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I cite this practice of Adobe Acrobat Distiller to support the notion that pdftex should also allow font subsetting and embedding to be under user control. [Regrettably, Adobe does not distribute manual pages for UNIX versions of Reader, Exchange, Distiller, and Distiller Daemon, so I wrote extensive versions of my own, based on their documentation, and have since made them available to Adobe for unrestricted use. I'm still waiting to hear back from them whether they accept my offer, and will permit me to redistribute them to the world via the Internet. For now, I've had to restrict their distribution to holders of valid licenses on this campus. If you are interested in copies, let me know privately, and I'll add you to an announcement list when I finally get a response from Adobe.] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - Nelson H. F. Beebe Tel: +1 801 581 5254 - - Center for Scientific Computing FAX: +1 801 581 4148 - - University of Utah Internet e-mail: beebe@math.utah.edu - - Department of Mathematics, 105 JWB beebe@acm.org - - 155 S 1400 E RM 233 beebe@ieee.org - - Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0090, USA URL: http://www.math.utah.edu/~beebe - ----------------------------------------------------------------------------