Font Issues

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Every computer has a UNIQUE set of fonts.

The Problem

Every time you go to a web site, install a game or software, or make any change to your computer system, you can add fonts to your computer. This means that almost every machine will have a font set that is almost unique. Even computers in mass computer labs can have fonts installed temporarily.

If you are going to do all your work on a single computer, you probably will not have any font problems.

However, if you are going to take your file to a different computer for any phase (in particular, printing) you may have font problems.

The Symptoms

Imagine: you create a PowerPoint presentation on your home computer using your favorite font, "Old Dreadful #7." Next, you take your presentation to work to show your boss.

However, your work computer doesn't have Old Dreadful #7.

What happens? Your computer picks a font (almost randomly) to replace it.

Notice the next two lines of text. The top is Arial, the bottom Times New Roman. If Arial is substituted for Times New Roman, the lines of text will take up more space on the page; destroying the formatting.

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

The Solution

The best design practice is to keep a copy of all fonts used in a presentation. Make a folder for the presentation with a subfolder for all the fonts used. You can then move all the fonts with the presentation by just moving the main folder.

However, once you do have a font substitution, you generally have three choices to fix the problem.

Bring a copy of all fonts for temporary installation. (Most copyrights permit this, but make sure you do have permission)
Change your presentation fonts to those found on the new machine.
Some programs will allow you to convert your fonts to vector objects. This is called either, "Convert to Paths" or "Create Outlines" or something similar. (Once you do this, you will not be able to edit the text. So, make sure you save a copy of your file BEFORE you convert.)