TypeTalk: Identify Fonts in PDFs

Ilene Strizver

Q. Is there a way to tell which fonts are used in a PDF file?

A.Yes, in most cases there is, and it can be a real time-saver. However, there are a few caveats.
To view the fonts used in the original document, choose File > Document Properties (Command/Ctrl + D) or click on the arrow on the upper right of the PDF document, then select the Fonts pane in the Document Properties dialog (Figure 1). This pane also tells you the font type and the encoding used in the original document. Note that the font type is not the same as font format, so you’ll see Postscript and TrueType fonts, but not OpenType fonts (which come in both Postscript and TrueType versions).

Figure 1. The Document Properties dialog.

If someone converted the fonts in the original document to outline, or if the PDF was made from a .jpg or other file format in which the fonts were converted to images, the font names won’t appear in this list. Also be aware that the fonts indicated in the PDF are the ones listed in the original document, not necessarily used. For example, there may be a space character that the designer originally set as Myriad Pro that remains as such even after the rest of the document is set in Minion Pro. Myriad Pro will show up in the PDF list of fonts, even though no characters use it.

There’s a lot of other handy information in the Document Properties dialog box, so you might want to do some poking around after you’ve answered your font question.