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Avoiding
Font Substitution - Printing TrueType Fonts in
Windows®
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PostScript® Printer Font Substitution
Anyone who does desktop publishing knows how critical
it is to avoid font substitution in their page layouts.
It is not a very well known fact that Windows PostScript
printers will substitute certain TrueType® fonts
by default. I ran into this one day while printing
font specimen sheets of some of my Windows TrueType
font collections. In some of the printouts I noticed
that certain fonts were completely wrong. I tried sending
the same printouts to Acrobat Distiller to be made
into PDFs, but I got the same result! After digging
into the settings of the printer drivers I noticed
that all my PostScript printers were, indeed, setup
to substitute certain trueType fonts.
Device Fonts
Nearly every modern PostScript printer comes with
35 Type 1 (PostScript) fonts permanently installed
in the printer. More here on Type
1 fonts. These pre-installed fonts are called "device
fonts". Following is a list of these 35 device
fonts:
- AvantGarde-Book
- AvantGarde-BookOblique
- AvantGarde-Demi
- AvantGarde-DemiOblique
- Bookman-Demi
- Bookman-DemiItalic
- Bookman-Light
- Bookman-LightItalic
- Courier
- Courier-Bold
- Courier-BoldOblique
- Courier-Oblique
- Helvetica
- Helvetica-Bold
- Helvetica-BoldOblique
- Helvetica-Narrow
- Helvetica-Narrow-Bold
- Helvetica-Narrow-BoldOblique
- Helvetica-Narrow-Oblique
- Helvetica-Oblique
- NewCenturySchlbk-Bold
- NewCenturySchlbk-BoldItalic
- NewCenturySchlbk-Italic
- NewCenturySchlbk-Roman
- Palatino-Bold
- Palatino-BoldItalic
- Palatino-Italic
- Palatino-Roman
- Symbol
- Times-Bold
- Times-BoldItalic
- Times-Italic
- Times-Roman
- ZapfChancery-MediumItalic
- ZapfDingats
Font Substitution Table
The Windows PostScript printer will try to substitute
certain TrueType fonts in your document in favor of
one of its built in Type 1 device fonts. The printer
uses a "font substitution table" to determine
which fonts to substitute. Depending on how your system
is configured, the printer's font substitution table
will contain some or all of the following fonts:
| TrueType Font |
Substitute Font |
| Arial |
Helvetica |
| Arial Narrow |
Helvetica-Narrow |
| Book Antiqua |
Palatino |
| Bookman Old Style |
Bookman |
| Century Gothic |
AvantGarde |
| Century Schoolbook |
NewCenturySchlbk |
| Courier New |
Courier |
| Monotype Corsiva |
ZapfChancery |
| Monotype Sorts |
ZapfDingbats |
| Symbol |
Symbol |
Times New Roman
|
Times |
The above table lists all the fonts by family - which includes the 35 device
fonts. Below is a breakout of the font substitution table showing all the 35
individual fonts.
| TrueType Font |
Substitute Font |
| Arial |
Helvetica |
| Arial Bold |
Helvetica-Bold |
| Arial Italic |
Helvetica-Oblique |
| Arial Bold Italic |
Helvetica-BoldOblique |
| Arial Narrow |
Helvetica-Narrow |
| Arial Narrow Bold |
Helvetica-Narrow-Bold |
| Arial Narrow Italic |
Helvetica-Narrow-Oblique |
| Arial Narrow Bold Italic |
Helvetica-Narrow-BoldOblique |
| Book Antiqua |
Palatino-Roman |
| Book Antiqua Bold |
Palatino-Bold |
| Book Antiqua Italic |
Palatino-Italic |
| Book Antiqua Bold Italic |
Palatino-BoldItalic |
| Bookman Old Style |
Bookman-Light |
| Bookman Old Style Bold |
Bookman-Demi |
| Bookman Old Style Italic |
Bookman-LightItalic |
| Bookman Old Style Bold Italic |
Bookman-DemiItalic |
| Century Gothic |
AvantGarde-Book |
| Century Gothic Bold |
AvantGarde-Demi |
| Century Gothic Italic |
AvantGarde-BookOblique |
| Century Gothic Bold Italic |
AvantGarde-DemiOblique |
| Century Schoolbook |
NewCenturySchlbk-Roman |
| Century Schoolbook Bold |
NewCenturySchlbk-Bold |
| Century Schoolbook Italic |
NewCenturySchlbk-Italic |
| Century Schoolbook Bold Italic |
NewCenturySchlbk-BoldItalic |
| Courier New |
Courier |
| Courier New Bold |
Courier-Bold |
| Courier New Italic |
Courier-Oblique |
| Courier New Bold Italic |
Courier-BoldOblique |
| Monotype Corsiva |
ZapfChancery-MediumItalic |
| Monotype Sorts |
ZapfDingats |
| Symbol |
Symbol |
| Times New Roman |
Times-Roman |
| Times New Roman Bold |
Times-Bold |
| Times New Roman Italic |
Times-Italic |
| Times New Roman Bold Italic |
Times-BoldItalic |
Using Type 1 Fonts to Avoid Font Substitution
Because Type 1 PostScript fonts are the preferred format for page layouts
destined for printers and service bureaus, as a general rule you should
obtain and install the 35 actual Type 1 fonts in your computer and use
them in your layouts instead of their TrueType equivalents. If you prefer
to use the typefaces in the TrueType column above, then obtain and install
Type 1 versions.
Adobe Acrobat has already moved from Helvetica and Times to Arial MT
and Times New Roman PS MT starting with Acrobat version 4. So if you
have Acrobat 4 installed on your computer you can at least start with
Arial MT and Times New Roman PS MT:
| Type 1 Font |
Font Files |
| Arial MT |
_a______.pfb / pfm |
| Arial MT, Bold |
_ab_____.pfb / pfm |
| Arial MT, Italic |
_ai_____.pfb / pfm |
| Arial MT, Bold Italic |
_abi____.pfb / pfm |
| Times New Roman PS MT |
_er_____.pfb / pfm |
| Times New Roman PS MT, Bold |
_eb_____.pfb / pfm |
| Times New Roman PS MT, Italic |
_ei_____.pfb / pfm |
| Times New Roman PS MT, Bold Italic |
_ebi____.pfb / pfm |
You can find these in the C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 4.0\Resource\Font
folder.
Configuring The Printer to Avoid Font Substitution
Circumstances may dictate that you must use TrueType fonts. If the TrueType
font you want to use is in the printer's font substitution table, then
you will have to configure the Windows PostScript printer. You can edit
the printer's font substitution table, but there is a more direct setting
you can make that will bypass the font substitution table altogether.
Configuring a PostScript Printer
to Avoid Font Substitution - Windows XP
Configuring a PostScript Printer
to Avoid Font Substitution - Windows 98 |
