How to embed fonts in a PowerPoint file
How to embed fonts in a PowerPoint file
To embed fonts in a PowerPoint file, go to File, then Options, then Save, and tick the box labelled “Embed fonts in the file”. You can choose to embed all characters (larger file size, safest for editing) or only the characters in use (smaller file size, suitable for files sent as read-only). This setting embeds the font data inside the .pptx file so the presentation displays correctly on any machine, even if the brand font is not locally installed.
Why do fonts matter so much in PowerPoint presentations?
PowerPoint presentations are routinely shared between colleagues, sent to clients, displayed on unfamiliar screens and projected in meeting rooms. Every machine this file touches may or may not have your brand font installed. When a font is not available, PowerPoint substitutes the nearest installed alternative — often Calibri or Arial — and the results are unpredictable. Line breaks change. Titles that fitted comfortably on one line wrap to two. Text that was carefully sized to fit a text box overflows it. The layout that looked perfect in the original breaks visibly in the presentation.
This is one of the most common complaints in enterprise environments where brand fonts are licensed and installed on design team machines but not on all staff machines. The designer sends a perfectly formatted template; the recipient opens it and sees Calibri everywhere.
What is the difference between the two embedding options?
“Embed all characters in the font” embeds the complete font file, which allows anyone opening the presentation to edit text using the correct font even if it is not installed on their machine. This results in a larger file but is the right choice for files that will be edited by others.
“Embed only the characters used in the presentation” embeds a subset of the font containing only the glyphs actually present in the file. This produces a smaller file but means that if someone tries to add new text in that font, the characters they type may not be available. This option is suitable for files distributed as finished, non-editable presentations.
Are there fonts that cannot be embedded?
Yes. Font licensing determines whether a font can be embedded. Fonts with an “no embedding” licence restriction cannot be embedded in Office files, even if the option is ticked. Some fonts allow “print and preview” embedding only, which means the embedded font can be displayed but not used for new text. Before specifying a brand font for a corporate template, it is worth confirming the font’s embedding permissions with the font vendor or your legal team.
Many organisations use commercially licensed fonts that do permit embedding. Common examples include fonts purchased from Adobe Fonts, Fontsmith, Monotype or similar foundries. Google Fonts are generally licensed under the Open Font Licence, which permits embedding freely.
Does embedding fonts increase file size significantly?
It depends on the font. A single font family with four weights — regular, italic, bold and bold italic — might add 500KB to 2MB to the file size. For most corporate presentations, this is a negligible increase relative to the file size impact of high-resolution images. If file size is a concern, the more productive focus is usually on compressing images rather than avoiding font embedding.
Is there a better long-term solution than embedding fonts?
Yes — ensuring that brand fonts are installed on every machine in the organisation as part of standard IT provisioning. Font embedding is a workaround for the problem of inconsistent font installation; the proper solution is universal installation. For Microsoft 365 environments, custom fonts can be deployed via Microsoft Intune or similar management tools, making them available to all users automatically.
At Ideaseed, we include font deployment advice as a standard part of every template project, because a template that relies on embedded fonts alone is more fragile than one where the fonts are universally installed. Both approaches work, but universal installation is the more robust long-term solution.
If your team is experiencing font substitution problems in presentations, the first step is to embed the fonts in the current template file while the longer-term installation solution is put in place.
Talk to Ideaseed about font strategy as part of your PowerPoint template project
RAVE REVIEWS
who we work with
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)
