Are standard 14 fonts (Helvetica, Times, Courier, Symbol, ZapfDingbats) flagged as external?

Yes, often — those are typically not embedded because PDF readers are required to provide them. They're lower risk but for true print-ready PDFs all fonts including the standard 14 should be embedded.

Font Embedding Check

List every font referenced in a PDF and report whether it's embedded (subset / full) or external — pre-press check to ensure the press won't fall back to a substitute.

Your files never leave your browser. All processing happens on your device — nothing is uploaded.

1. Upload your file

Drop a PDF file here

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How does the Font Embedding Check work?

Walk a PDF's font resources, identify every Type 0 / Type 1 / TrueType / Type 3 font reference, and check whether each one has an embedded font program (FontDescriptor /FontFile, /FontFile2, or /FontFile3). Reports each font with its name, subtype, and embedding status (FULL / SUBSET / EXTERNAL / UNKNOWN). Use this before sending a PDF to print or to a downstream system that may not have the same fonts installed — external fonts will be substituted and the layout may shift.

🔒 Security & Privacy

All processing happens on your device. Your files never leave your browser, never touch our servers, and are not stored anywhere. Close the tab and the file is gone.

📱 Use it on any device

Works in any modern browser — Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android, and tablets. No installation, no app to download. Just open the page and start.

⚡ Quick & easy

Drag, drop, click. Most files process in seconds, not minutes. No watermarks added to your output, no per-day limits, and the tool always shows the result before asking you to download.

🎁 Always free, no signup

Free to use, every time. No account creation, no email required, no “trial” that converts to a paid plan. We make money from ads so you don’t have to pay.

Frequently asked

Full embedding includes the entire font file. Subset embedding includes only the glyphs actually used in the document — typically smaller, but if the PDF gets edited later (new characters added) the subset can't cover them. Both are safe for print.