This page discusses what happens when an EPS file that uses a font (as opposed to using outlines) is used in a document, and that document is then printed or used to create a PDF.
Many graphics applications let you choose to embed fonts in the EPS files they create. If you import these into a DTP application, the behavior of those graphics depend on quite a few factors. This is no where near a thorough discussion of many applications.
Presently this page only includes Windows topics. Mac will come later, but I can tell you this: The Mac, at least in OS 9 and below, is a heckuva lot better at this than Windows!
Illustrator 9, FrameMaker 6, Distiller 5. The Acrobat Distiller PPD has been modified to exclude all fonts from residency other than the Couriers.
Fonts embedded in Illustrator |
Distiller has knowledge of font locations |
Result | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | Yes | No | TrueType | PostScript |
X | X | okay | okay | ||
X | X | okay | okay | ||
X | X | Courier | Courier | ||
X | X | okay | okay |
Conclusion: An Illustrator graphic with an embedded font will distill okay if the font is embedded or if Distiller has knowledge of the font's location.
Say for example you have a page with a graphic that uses FontX, and FontX is a font that's not resident on your physical printer. The font is not embedded in the graphic. It is possible to find these behaviors: