Illustrator

Control how fonts are downloaded to a printer

Printer-resident fonts are fonts stored in a printer’s memory or on a hard drive connected to the printer. Type 1 and TrueType fonts can be stored either on the printer or on your computer; bitmap fonts are stored only on your computer. Illustrator downloads fonts as needed, provided they are installed on your computer’s hard disk.

  1. Choose File > Print.
  2. For Printer, select a PostScript printer, Adobe PostScript® File, or Adobe PDF.
  3. Select Graphics on the left side of the Print dialog box, and select a Download option:
    None
    Includes a reference to the font in the PostScript file which tells the RIP or a post-processor where the font should be included. This option is appropriate if the fonts reside in the printer. TrueType fonts are named according to the PostScript name in the font; however, not all applications can interpret these names. To ensure that TrueType fonts are interpreted correctly, use one of the other font downloading options.

    Subset
    Downloads only the characters (glyphs) used in the document. Glyphs are downloaded once per page. This option typically results in faster and smaller PostScript files when used with single-page documents, or with short documents without much text.

    Complete
    Downloads all fonts required for the document at the beginning of the print job. This option typically results in faster and smaller PostScript files when used with multipage documents.
    Note: Some font manufacturers restrict the embedding of font files. Restrictions apply to copying font software. You are required to comply with applicable copyright law and the terms of your license agreement. For font software licensed from Adobe, your license agreement provides that you may take a copy of the font(s) you have used for a particular file to a commercial printer or other service provider, and the service provider may use the font(s) to process your file, provided the service provider has informed you that it has the right to use that particular software. For other font software, please obtain permission from your vendor.