Embedding fonts in PowerPoint allows you to ensure that your presentation retains its intended formatting and appearance when viewed on other computers. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to embed fonts in PowerPoint 2013.
Why Embed Fonts
There are a few key reasons why you may want to embed fonts in your PowerPoint presentations:
- Ensure consistency across devices – If custom or non-standard fonts are used in the presentation, embedding them will ensure anyone viewing the presentation will see the fonts as intended regardless of whether the fonts are installed on their device.
- Retain corporate or brand identity – If you have designed the presentation using specific fonts that are part of your company or brand’s visual identity, embedding the fonts will retain this styling.
- Enhance creative design – Embedding fonts gives you more creative freedom to use stylized fonts to enhance the visual design of your presentation.
Embedding vs Linking Fonts
There are two methods for including custom fonts in a PowerPoint presentation:
- Embedding – This inserts the font data directly into the PowerPoint file. It produces larger file sizes but ensures the font will always be available when the presentation is viewed.
- Linking – This references the font file location on your computer. It produces smaller file sizes but requires the font to be installed on any computer viewing the presentation.
Embedding fonts is recommended to guarantee consistency across different devices. The rest of this guide covers the embedding method.
Step-by-Step Guide
Follow these steps to embed a font in PowerPoint 2013:
- Open the PowerPoint presentation you want to embed a font into.
- Select the File tab then choose Options.
- Select Save from the left menu.
- Check the box next to Embed fonts in the file. Embed fonts option
- Under the embedding option, you can choose to embed only characters used in the presentation or all characters.
- Embed only the characters used in the presentation – This will embed only font characters that are present in your text, reducing file size. However, future editing may be limited.
- Embed all characters – This embeds the entire font, increasing file size but allowing full editing capabilities.
- Click OK to save the options.
The selected fonts will now be embedded into the presentation file. Distribute the file as you normally would.
Embedding Font Guidelines
When embedding fonts, keep these guidelines in mind:
- Only TrueType or OpenType fonts can be embedded in PowerPoint 2013. Other font formats like PostScript cannot be embedded.
- Fonts with editing restrictions enabled cannot be embedded. This is common with fonts that were not legally purchased.
- Minimize use of stylized fonts for large blocks of text. Use them sparingly for short headings instead. Too many unconventional fonts can reduce readability.
- Test the embedded presentation on another computer before final distribution to confirm results.
By properly embedding fonts in your PowerPoint 2013 presentations, you can ensure your custom designs display consistently for your intended audience.