Tip #4377 - The Case of the Mysterious Changing Fonts
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The
Case of the Mysterious Changing Fonts
Have you ever
given a presentation on a computer different from the one you used
to create it?
When you opened
the file, did you face the basic nightmare of all your fonts being
different and just a huge mess on each slide?
Text that used to fit perfectly
on the slides is now spaced all wrong and nothing seems to fit in
the text boxes anymore.
In a moment of
panic, the voice inside your head is screaming, "What's going
on here?!"
Besides your worst
presentation fears becoming reality, the problem is most likely related
to the font you chose to use. If the computer you've moved the presentation
to doesn't have that font, it's going to substitute a different one
and cause you all sorts of problems.
If you're like
me, you probably like to use fonts with a little flair, which is often
great for the presentation, but it can be a problem as you move it
to different computers.
Looking for a solution?
Good, because
I've got one and it's not nearly as complicated as you may think!
What you're looking
to do is embed your fonts into the presentation. That way, when you
open it on a different machine, it has all the fonts it needs right
along with the presentation file.
When you're ready
to save your presentation, use the File menu, Save
As choice. (In PowerPoint 2007, you need the Office
Button to get to the Save As choice).
Once you're in
the Save As window, you need the Tools menu, Save
Options choice. In older versions of PowerPoint, you're looking
for this:
In the Save Options
window, locate the "Font options for current document
only" section.
Select the "Embed
TrueType Fonts" choice.
In PowerPoint
2007, what you're searching for is in the
bottom right corner near the Save button.
Next, you're looking
for the bottom section of the Save Options window.
Select the "Embed
fonts in the file" choice.
In all versions,
when you do this, the two options below become active.
This is when you
need to make a choice.
As you can see,
one option embeds only the characters currently in use.
That does help to reduce the file size, but it also causes a problem
if you try to edit on a different machine. If, while editing, you
need a character that's not embedded, you'll be out of luck if the
computer doesn't have that same font.
The other option
embeds all the characters of the font, which allows
for easy editing on different machines. This choice does have the
drawback of causing larger file sizes though.
For a point of
reference in regards to these two choices, I took a presentation that
originally had a file size of 210KB and saved it with both of these
choices. The choice of characters in use made the file jump to a size
of 320KB and with all the characters, the file was 428KB.
When you've made
your choice, simply click OK.
Now, back in the
Save As window, continue to save the file as normal.
With this new
skill in your "bag of tricks," hopefully there will be fewer
presentation nightmares in your future!
~ April
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