Font Embedding & Convert to Paths
An exported label displays in the right typeface only if the viewer’s machine has the font, or the file carries it. You have two ways to make the file carry it: embed the font file, or convert the labels to vector outlines so no font is needed.
| Embed fonts | Convert to paths | |
|---|---|---|
| Text stays selectable and searchable | Yes | No |
| Depends on the viewer’s fonts | No | No |
| File size | Grows by each font’s size | Small |
| Suited to PowerPoint, Word, Keynote | No | Yes, with Maximum compatibility |
Embed fonts in an SVG
- Choose
File > Export SVG.... - Check
Embed fonts for offline use. - Click
Export SVG.
The checkbox appears only when the document uses a font that is not a standard system font: a Google font or one you uploaded. If you uploaded a font, the box is already checked, because an uploaded font has no web copy for the viewer to download.
Each font goes into the SVG as a base64 @font-face block. Uploaded TTF and OTF files and Google fonts (WOFF2) are all supported. Every embedded font adds its full size to the file.
PNG, PDF and Copy as image
These need no setting. PNG export and Ctrl+Shift+C (copy as image) embed the fonts before the drawing is turned into pixels.
PDF export handles fonts in three ways:
- Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, Georgia and Courier New text is set in the PDF standard fonts Helvetica, Times and Courier, which every PDF reader has, so nothing is embedded for it.
- A Google font is embedded as a TTF file (its regular Latin face, fetched while you are online), and an uploaded TTF or OTF font is embedded from your browser’s font library. An uploaded WOFF2 font cannot be embedded in a PDF; its text prints in one of the standard fonts instead, usually Helvetica.
- Characters the chosen font cannot draw, such as Greek letters, the minus sign, arrows and superscript signs, are set in the bundled Liberation font of the same style, or DejaVu Sans for what Liberation lacks, sized to keep the text’s width on the canvas. This also covers Greek in a Google font such as Roboto, which would otherwise print blank.
See PDF Export for the rest of what changes on the way into a PDF.
Convert labels to paths
In the Export SVG dialog, check Convert labels to paths. Atom labels become vector outlines drawn from Liberation Sans, a metric-compatible alternative to Arial, so the file needs no font for them. The outlined text can no longer be selected or edited. Text annotations are not outlined.
Outlining works only when every atom label is set in Arial or Helvetica. If any label uses another font, such as Times New Roman, no labels are outlined and they stay as text. Switch the Label Font to Arial in Structure Settings before exporting, or embed the fonts instead.
For Microsoft Office, Keynote and LibreOffice, check Maximum compatibility instead. It turns on Convert labels to paths and turns off Theme-aware (light/dark) and Embed fonts for offline use, giving a static file those apps render correctly.
Phones and tablets
When the only risk is a phone that lacks Arial, Times or Courier, Mobile-Safe Rendering is lighter than full embedding. It embeds subsetted Liberation Sans, Serif or Mono for those fonts, holding only the characters your drawing uses.
Saving a .mkit file is separate from exporting. For how uploaded fonts travel inside a saved document, see .mkit Files. To choose or add fonts, see Font Management.