OmniDocPDF to PPT font always changes: check font embedding first and then replace it
This article explains the common reasons why fonts become distorted or blocky after converting PDF to PPT, and teaches you to first determine whether the font is embedded, whether the machine is missing characters, and whether the file is a scanned image, and then decide whether to replace the font or perform OCR first to avoid blind modifications.
Key points of this article
- Font changes after conversion are mostly due to the fact that the original PDF does not have embedded fonts, or the machine lacks corresponding fonts. Find out the cause first and then deal with it.
- When text becomes square, a common reason is that the subset embedding only contains used characters, and new characters lack glyphs.
- The text in the scanned PDF is an image and has no font information. It needs to be recognized by OCR first and then select the font in the PPT.
- After the fonts are uniformly replaced, check whether the text box overflows page by page. Changes in font width will cause the text to exceed the frame line.
After converting PDF to PPT, many people open it and find that the title has been changed to another font, the character width and line spacing of the text do not match, and some Chinese characters have become squares. Papers, courseware, and corporate promotional materials are all prone to such problems. The reason is that PDF records the position and glyph of each character, while PPT requires an editable text box and font name, and the two rely on font information to correspond.
This article is written for readers who need to convert PDF courseware, reports or design drafts into PPT for further modification. After reading, you can determine whether the font changes are caused by the fonts not being embedded, the lack of fonts on the machine, or the file itself is a scanned image, and process them in order to avoid making more and more messy changes while manually changing.
How to convert PDF to PPT without changing the font? One sentence conclusion
First find out the reason for the font change: if the font is embedded, install the font with the same name and then re-transmit it. If it is not embedded, find a version with embedded fonts or replace them uniformly. For scanned documents, OCR first and then typeset. Here's how to do it based on your situation.
| your situation | Recommended practices | reason |
|---|---|---|
| The original PDF displays normally on other computers | Confirm that the font has been embedded, install the font with the same name on this machine and then re-transmit it. | The font information is already in the file, and the conversion tool needs to be able to find the corresponding font. |
| The font name in PPT changed to another font | Uniformly replace PPT with fonts installed on the machine | The original font is missing and the system automatically uses a substitute font. |
| Chinese characters become squares or garbled characters | Check whether it is a subset embedding, switch to the complete Chinese font and re-export it. | There is no corresponding glyph in the font, or the character is not included |
| The entire page is a picture, text cannot be selected | Use OCR to identify and then export to PPT | The scan has no fonts, only images |
| Only a few paragraphs changed | Check paragraph by paragraph and manually change back to the same font | Partial font markup is overwritten or broken |
First determine what kind of problem it is
Don’t rush to change the font yet, compare the symptoms according to the table to find the real cause.
| Symptom | Common causes | How to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| All text becomes the same alternative font | The original font is not embedded and is not installed on this machine | View the document properties or font information in the reader to see if the fonts are listed and marked embedded |
| Some Chinese characters become squares | Subset embedding contains only the words used in the original text, or missing words in the font | Confirm that the character is displayed normally in the original PDF, and then compare the font before and after conversion. |
| The title is normal and the text is different. | The text is mixed with multiple fonts or word weights. | Count the types of fonts in the font information to see if they are different from the title |
| Unable to select text, only see the picture | Scanning version of PDF | Drag and select a paragraph of text in the reader, and if you don't select it, it will be an image. |
| The word spacing changes from large to small, and the position of the line breaks has changed. | The width of the alternative font is different from that of the original font | Compare the word width and line number of the same paragraph in PDF and PPT |
# item-by-item troubleshooting and repair
Deal with the problem in the order of the easy before the difficult, and the problems that can be solved by the previous steps do not have to be done in the following steps.
- Drag and select a piece of text in the original PDF to make sure it is selectable text, not a full-page picture. If you don't make the choice, skip to step 5.
two. Open the document properties or font information and check whether the font is embedded behind the font one by one. If it is not embedded, ask the original author for the version with the embedded font, or ask for the font file.
- Confirm that these fonts are installed on your computer. When missing, install the font of the same name, install it and then convert it, which is much less time-consuming than replacing it paragraph by paragraph after conversion.
- If the Chinese character becomes a square, most of the subset embedding retains only the words used in the original text, and the glyph cannot be found in the newly added words after the conversion. At this point, re-export the PDF with a complete Chinese font, then convert it, or directly select a Chinese font in PPT to replace it globally.
- For the scanned version of PDF, use the PDF editing function of the OmniDoc desktop client to do OCR identification, and then export to PowerPoint. OCR results may not be completely accurate, and numbers, formulas and technical terms should be checked one by one.
- After conversion, the function of unified font replacement is used in PPT, and the title and text are set to an available Chinese font and a western font respectively. Keep the original title and text level, do not change paragraph by paragraph.
- Check whether the text box overflows page by page. The width of the font will change after the font is replaced, and the text may exceed the frame line or one more line, just reduce the font size or widen the text box.
- Check the original PDF page by page to make sure that the position of the title, page number, chart and table is not offset, and then save it.
# how to avoid the next occurrence
-check the font information first when you get the PDF, and when you find that the font is not embedded, ask the provider for the version of the embedded font before starting the conversion. -when making your own courseware, choose to embed all fonts in the process of making PDF to avoid embedding only some characters and facilitate subsequent modification. -install the fonts used in the files, especially the Chinese fonts, on the computer before conversion to reduce the changes caused by substitution. -keep the original PDF, write down the font and font size used after each conversion, and apply it directly next time you encounter similar files. -do not manually stretch kerning or make strange typesetting in PDF, these settings will interfere with the conversion results.
# frequently asked questions (FAQ)
1. The font has been embedded, why is it still changed after conversion?
Embedding can only ensure that the original PDF can be displayed correctly, and after conversion to PPT, it depends on whether the local machine can find the corresponding font. After conversion, you still need to check whether the font of the same name is installed, or if it needs to be replaced uniformly in PPT.
2. Can the converted PPT be changed back to the original font?
Yes, as long as the font is installed on this machine and the font name is the same as the original file. If the name is inconsistent, it can be replaced with the corresponding font in PPT.
3. Scanned version of PDF to PPT, why can't the font remain the same?
The text of the scanned piece is an image, and there is no font information in the file. After OCR recognition, the new text is obtained, and the font can only be re-selected in PPT, so the original glyph can not be completely restored.
4. Why are only a few words turned into squares?
Usually the glyphs of these words are missing in the font, or the subset embedding does not contain new characters. It can generally be solved by switching to a complete Chinese font and then reconverting it.
# Summary
PDF to PPT font changes, first look at whether the font is embedded, whether the corresponding font is installed on this machine, whether the file is to scan the picture, and then decide whether to change the font or do OCR first. Once you have mastered this order, the problem of how to convert pdf to ppt so that the font does not change can be solved step by step, rather than paragraph by paragraph. The contents identified by OCR and the replaced numbers and terms still need to be checked one by one.
