[Tex/LaTex] Get rid of Type 3 fonts in PDF for manuscript

acmfontstruetype

NOTE: there are several threads in Stack regarding this issue but any of them solved my problem.

I am using Overleaf to compose a Latex document and convert it to PDF. The ACM journal I am trying to submit it for wants that PDF to be made without Type 3 fonts (just Postscript Type 1 or TrueType). The editor said that "one common way Type 3 fonts can end up in a document is in Figures generated within PowerPoint or in charts generated in Excel." I made some of the figures using PowerPoint and took screenshots from them on my Mac. I do not know even if those images are the source of the problem but I have a Type 3 font called BitstramVeraSans-Roman in my document. So, I would like to know if:

  • Is there any way of identifying the source of that Type 3 font in Mac OS?
  • How could convert that Type 3 font into a Postscript Type 1 or TrueType one?

Many thx.

Best Answer

1) As stated from a previous comment, a bitmap (screenshot) doesn't contains any font, and hence can't be the origin of your problem.

2) To check whether or not the Type3 fonts actually come from the figures and not from the text: compile your LaTeX code with the draft option in documentclass. The resulting PDFwill no longer contain the figures. If it no longer has Type3 fonts, it means that there are in (one of) the figure(s) that is a vectorial export from (a old version of) PowerPoint. ("Save as PDF" in PPT 2010 on Windows does include the Vera sans font as Truetype and not Type3)

3) The most obvious solution would be to edit the Powerpoint source to replace the Vera Sans by another more standard font, known by the tool you use to produce the PDF (wichh tool in fact ?)

If you nevertheless you stick to VeraSans, you can fix the problem by using directly a Type 1 font : BitstramVera Sans is family of Truetype font, which has a TeX free Type 1 clone named Bera (see this page). Replace in your system the BitstramVeraSans by BeraSans Type 1, the problem of Type 3 will be avoided

4) Depending on the way you create the PDF, yos might have the opportunity to (i) not embed the font, and add it subsequently with Ghostscript, or (ii) transform it to outlines or(iii)ask the output device to substitute VeraSans by Berasans.

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