# Font Embedding and Substitution > Choose the fonts of PDF files in WPF: restrict them with FontSettings, pick replacements in the AdaptFont event and embed fonts for PDF/A. - **Product:** TX Text Control .NET for WPF - **Section:** Documentation - **Kind:** Topic - **Path:** TX Text Control .NET for WPF > PDF Processing > Font Embedding and Substitution - **2506 words** - **Web URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/fonts/ - **LLMs URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/fonts/llms.txt - **LLMs-Full URL:** https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/fonts/llms-full.txt --- Which fonts a PDF shows is decided long before `Save` is called: when a document is loaded or formatted, every font that isn't available is replaced, and the replacement changes line and page breaks. For a WPF application that must produce the same PDF on every machine, or PDF/A, which embeds all fonts, you restrict the fonts a document may use and choose the fonts that replace missing ones. How to find the replaced fonts of a loaded document is shown in [Check the Fonts of a Document](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/document-processing/creating/#check-the-fonts-of-a-document). Text that looks different than expected is covered in [Fonts and Document Layout](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/troubleshooting/fonts/llms-full.txt) in Troubleshooting. ### Where the Fonts Come From TX Text Control .NET for WPF formats text with the fonts installed on Windows. The fonts it supports depend on the formatting device, the printer set with [FormattingPrinter](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/formattingprinter-property/llms-full.txt), and [GetSupportedFonts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/getsupportedfonts-method/llms-full.txt) returns their names once the control is initialized; before, it returns `null`. A font is *adapted*, which means replaced by a supported font, when: - a document is loaded that uses a font that isn't supported, - another printer is set with `FormattingPrinter`, or - the fonts are restricted with `EmbeddableFontsOnly` or `TrueTypeFontsOnly` of `FontSettings`. ### Restrict the Fonts of a Document The properties of [FontSettings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/fontsettings/llms-full.txt) decide which fonts a document may use. All of them are `false` by default: | Property | When `true`, a document may use | |---|---| | [EmbeddableFontsOnly](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/fontsettings/embeddablefontsonly-property/llms-full.txt) | Fonts that can be embedded without violating their licenses; TX Text Control treats only OpenType and TrueType fonts as embeddable. Required for PDF/A. | | [TrueTypeFontsOnly](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/fontsettings/truetypefontsonly-property/llms-full.txt) | TrueType and OpenType fonts | | [ScalableFontsOnly](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/fontsettings/scalablefontsonly-property/llms-full.txt) | Freely scalable fonts | The settings of the window's editor come from [TextControl.FontSettings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/fontsettings-property/llms-full.txt) of `TXTextControl.WPF`, and a `ServerTextControl` has its own [FontSettings](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/fontsettings-property/llms-full.txt). ### Choose the Replacement Fonts TX Text Control chooses a replacement by itself. The [AdaptFont](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol-wpf/textcontrol/adaptfont-event/llms-full.txt) event lets you choose it instead. The following code in *MainWindow.xaml.cs* restricts the editor to TrueType and OpenType fonts when the control has loaded, replaces other fonts with the first available font of a list, and shows the replaced fonts after a template has been exported as PDF. `List` needs `using System.Collections.Generic;` if implicit usings are off: ```csharp private readonly string[] preferredFonts = { "Arial", "Segoe UI", "Times New Roman" }; private readonly List replacedFonts = new List(); private void textControl1_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { textControl1.FontSettings.TrueTypeFontsOnly = true; textControl1.FontSettings.AdaptFontEvent = true; textControl1.AdaptFont += TextControl1_AdaptFont; } private void TextControl1_AdaptFont(object sender, AdaptFontEventArgs e) { // Use the first preferred font that is available foreach (string font in preferredFonts) { if (Array.IndexOf(e.SupportedFonts, font) >= 0) { e.AdaptedFontName = font; break; } } replacedFonts.Add(e.FontName + " -> " + e.AdaptedFontName); } private void LoadAndExportButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { replacedFonts.Clear(); textControl1.Load("template.docx", StreamType.WordprocessingML); textControl1.Save("template.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF); if (replacedFonts.Count > 0) { MessageBox.Show(this, "Replaced fonts:\n" + string.Join("\n", replacedFonts), "Fonts"); } } ``` The `Loaded` handler is connected in *MainWindow.xaml*, where the `TextControl` is declared with the `WPF` prefix: ```xml ``` The code works as follows: - The settings are made in the `Loaded` event of the `TextControl`, when the control is ready. - [AdaptFontEvent](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/fontsettings/adaptfontevent-property/llms-full.txt) must be `true`, or `AdaptFont` doesn't occur. The syntax block of the reference spells the property `AdaptFontsEvent`, but the compiled name is `AdaptFontEvent`. - [FontName](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/adaptfonteventargs/fontname-property/llms-full.txt) is the original font. [AdaptedFontName](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/adaptfonteventargs/adaptedfontname-property/llms-full.txt) contains the replacement TX Text Control chose, and a new value replaces it. - A replacement must be one of the [SupportedFonts](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/adaptfonteventargs/supportedfonts-property/llms-full.txt). If no font of the list is available, the choice of TX Text Control stays. ### Fonts in a ServerTextControl A `ServerTextControl` doesn't share the settings of the editor. It has its own `FontSettings` and its own [AdaptFont](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/adaptfont-event/llms-full.txt) event, and its settings are made after `Create` and before `Load`, so that they apply to the fonts of the loaded document: ```csharp using (ServerTextControl tx = new ServerTextControl()) { tx.Create(); tx.FontSettings.TrueTypeFontsOnly = true; tx.FontSettings.AdaptFontEvent = true; tx.AdaptFont += TextControl1_AdaptFont; tx.Load("template.docx", StreamType.WordprocessingML); tx.Save("template.pdf", StreamType.AdobePDF); } ``` Both events pass an [AdaptFontEventArgs](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/adaptfonteventargs/llms-full.txt), so one handler serves both. Its `SupportedFonts` belong to the `ServerTextControl`, which has its own [FormattingPrinter](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/reference/txtextcontrol/servertextcontrol/formattingprinter-property/llms-full.txt). ### Embed Fonts in PDF/A PDF/A requires every font to be embedded, so `EmbeddableFontsOnly` must be `true` before a document is saved with `StreamType.AdobePDFA`. Fonts whose license forbids embedding and fonts that depend on a device are then replaced, and `AdaptFont` occurs for each of them. [Save the Window's Document as PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/pdf-a/#save-the-window-s-document-as-pdf-a) shows the complete save, [Archive a Folder of Documents](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/pdf-a/#archive-a-folder-of-documents) the `NonEmbeddableFont` error, and [A Document Can't Be Saved as PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/troubleshooting/fonts/#a-document-can-t-be-saved-as-pdf-a) the error messages. ### Get the Same Result on Every Machine The installed fonts and the default printer differ from one Windows machine to the next. For the same PDF everywhere: - **Use fonts every target machine has,** or install the fonts of your templates with your application where their licenses allow it. - **Set the formatting printer,** as [The Layout Depends on the Printer](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/troubleshooting/fonts/#the-layout-depends-on-the-printer) explains. - **Check templates before deployment.** The blog article [Check TX Text Control Template Dependencies Before Deployment](https://www.textcontrol.com/blog/2026/07/28/check-tx-text-control-template-dependencies-before-deployment/) lists the fonts a template needs. ### Next Steps - [PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/pdf-a/llms-full.txt): save documents with embedded fonts for archiving. - [PDF Creation and Conversion](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/creation-conversion/llms-full.txt): the other options of a PDF. - [Fonts and Document Layout](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/troubleshooting/fonts/llms-full.txt): fix fonts that look different than expected. --- ## Nearby - **Previous:** [PDF/A](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/pdf-a/llms-full.txt) - **Next:** [PDF Forms](https://docs.textcontrol.com/tx-text-control-dotnet-wpf/pdf/forms/llms-full.txt)