With a document in PDF format Knowing the sources can seem a bit cumbersome. Unlike other formats that allow simple text editing, PDF appears fixed and modifications are more complex. But that doesn't mean you can't extract technical information about its sources and other sections.
To find out which fonts are used in a specific PDF You can use Adobe tools or those from other developers. PDF or Portable Document Format is a storage format for composite digital documents. It was created by Adobe Systems, the company behind several popular tools in the design world, such as Indesign or the Photoshop image editor.
Knowing the fonts of a PDF with Adobe tools
El open standard PDF It was officially launched in 2008. Thus, its use became much more widespread among users around the world. There are numerous advantages to using PDF files compared to other files. Its versatility, because it can be opened by almost any device, and also its weight. The PDF is a relatively light file for the type of information it contains.
You can open a PDF file using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader tool or a traditional web browser such as Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. It uses various image compression algorithms that allow it to significantly reduce the size of a photo, and adds custom configuration options. You can create a PDF so that it cannot be printed or edited in any way, unless its original format is modified.
Despite the advantages it offers, PDF also has its complications. It is a format originally intended to be uneditable. This is the opposite of what happens in other widely used formats, such as Word. Therefore, to know the fonts used in a PDF, you have to activate some specific tools in Adobe apps, or even in third-party software.
Using Adobe Acrobat Reader to find out PDF fonts
Adobe created the PDF and its tools are the most versatile, fastest and simplest when it comes to managing the data in each file. But there are also many that are restricted to the paid version and that is bad news. The company offers a whole family of products called Adobe Acrobat that are used to discover the information in each PDF file in depth.
The quickest way is to use Adobe Acrobat Reader. This program was previously known as Reader and some call it Acrobat Reader. It has a free PDF reader version and can be downloaded from the official website in just a few minutes. The viewer comes pre-installed on most computers, but if you don't have it, you can go to get.adobe.com and download it.
The next step is Choose the document you want to open and click on it. Windows will ask you if you want to use Acrobat Reader as the default app for that format. Accept and every time you select a PDF it will open from the Adobe viewer.
Go to option File – PropertiesA window will appear with different properties of the file. There is a description of the file and other advanced options. There you will find the Fonts section where you will find a list of the different letters and styles that appear in the document.
It is a very useful feature because you can find yourself a PDF with a font you like, and knowing its name, search for it and download it. Then it's a matter of using the name in an online font repository and that's it.
What other Adobe tools allow you to find out the fonts in a PDF?
You can use the Acrobat.com web versionIn this case, taking advantage of the Internet connection and almost any browser, you can open a PDF and only need to register as a user. You don't have to pay, but you do have to create an account with your email. Once inside the interface, Acrobat.com works the same way as Reader.
There are other versions of the Adobe program such as Adobe Acrobat Pro or Adobe Standard that offer font review options. You can even use Adobe Document Cloud which is the cloud-based version of this popular software.
Other alternative applications to extract fonts from a PDF
If you don't have Adobe's native apps or want to try other alternatives, there are also possibilities. In this case, sites like WhatTheFont or ExtractPDF will become your best allies.
WhatTheFont
While the application is not designed exclusively for analyzing PDF files, it does its job. What it does is Extract font types used in an imageUpload a screenshot of the PDF in question, wait for WhatTheFont to analyze it and you will receive the font type in each section of the document as a response.
The better the image quality, the more certain the results. Keep in mind that WhatTheFont incorporates an extensive database with more than 130.000 different fonts. It is difficult to miss any of those that are present in the PDF you are reviewing.
ExtractPDF
This is a web application specially designed to extract information from PDFs, hence its name. The operation is very simple and usual for this type of tool. Drag the file you want to analyze or press the Select file button and then click Start.
Once processing is complete, ExtractPDF carefully breaks down the different tabs with the PDF content. First, it shows the images contained in the file and allows us to download them. Then, the texts and finally the fonts. It also provides information about the file's metadata to learn about the design tools used in its creation, author and dimensions.
PDFConvertOnline
Another third-party tool with a similar operation. It allows Upload a PDF file that we have stored on the computer, and read its main data to extract layout data. From here you can extract all the necessary information about the font types used.