Substituting fonts

Font substitution issues may arise when opening PagePlus Publications. This is because the fonts used in the original document may not be present on the target computer. If this occurs, font substitution of that unavailable font can be initiated via a pop-up dialog.

PagePlus missing fonts Substituting fonts

PagePlus’s font substitution mechanism makes use of the PANOSE Font Matching System which intelligently finds the best font substitution match between a missing and a locally available font. By default, clicking OK will substitute the missing font for a locally available standard font (e.g., Arial) automatically. Optionally, you can manually substitute the missing font with the font of your choosing by enabling the Edit font substitutions manually button instead.

A third option, is to use Serif’s FontManager program which can search and load uninstalled fonts if located (fonts are uninstalled after use). See Using FontManager in PagePlus Help.

  • To avoid font substitution, try to source original fonts from the originating PC if possible.

  • When importing PDF files, PagePlus attempts to reuse embedded fonts and perform font substitution described.

To manually substitute a font on loading a publication:

  1. Enable the Edit font substitutions manually button on the initial dialog, and click OK.

  2. From the Resource Manager, click the Fonts tab, and select the font with status “Missing”. Click Substitutions.

  3. From the Substitute Missing Fonts dialog, choose a replacement font from the Available fonts list box ensuring that the Bold and/or Italic options are checked if necessary. Some fonts may be a more acceptable substitute with the bold or italic style set.

  4. Click Add<< to place the font in the Substitute with box. This box can contain more than one font—your first choice and a secondary font (e.g., Arial or Times New Roman). A secondary font (perhaps a more widely available font) is particularly useful if you want to provide an alternative to your first choice substituted font. You should always place your first choice at the top of the list with the Move up or Move down buttons.

    The dialog shows both fonts for substitutions, e.g.

    PagePlus missing fonts2 Substituting fonts

    The Adamsky SF font is first choice, with Arial used as a secondary font.

  5. Click OK.

  • Reset the Substitute with box by clicking the Default button. This will replace the fonts listed with a single font, e.g. Arial or Times New Roman, as governed by Windows (this is not configurable).

To manually substitute a font any time:

  1. Select Resource Manager from the Tools menu.

  2. Choose the Fonts tab, select a font from the list, and click the Substitutions button.

  3. In the dialog, select the missing font to be substituted from the Font to substitute drop-down menu.

  4. Carry out font substitution as described in the previous procedure. Repeat for each font to be substituted using the Font to substitute drop-down menu.

Clearly, the process of substituting large numbers of fonts is time-consuming, a challenge to the memory and most importantly document specific only. As a solution, especially if the same substitutions need to be applied between different publications in the future, you can export all your font mappings to a single Serif Font Map (*.SFM) file which can subsequently be imported into other publications—saving you the effort of recreating the mappings again. The SFM file replaces the font mapping information stored within the publication.

  • The font map file is binary so cannot be edited.

To export Serif Font Map files:

  1. Perform font mappings for all missing fonts as described above.

  2. Select the Export button.

  3. Save your font substitutions to a named Serif Font Map (SFM) file in a chosen location.

To import Serif Font Map files:

  1. Open a publication to which you want to apply saved font substitutions.

  2. Select Resource Manager from the Tools menu.

  3. Choose the Fonts tab, and select the Substitutions button.

  4. Select the Import button.

  5. Locate the Serif Font Map (SFM) file, select it and click Open.

Saved substitutions in the Font Map file are applied to the current publication.

Using FontManager

FontManager is a standalone Serif application that works alongside PagePlus with respect to font substitution. Its main feature is to locate and dynamically install a publication’s missing fonts.

  • The Font Substitution dialog will indicate fonts found by FontManager with the status “Located.”

To install fonts dynamically with FontManager:

  1. Launch Serif PagePlus and open a PagePlus publication.

  2. From the dialog, enable the Use the FontManager… option. This locates and dynamically installs any missing fonts which are currently uninstalled but are present on your computer.

When the current session is closed, the
dynamically installed fonts will uninstall automatically.

  • FontManager needs to have been used to previously uninstall the font to take advantage of this feature.

  • The Use the FontManager… option is grayed out if FontManager is not installed.

Substituting fonts