Fonts in your Word template
The PDF is made on our servers, which have free fonts only. The fonts that come with Word — Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, Aptos and the rest — are licensed to your copy of Word, not to a server, so we do not install them. When your template uses one, the PDF uses the free font that stands in for it. For many fonts that makes no visible difference; for a few it does.
What happens when you upload
When you upload a Word template, the template's page tells you which of its fonts are replaced and what changes. The same sentences come back from Validate. Nothing is refused because of a font: the notice is there so that the PDF holds no surprise.
The same pages as in Word
These fonts have a free twin with identical letter widths. A line breaks where it breaks in Word and the page count does not change. We say nothing about them on upload. If you want the PDF to match Word exactly, use one of these.
| In Word | In the PDF |
|---|---|
| Arial | Liberation Sans |
| Arial Narrow | Liberation Sans Narrow |
| Times New Roman | Liberation Serif |
| Courier New | Liberation Mono |
| Calibri | Carlito |
| Cambria | Caladea |
| Helvetica | Nimbus Sans |
| Times | Nimbus Roman |
| Courier | Nimbus Mono PS |
| Symbol | Standard Symbols PS |
| Source Sans Pro | Source Sans 3 |
Fonts that are free to begin with are used as they are: Open Sans, Roboto, Roboto Slab, Lato, Montserrat, Source Sans 3, Noto Sans, Noto Serif, Inconsolata, EB Garamond, Cabin, Comic Neue, the DejaVu, Liberation and Nimbus families, FreeSans, FreeSerif, FreeMono, STIX, Linux Libertine and Courier Prime.
Almost the same
A similar design with slightly different widths. A line can break in another place, and a tight table cell can wrap one word earlier or later. You are told on upload.
| In Word | In the PDF |
|---|---|
| Aptos, Aptos Display | Carlito |
| Aptos Narrow | Liberation Sans Narrow |
| Aptos Mono | Liberation Mono |
| Aptos Serif | Noto Serif |
| Calibri Light | Carlito |
| Microsoft Sans Serif | Liberation Sans |
| Tahoma | Tahoma (the free Wine version) |
| Verdana | DejaVu Sans |
| Segoe UI, Segoe UI Light, Segoe UI Semilight, Segoe UI Semibold | Open Sans |
| Consolas | Inconsolata |
| Lucida Console | DejaVu Sans Mono |
| Lucida Sans, Lucida Sans Unicode | DejaVu Sans |
| Palatino Linotype, Palatino, Book Antiqua | P052 |
| Century Schoolbook | C059 |
| Bookman Old Style | URW Bookman |
| Century Gothic | URW Gothic |
| Garamond | EB Garamond |
| Constantia | Caladea |
| Wingdings | Wingdings (the free Wine version) |
| Webdings | Webdings (the free Wine version) |
Aptos has no free twin: Carlito is the closest, and a little narrower. If your document must match Word line for line, use Calibri or Arial instead.
Clearly different
Another look, or no equivalent at all. The letters are shaped differently and the widths are not close, so the PDF will not look like your Word file and lines or pages can break elsewhere. You are told on upload, with a suggestion: rebuild the template with one of the fonts above if the document has to stay faithful.
| In Word | In the PDF |
|---|---|
| Georgia | DejaVu Serif |
| Trebuchet MS, Candara, Corbel, Franklin Gothic Medium, Franklin Gothic Book | Open Sans |
| Comic Sans MS | Comic Neue |
| Impact | Bebas Neue |
| Arial Black | Liberation Sans (lighter) |
| Gill Sans MT | Cabin |
| Rockwell | Roboto Slab |
| Arial Unicode MS | Noto Sans |
| MS PGothic, Meiryo, Yu Gothic | Noto Sans CJK JP |
| MS PMincho, Yu Mincho | Noto Serif CJK JP |
| SimSun | Noto Serif CJK SC |
| SimHei, Microsoft YaHei | Noto Sans CJK SC |
| Malgun Gothic | Noto Sans CJK KR |
A font that is in no list here becomes a default font of ours, chosen from what the file says about it (a sans font in Word gets a sans font, a serif one a serif). It counts as clearly different.
Checkboxes and symbols
The boxes of a Word checkbox (☐ ☒) are drawn in DejaVu Sans whatever font the template says, so an unticked box is printed, a ticked one sits where it should, and neither pushes the text next to it. You do not need to put the boxes in a column of their own.
What to do
- Use Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, Calibri or Cambria when the PDF has to match Word line for line.
- If you keep another font, check the PDF once with a test call: a table whose cells are tight is where a few points of width show.
- Need a font that is not here? Tell us, with the template: a free font can be added to the image, and one that needs a licence can only be added once somebody holds the licence for a server.
See also Writing a template and Common mistakes.