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Convert embedded fonts to outlines

Created by Andrew Jackson on Jun 24, 2011 · last edited by Andrew Jackson · on Dec 12, 2011 (view history) · 4 versions

I have an EPS file that contains text in a particular, unusual font. The font has been embedded, so the rendering of the EPS looks fine. I can also convert easily to PDF or PS, keeping the font embedded along the way. Again, for display purposes, this is fine.

However, I want to re-use this EPS, and edit it. I don't own the font that the EPS uses, and if I import it into Inkscape it does not offer to turn the font into outlines, and substitutes using a different font instead. This make the image unusable.

I suspect Adobe Illustrator would be offer to convert the fonts to outlines (i.e. vector shapes instead of text) on import, but I don't have Illustrator.

I found this link, which offers some ways to do this using GhostScript.

Which is great, but note that this only works with pswrite, and cannot be used to create the pdf directly. I used this, and then created a PDF from it using Apple Preview, and then loaded that into Inkscape to get the SVG for editing.

According to that link, the ps2ai.ps and pstoedit commands should also be able to embed outline fonts.