Fonts and formatting

How to Find Out Which Font a PDF Uses

Updated 2026-09-17 · 2 min read

Designers, print shops and anyone rebuilding a template eventually need to know exactly which font a PDF uses. The answer is inside the file, in the font dictionary.

Here is how to read it without specialist software.

PDFfont edits PDF text in the document's own embedded font — no white cover boxes.

Edit a PDF

Inspect a line

Click any text in the editor and the detected font name, point size and whether the embedded subset is complete are shown. Subset names look like ABCDEF+MinionPro-Regular; the six letters before the plus sign are just a subset tag, and the real family is everything after it.

Embedded versus referenced

Embedded fonts travel inside the file and render identically everywhere. Referenced fonts (often Arial or Times) rely on the reader's system, which is why the same PDF can look different on two machines.

Getting the font

When a document's embedded font is needed for an edit, it is extracted and reused automatically. Licensing still applies to the font itself, so using it in unrelated work is a separate question from editing this document.

Frequently asked

Why does the font name have random letters in front?

That is a subset prefix added when only some characters were embedded.

Can two fonts be used in one line?

Yes, bold or italic words are usually a separate font object.

What if no font is embedded?

The reader substitutes one, and the closest available match is used for edits.

Try it on your own document

$1 for 7 days of unlimited editing and downloads, then $5 a month or $29.99 a year. Cancel anytime.

See pricing