Can anyone tell me how to find out what the restrictions of fonts are in my font info. The tab font info in my font book is not working for most fonts (it was before I upgraded to Mavericks), and when I right-click to find the font info in finder it just gives basic information for a lot of fonts (for example Futura). Thanks.
iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)
If you look toward the bottom of the list in Font Book/Preview/Show Font Info, you'll see an item called 'Copy protected'. That generally, but not always, indicates whether a font can be embedded. To tell for sure, the only reliable way I know is to create a document in Illustrator or InDesign using the font in question and try to export a PDF. If a font has the no-embed tag enabled, the export will fail with an error that states the font can't be embedded. In many years of doing graphic design, I've only found a handful of fonts that can't be embedded.
For the fonts that don't work in Font Book, have you tried clicking the disclosure triangle and selecting an individual typeface, instead of the whole family? When I try it some work one way and some the other.
Ah, I see, thanks Jeff, that solved the font book issue. But still the info does not give me enough information, unfortunately. This is a problem specifically for the fonts provided with OSX. In the license Apple redirects to the embedding restrictions in the info, but it's not there for most fonts.
Personally, (and this in no way constitutes legal advice) I would assume that if they don't list any restrictions, there aren't any.
The Mavericks user license states:
E. Fonts. Subject to the terms and conditions of this License, you may use the fonts included with the Apple Software to display and print content while running the Apple Software; however, you may only embed fonts in content if that is permitted by the embedding restrictions accompanying the font in question. These embedding restrictions can be found in the Font Book/Preview/Show Font Info panel.
I'm presuming you already know this, but just wanted to be sure.
As danegeld noted, rarely does a font prevent you from embedding them. As long as it goes, you're very likely okay.
As an example with a PDF, the default is to subset fonts. Meaning, if there is no W anywhere in the text, it will not be included in the embedded font. So embedded fonts are incomplete to start with. That, and extracting a font from a PDF is, by design, pretty much impossible. That way, no one gets free copies of commercial fonts from the documents you send out.
Ok, thanks for all your answers and advice, you have really helped me. It would be better if the info could be more clear but I feel confident enough about it now. Thanks!
How to find the font info (embedding restrictions)
