How to Fix Letters Printing in Bold When Creating a PDF
Question details
The user is experiencing an issue where specific letters appear bold after converting or printing a document to a PDF file.
- Product
- PDF Exporter / Virtual Printer
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Exporting or printing a text document to PDF from a source application.
- Observed behavior
- Specific characters, such as uppercase 'I' and lowercase 'l', render as bold text in the resulting PDF document due to font embedding or substitution issues.
Verify the exact name of the font used in your source document and ensure it is a standard TrueType or OpenType font installed properly on your system. This helps rule out basic font corruption before you begin adjusting PDF export settings.
Enable Font Embedding During PDF Export
Ensure that fonts are embedded directly into the PDF to prevent font substitution, which often causes thin letters to appear bold.
When a PDF is generated without embedded fonts, the PDF viewer attempts to substitute missing fonts with system defaults. This substitution can misinterpret character weights, causing characters like 'I' and 'l' to look bold or blurry.
Open your source document in its native application, navigate to the 'File' menu, and select 'Print'.
Select your PDF Printer (e.g., Adobe PDF) from the printer list, then click on 'Printer Properties' or 'Preferences'.
Locate the 'Fonts', 'Adobe PDF Settings', or 'PDF Options' tab. Check the box that says 'Embed all fonts' or uncheck 'Rely on system fonts only; do not use document fonts'.
Click 'OK' to save the settings, print the document to PDF, and open the new file to check if the bold letter issue is resolved.
Use Native PDF Export Instead of a PDF Printer
Third-party virtual PDF printers can sometimes mishandle font rendering. Using the application's built-in PDF export often yields better results.
Update Your Virtual PDF Printer Driver
Outdated PDF printer drivers might contain bugs affecting text rendering and character thickness.
Create Flawless PDFs with WPS Office
WPS Office features a robust built-in PDF converter that perfectly preserves your original document's layout and font formatting. You can easily export to PDF without worrying about bold letter glitches or missing embedded fonts.
- 1. Open your document: Open your text document in WPS Writer.
- 2. Access the menu: Click on the 'Menu' button located in the top left corner of the interface.
- 3. Select Export to PDF: Select 'Export to PDF' from the drop-down list.
- 4. Verify settings: In the dialog box, ensure the export range and quality settings are configured to your preference.
- 5. Generate PDF: Click the 'Export to PDF' button to generate your perfectly formatted file with accurate font rendering.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do the lowercase 'l' and uppercase 'I' look thicker only on my screen?
This is often a visual artifact caused by the 'Enhance thin lines' setting in many PDF readers like Adobe Acrobat. Disabling this option in your PDF viewer's Page Display or Rendering preferences usually restores the normal text appearance on your monitor.
Does performing OCR on a PDF fix bold letter issues?
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) can be used as a workaround if the text was rasterized into an image during export. OCR converts image-based text back into searchable vector text, which might standardize the font appearance. However, fixing the font embedding in the original source file is the recommended method.
Will changing my document font prevent letters from printing in bold?
Yes, if the original font is corrupted, heavily customized, or lacks proper licensing for embedding, switching to a standard system font like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman before exporting to PDF can completely resolve these rendering anomalies.
