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← Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests

Convert text to outlines on open

If fonts are missing on open, give the option to expand/convert to outlines. I work in the sign industry, It is a huge hassle to contact customers to have them convert it and re-send it. They frequently don't know how/didn't make the artwork to begin with. I typically get around this using acrobat watermark trick, but it's very time consuming. We have over 6,000 fonts, and we still have missing fonts all the time.

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Cameron shared this idea  ·   ·  Report…  ·  Admin →
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Started  ·  AdminAvinash Singh Kotwal (Principal Product Manager, Adobe Illustrator) responded  · 

Hello,


We have started working on the tech that allows us to enable the following:

  • Ability to convert the outlined/expanded text back to live text.
  • Ability to lock objects to a character/glyph of a live text, allowing users to change the text (properties) while the object stays locked into the character.


As we work through the complexities of handling different font families, font size, and other font properties, we would love to meet with you and share our thinking around it and understand :

  • Your use cases and workflows that this feature will help you with.
  • What is most essential for you.
  • The workarounds that you currently use to achieve this.

If you are interested, please pick a time slot that works for you using this link. https://calendly.com/meetai/60min?month=2023-01

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  • Phil commented  ·   ·  Report

    Is it just the way i'm reading it or does this totally miss the point of the request?
    The request was asking for the option to outline text when opening a file where the fonts don't already exist on the system (as you would do when flattening and converting text to outlines), this seems to be the opposite converting outlined text back to an editable font based text?
  • Julie Brzozkiewicz commented  ·   ·  Report

    This is going to be super useful for client-provided artwork that has Type 1/postscript fonts in live text that doesn't need to change.
  • Maciej Urbanek commented  ·   ·  Report

    you can open an AI file in Acrobat
    - then open the Flattener preview
    - check the box next to "convert all text to outlines"
    - click "apply"
    - save the ai as a pdf
    - open the pdf in Adobe illustrator

    done
    (but it would be best if Adobe Illustrator had an option to do it while opening the file)
  • PerlieMX commented  ·   ·  Report

    Ok, I found the solution. Managed to explore the illustrator app properly, :)
  • CLS commented  ·   ·  Report

    @Mike Brice this is a great tip. Thank you!
  • Mike Brice commented  ·   ·  Report

    I've found that placing a PDF into an open Ai file and flattening the transparency will do the trick most times.
  • Brandon commented  ·   ·  Report

    USE FLEXI SIGN PRO, it does this.

  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    I would like to see this as well. but.. I don't think fonts are embedded into ai files if pdf is off.
    so unless you save with PDF on which we don't for 99% of the files we work on, they your out of luck without the actual font.
    next..
    I believe there is a flavor of pdf that you can export with acrobat that will outline fonts.. Don't remember how but I remember something about it.
    good luck..
    PS.. I would also love a outline on open/import as well.
  • Shawn commented  ·   ·  Report

    I'm also in the print world and 2 jobs out of 1000 have ever had "the font" they used. Adobe this is the one thing I keep giving Corel money for, why don't you want all of my dollars?

    Please, please add this outline option to the open prompt, I will pay you what i give Corel every month as a thank you....

  • Bobby Henderson commented  ·   ·  Report

    CorelDRAW does not have the ability to convert missing fonts in a CDR document to editable outlines. Recent versions of CorelDRAW have allowed users to embed fonts in CDR documents. But that is an option. And the font embedding feature may not always work. I think the feature is similar to how font data can be embedded in Adobe PDFs.
  • Matt Schroeder commented  ·   ·  Report

    Definitely agree. As a means of highlighting a competing product, CorelDraw does have this option. No Mac option for CDR, but if you're on a PC it might be a worthwhile investment.
  • ryink commented  ·   ·  Report

    Please add this crucial feature. Some points to remember:
    -Open missing fonts as outlines using embedded display data.
    -Keep layer structure intact. Do not flatten the whole file.
    -Make it work with .ai files and PDF files.

  • D commented  ·   ·  Report

    I second that! Triple that, in fact. Desperately need this function now.
  • Michael Walz commented  ·   ·  Report

    A very good and worthwhile idea for those of us in the sign industry. You have my vote.
  • Anonymous commented  ·   ·  Report

    how about selectable opening options. when opening a pdf, add checkboxes for flattening, outlining text and even unembedding images. Cant wait to see this
  • Simon Lee commented  ·   ·  Report

    I also would love to see this, until then have you tried linking the pdf in illustrator and then going to object - flatten transparency and tick Convert All Text to Outlines, can then save this as a preset from that point on.

Illustrator (Desktop) Feature Requests: Type, Fonts, Text

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