On Fri, Jul 16, 2021 at 12:14:26PM -0400, E. Liddell wrote: > On Sat, 17 Jul 2021 01:06:51 +1000 > "Steven D'Aprano via tde-users" <users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: [...] > > Some fonts will never embedded, because they are flagged as "No > > Embedding". And I suppose that people should be able to disable font > > embedding if they choose. But I stand by my claim that by default PDF > > creator software ought to embed fonts. > > There's a whole bunch of messy intellectual property problems with > that. Not really. Its quite simple: if the font has the "Allow embedding" flag turned on, embed it. Done. Some Adobe products -- but not all -- already ship with font embedding enabled by default. Of course they honour the embedding permissions, but you don't have to enable a setting for them to embed the fonts you use if they allow embedding. They just go ahead and do it, even if you turn off embedding. Quote: "... most but not all of the .joboptions file font embedding options are totally and utterly ignored. The options that are ignored are the Embed all fonts, Embed OpenType fonts, Always embed, and Never embed." https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign/fully-embedding-fonts-in-pdf/m-p/6682799 The details are quite complex -- font embedding only embeds the glyphs, not the whole font, they may embed the special fourteen fonts that all postscript printers support, which most programs don't do, there are special rules for fonts used in editable text fields, blah blah blah. But for an application like LibreOffice, for example, all that we need is for the checkbox Archive PDF/A-1a (ISO 19005-1) to default to ON instead of OFF. There's no good reason for it to default to OFF. That's equivalent to "Embed fonts (if permitted)". > Most people don't bother to investigate who their fonts belong > to or what redistribution rights they have, It's not up to the user to check the permission bits, the PDF creator software should do that. (And ideally pop up a notice that "font X is used but cannot be embedded".) > and Windows and Mac OSX > (both the OSs themselves and common software for them) ship with a > lot of "all rights reserved" fonts, some of which may be legacy fonts > without formal "no embedding" markers. Unless you are referring to ancient bitmap fonts from the Dark Ages, I doubt that is even possible to have fonts without embedding permissions. And such ancient bitmap fonts can't be embedded. OpenType fonts have *always* required such permissions, since the day the standard was invented. I think the same applies for TrueType fonts, they certainly have them now, and I'm quite sure (but haven't found a definitive source) that they too have always supported them. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2015/07/06/document-font-embedding-demystified/ (Similarly for Postscript Type 1 and 3 fonts.) But in either case, it doesn't really matter so long as the software follows a "default deny" approach: lack of permission flags is equivalent to forbidding embedding. > So no, embedding fonts by > default unfortunately would make a lot of people criminals, technically > speaking. That's wrong: only fonts that explicitly permit embedding would be embedded. But even if it were correct (say you use an application that fails to honour the embedding permission flags, or uses a "default allow" system), your argument is FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt). Yes, embedding fonts in your PDF *might* make you a criminal. And forwarding an email (without or without attachments) *might* do the same. Nevertheless most mail clients default to quoting on reply and copying attachements when forwarding. Either of which *might* make you a criminal! But it almost certainly won't. Let's be real here: you're talking about a scenario where: - the PDF creator software foolishly treats missing permissions as "allow" rather than "deny"; - the legacy fonts embedded are a format that doesn't include embedding permissions; - their retail value is above $1000 (the threshhold in the USA for copyright infringement to be a criminal felony); - the copyright holder of the legacy font still exists; - and finds out you have embedded the fonts; - and gives a shit about it; - and aren't satisfied with just ordering you to cease and desist distribution; - and persuade the legal authorities to care; - and the authorities actually bother to press charges. I don't think I'm going to lose sleep over that. -- Steve ____________________________________________________ tde-users mailing list -- users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Web mail archive available at https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
