Printing Issues in Design: - Converting Fonts to Outlines for Your Print Shop

Every computer has font files installed. There is a default series of font styles installed with Windows or Mac computers. We are all familiar with Times New Roman and Arial fonts. There are plenty of artistic fonts available for logo creation and design. There are thousands of artistic fonts available either for free or for purchase online. The problem is, not everyone has the same fonts installed on their computers. It's a safe bet to use the previously-mentioned Arial or Times New Roman fonts, as those fonts are on a good chunk of computers these days. 

Using artistic fonts can create some printing issues...namely, your print shop might not have the exact font which your designer used. This can create problems and the design might not be able to be printed. What will happen is that a default font will be applied to the missing font, and that will usually not be an attractive choice. 

The answer: convert fonts to outlines. Both Illustrator and CorelDraw have this capability. Look at the graphic below. The font being used is called "Twentieth Century Poster." This is a rather obscure font. 

It is easy to convert this to outlines. Right-click the font, and in the submenu choose "Create Outlines."

Now the text consists of independent units that can be independently altered and moved. It is no longer necessary for anyone else to have this font installed. Your print shop will appreciate you for doing this.