2021 Download Font Substitution Will Occur Continue Jun 2026
: To prevent this for others, select your text and use Create Outlines ( Ctrl+Shift+O or Cmd+Shift+O ) before sharing. This turns text into vector shapes that don't require font files, though it makes the text uneditable. 📝 Sample Post: "The Font Struggle is Real"
This warning commonly appears in Adobe Acrobat (when editing PDFs) , Microsoft Word , Adobe Illustrator , and InDesign . However, it is most feared in Adobe Photoshop , where users have long reported that there is currently no official setting to globally disable the "Font Substitution Will Occur" pop-up. It appears for every single missing font instance, forcing the user to click through each alert manually.
: If the error only appears when printing, navigate to your Advanced Output Settings and select "Use only publication fonts" to force the printer to use your embedded files. Pro Tip: Avoid Variable Fonts in Word Download Font Substitution Will Occur Continue
Few things interrupt a creative workflow like an unexpected system message. If you use design software like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign, you have likely encountered a popup warning that reads: "Font substitution will occur. Continue?" or a similar variation such as "The following fonts are missing... Font substitution will occur. Continue?" For users of Acrobat or other PDF software, a related message might appear: "Download Font Substitution Will Occur Continue" (this wording is often associated with the "DownloadFonts" option in some systems that lets the user override default substitution behavior).
At its core, this message appears when a document you are trying to download or open references a specific font that is on your current system. Instead of failing to open the file entirely, the software automatically substitutes the missing font with a default one (often Arial, Times New Roman, or Courier). : To prevent this for others, select your
Select all text ( Ctrl+A or Cmd+A ) and go to Type > Create Outlines ( Ctrl+Shift+O or Cmd+Shift+O ).
: Corrupt font caches in applications like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Word can trigger errors. Clearing the font cache However, it is most feared in Adobe Photoshop
It is tempting to click "Continue" to bypass the prompt and start working. However, allowing automatic font substitution introduces serious formatting risks:
This is the most frequent context for this warning. When you open a PSD, AI, or INDD file, the application scans for all used fonts. If a font is missing, you will first see a "Missing Fonts" dialog box. However, the "Font substitution will occur. Continue?" prompt often appears when you attempt to edit a text layer that has a missing font. For instance, if you try to modify a text layer originally set in "Futura" but you only have "Futura-CondensedExtraBold-Th Regular" installed, Photoshop will warn you that it plans to substitute "Myriad Pro" in its place.