Using TrueType Fonts

When working with documents, you often have to use different fonts, styles, and sizes. Documents can contain any number of fonts, which are not necessarily limited to the fonts that are installed in the operating system. The fonts can be completely different, such as fonts taken from other operating systems, purchased, or created by users themselves.

Sometimes, information about the fonts being used is embedded in the document, eliminating display problems during document transfer. In some other cases, only the font name is known, which does not guarantee that the document will look the same way on another computer. In this case, Aspose.Words can find the right font or its suitable replacement, if the required font cannot be found, for correct rendering.

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FAQ

1. Q: How can I load TrueType fonts that are stored in a custom folder?
   A: Use the FontSettings class to point Aspose.Words to the folder that contains your fonts. Set the folder with SetFontsFolder and assign the FontSettings object to the Document instance.

   import aspose.words as aw
   
   # Create a FontSettings object
   font_settings = aw.FontSettings()
   # Specify the folder that contains your TrueType fonts
   font_settings.set_fonts_folder(r"C:\MyCustomFonts", False)
   
   # Load a document and apply the font settings
   doc = aw.Document(r"input.docx")
   doc.font_settings = font_settings
   doc.save(r"output.pdf")
   

2. Q: What does Aspose.Words do when a required font is missing on the system?
   A: The library automatically substitutes the missing font with a similar one based on the font substitution table. You can customize this behavior by providing your own substitution rules through FontSettings.SubstitutionSettings.Table.

   # Replace missing "MyFont" with "Arial"
   font_settings.substitution_settings.table.add_substitutes("MyFont", ["Arial"])
   

3. Q: Can I embed the TrueType fonts used in a document into the generated PDF or DOCX?
   A: Yes. Set the EmbedTrueTypeFonts property of PdfSaveOptions (or DocxSaveOptions) to True. This forces the fonts to be embedded in the output file.

   # Save as PDF with embedded fonts
   pdf_options = aw.saving.PdfSaveOptions()
   pdf_options.embed_true_type_fonts = True
   doc.save(r"output.pdf", pdf_options)
   

4. Q: How do I change the default font that Aspose.Words uses when a document does not specify one?
   A: Assign a default font name to the DefaultFontName property of FontSettings.

   font_settings.default_font_name = "Times New Roman"
   doc.font_settings = font_settings
   

5. Q: Is there a way to list all fonts that Aspose.Words can access at runtime?
   A: You can retrieve the collection of available fonts via FontSettings.GetFonts. Iterate through the collection to see each font’s name and file path.

   available_fonts = font_settings.get_fonts()
   for font_info in available_fonts:
       print(f"Font: {font_info.font_name}, File: {font_info.file_path}")