3 Easy Ways to Convert PDF Text to Outline in 2025

Introduction:

When you send a PDF file for printing, the print supplier may not have the same fonts as you. If you don’t want to remove the fonts or lose your design, you can convert the text to outlines in the PDF. The outlining way will delete the font information and turn text into shapes. A few software is available to outline all text or only specific text. Now, probe into this SwifDoo PDF blog for three ways to easily convert PDF text to outline.

Convert PDF Text to Outline Using Adobe Acrobat Pro

A great way to convert PDF text to curves is using the Adobe Acrobat Pro software. Please note it's the full Pro version but not the free Adobe Reader. The text will become heavier than before. The software excels at perfecting your document printing, signing, and editing. It can add bleeds to a PDF, convert colored PDF to grayscale, and do more.

Find out how to convert PDF text to outline to keep your fonts intact in your printing.

Step 1: In Adobe Acrobat Pro, open the PDF you want to convert fonts to outlines in;

Step 2: Choose Tools > Print Production > Preflight;

Step 3: Search the outlines keyword, and choose the Convert fonts to outlines fixup;

Step 4: Click the Analyze and Fix button to outline the text in Adobe Acrobat;

Step 5: Save the outlined PDF, and go to File > Properties > Fonts to check if the fonts are gone in the list.

How to Convert Text to Outline in PDF with pdf-editor-free.com

pdf-editor-free.com works like a charm for you to convert PDF text to outlines or curves online. This browser-based software contains an array of PDF converting and editing tools. It can automatically turn text into vector graphics for your commercial printing. You can use its free PDF to JPG converter to make the content non-editable. This method to outline text in PDF online is cross-platform and convenient, but the website is filled with ads.

Without more ado, follow the curated steps to convert PDF fonts to outlines online for free.

Step 1: Choose the PDF text to curves converter on the pdf-editor-free.com homepage;

Step 2: Click the or CHOOSE FILES button to upload your PDF document less than 100 pages;

Step 3: Click Text To Outlines > download to convert the text to curves in the PDF online and save the file.

Illustrator Export PDF to Outline Text

When your PDF file has embedded fonts that printers don’t support, turn to Vector Graphics Software. Thankfully, Adobe Illustrator stands out with the ability to turn PDF text into an outline. It allows you to export an AI file to PDF and open a PDF file to edit your artwork. You can select a piece of text to outline the fonts in an existing PDF and save your art as a PDF with the fonts outlined.

Dive into how to curve or outline text in a PDF file using Adobe Illustrator.

Step 1: Create a new Illustrator document;

Step 2: Choose File > Place and select your PDF;

Step 3: Check the Link box and continue to place the PDF on the whiteboard;

Step 4: Navigate to Object > Flatten Transparency, select the Convert All Text to Outlines option;

Or, select the PDF text you intend to convert to curve using the Type tool and select Type > Create Outlines.

Step 5: Go to File > Save As > Adobe PDF (pdf) (in the Format menu) > Advanced > Acrobat 4 (PDF 1.3) to save and turn a PDF into an outline.

Bonus: Best Tool to Flatten PDF for Printing

If you're in the business of turning entire PDFs into non-editable copies for printing, a simple workaround is to flatten the PDFs. That should be the case when you don’t want others to tamper with or accidentally alter the text, images, layout, or formatting. If you convert general PDF text to text outline for that purpose, SwifDoo PDF can aid you in a similar way. It is the best PDF converter for Windows that has dozens of conversion tools.

Download SwifDoo PDF Converter & Editor

The process of flattening a PDF is to drop the PDF you planned to convert the text to curves into the SwifDoo PDF software, go to Convert > Flatten PDF, specify where to save the output, and click Start. You can add and process multiple PDFs in batches at once. Also,

you can convert scanned PDFs into searchable and editable PDFs using OCR;
convert Office documents, various images, EPUB, and other files to PDFs and vice versa;
add watermarks, signatures, and passwords to protect your unique projects.

Final Wrap

Converting PDF text to outlines strips the font data from the PDF so that there are no font issues when printing. Acrobat and an online tool, pdf-editor-free.com, let you get around the problem by outlining all the text in your document. You can also directly convert fonts to outlines before exporting so a printing agency will open your files without failing to load the fonts. Alternatively, consider making the PDF into a flattened layer to ensure nothing will be lost, moved, or changed.