pdffonts

TLDR

List fonts in PDF

$ pdffonts [document.pdf]

List fonts with page range

$ pdffonts -f [1] -l [10] [document.pdf]

Substitute font names

$ pdffonts -subst [document.pdf]

List from specific page

$ pdffonts -f [5] [document.pdf]

SYNOPSIS

pdffonts [-f first] [-l last] [-subst] [options] file.pdf

pdffonts lists fonts used in PDF documents. It shows font names, types, and embedding status.
Embedded fonts are included in the PDF, ensuring consistent display regardless of installed fonts. Non-embedded fonts rely on system fonts, which may cause appearance differences.
Subset fonts contain only characters used in the document, reducing file size. Full fonts include all glyphs.
Font types include Type 1 (PostScript), TrueType, CID fonts (for Asian languages), and Type 3 (bitmap/user-defined).
Unicode mapping indicates whether text can be reliably extracted or searched. Missing Unicode mapping affects copy/paste and accessibility.
Page range options examine specific sections without processing the entire document.

PARAMETERS

-f PAGE

First page to examine.

-l PAGE

Last page to examine.

-subst

Show font substitutions.

-opw PASSWORD

Owner password.

-upw PASSWORD

User password.

-v

Print version.

-h

Print help.

OUTPUT COLUMNS

name

Font name.

type

Font type (Type 1, TrueType, CID, etc.).

emb

Embedded (yes/no).

sub

Subset (yes/no).

uni

Unicode mapping (yes/no).

object ID

PDF object identifier.

CAVEATS

Part of poppler-utils package. May not show all font details. Password needed for encrypted PDFs. Font names may be cryptic for subsets.

HISTORY

pdffonts is part of poppler-utils, derived from the Xpdf project created by Derek Noonburg. Poppler became the standard PDF rendering library for many open-source applications.