Ken Bischof, President and CEO United Printing

The decision is yours, however, there are pros and cons to consider when using outlined text.

Pros:
1. Outlined text eliminates missing fonts and textreflow problems. This is an issue because if the person opening your document doesn’t have the particular font used in your design, their computer will replace YOUR font with a DEFAULT one, changing the overall appearance of your document.

2. It’s easier to make color corrections to text.

3. Converting text to outline can be handy (or a burden depending on the situation) when you want type to be a bit heavier for production purposes, as the weight of light type is noticeably heavier when outlined. 4. Outlining text allows you to alter text shape and add artistic effects.

Cons:
1. Outlining text can degrade the typographic quality of the text. When glyphs are turned into normal graphics, they lack the intelligence that fonts have in displaying or printing text, particularly on lower resolution devices.

2. Some designers mistakenly save the outlined version of the document and not the editable version. Thus, if major changes need to be made, type must be completely recreated. This is a huge waste of time!

Now you know the pros and cons of using outlined text. If you’ve decided that outlining just isn’t worth it, try embedding your fonts as an alternative in your favorite design program. Good luck!

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