What this error means
KDP's automated checker opens every PDF and walks the font table. If any font is referenced but not actually embedded inside the file, the upload is bounced with "One or more fonts in your manuscript are not embedded." KDP needs the fonts in the file because their print partner — Lightning Source via Amazon's facilities — won't have your custom font installed.
The same error appears if a font is subsetted incorrectly. Subsetting (embedding only the glyphs used) is fine, but some exporters strip the embedding flag while keeping the subset, leaving an orphaned reference.
Bold and italic variants count as separate fonts. A PDF where "Garamond Regular" is embedded but "Garamond Italic" isn't will fail on every italicised word.
Why it happens
The single biggest cause is Microsoft Word's "Minimum size" PDF export. Word offers two PDF options: "Standard" (embeds fonts) and "Minimum size" (strips them). Authors pick the smaller file without realising what it costs them.
Licensed commercial fonts often forbid embedding. Some Monotype and Adobe foundry licences allow display only, not embedding. The exporter respects the flag and leaves the font out. The fix is to swap to an embeddable font — Google Fonts and Adobe Fonts via Creative Cloud are licensed for embedding.
Old or corrupted PostScript Type 1 fonts silently fail to embed in modern PDF exporters. macOS Catalina+ dropped Type 1 support entirely, so any old font from the early 2000s may be the culprit.
Canva historically had font-embedding gaps for non-Latin scripts. Cyrillic, Greek, and Devanagari often slip through as bitmap fallbacks.
LaTeX users hit this when their TeX installation can't find a font's metric file (.tfm or .pfb), and pdflatex silently substitutes Computer Modern at lower quality.
The fix
Step 1: Confirm which fonts aren't embedded. Open the PDF in Acrobat → File → Properties → Fonts tab. Each font row says "Embedded", "Embedded Subset", or nothing. "Nothing" means rejected.
Step 2: Word fix. File → Export → Create PDF/XPS → Options → tick "PDF/A compliant" → tick "ISO 19005-1 compliant" → tick "Bitmap text when fonts may not be embedded" only as a last resort. Then OK and export.
Better Word workflow: File → Save As → choose PDF → click "Options" → select "ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)". This forces embedding even for fonts that normally refuse.
Step 3 (Vellum / Atticus): Both embed fonts by default. If you're still failing, you've used a custom heading font without proper licence — swap to one of their built-in choices.
Step 4 (InDesign): File → Export → PDF/X-1a:2001. The preset forces font embedding. Under Advanced → Fonts, set "Subset fonts when percent of characters used is less than" to 100% to force full embedding.
Step 5 (Canva Pro): Download → PDF Print → tick "Flatten PDF". For non-Latin text, also tick "PDF Standard".
Step 6 (LaTeX): Use XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX instead of pdflatex — they handle modern font formats directly. Add \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} and \usepackage{lmodern} to your preamble. Compile and inspect the font tab.
Step 7: If a specific commercial font keeps failing, check its EULA — many require an upgrade to a "commercial embedding" licence. The cheaper fix is to replace it with the closest Google Font (Cormorant Garamond, Crimson Pro, Lora are good free substitutes for premium serifs).
Step 8: After re-export, verify all fonts read "Embedded" or "Embedded Subset" in Acrobat's Fonts tab.
How to pre-flight it
Drop your PDF into our free KDP Readiness Score and we'll list every font in the file with its embedding state. If any are flagged red, you know exactly what to fix before resubmitting and waiting for KDP's review queue.
Related errors
- KDP error: transparency not flattened
- KDP error: crop marks present in print PDF
- KDP error: file exceeds 650MB
FAQ
Is 7pt really the minimum font size for KDP paperback? Yes — KDP rejects anything smaller than 7pt body text. Footnotes and copyright pages included.
Can I use a Google Font in KDP? Yes. All Google Fonts are licensed under SIL Open Font Licence or Apache, both of which permit embedding in PDFs. They're the safest free choice.
My PDF says 'Embedded Subset' — is that OK? Yes. Subset embedding only includes the characters you actually used, which keeps file size down. KDP accepts both full and subset embedding.
What if my font is from Adobe Fonts (Typekit)? Adobe Fonts allow PDF embedding for active subscribers. You must remain subscribed for the licence to stay valid, but the embedded PDF works permanently.
