pptx-pdf-font-fix

✓Verified·Scanned 2/17/2026

Fix PowerPoint font embedding issues in PDF export by patching text transparency in PPTX files. Use when a user has a PPTX file where exported PDFs show wrong/default fonts instead of the intended downloaded/custom fonts, even with font embedding enabled. Works by applying minimal (1%) transparency to fully-opaque text runs, which forces PowerPoint to properly embed fonts during PDF export.

from clawhub.ai·v1f397b1·8.0 KB·0 installs
Scanned from 1.0.0 at 1f397b1 · Transparency log ↗
$ vett add clawhub.ai/chernojagne/pptx-pdf-font-fix

PPT Font Fix

Problem

PowerPoint's "Export to PDF" can fail to embed downloaded/custom fonts, substituting built-in defaults, even when:

  • Fonts are properly installed and embeddable
  • "Embed fonts in the file" is checked in PowerPoint options

Workaround

Applying a tiny transparency (1%) to text with 0% transparency forces PowerPoint to correctly embed fonts in PDF output. This is visually imperceptible but changes how PowerPoint processes the font during export.

Usage

python3 scripts/fix_font_transparency.py input.pptx [output.pptx] [--transparency 1]

Options

  • output -- Output PPTX path (default: input_fixed.pptx)
  • --transparency, -t -- Transparency % to apply (default: 1)

Behavior

  • Only patches text runs that are fully opaque (0% transparency)
  • Leaves text that already has any transparency untouched
  • Safe to run multiple times
  • Only modifies slide XML (ppt/slides/slideN.xml), not layouts/masters

Workflow

  1. Receive PPTX file from user
  2. Run the fix script: python3 scripts/fix_font_transparency.py input.pptx
  3. Return the patched PPTX to the user
  4. User opens patched file in PowerPoint and exports to PDF -- fonts now embed correctly

Note

PDF export must be done from PowerPoint desktop. Server-side converters (LibreOffice, Graph API) do not reproduce the same font embedding behavior.