Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips

The default font in Adobe Illustrator is Myriad Pro. You can change the default font in Illustrator by editing the default template files. Do the following:

• Choose File > Open.
• Navigate to the following location:
  [Windows] OSDisk\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator [version number] Settings\en_US\x64\New Document Profiles
  [macOS] Macintosh HD > User > [username] > Library > Application Support > Adobe > Adobe Illustrator [version number] > [Language folder] > New Document Profiles
  
• Choose a default document profile template and click Open.
  
• Choose Window > Type > Character Styles.
  
• Double-click Normal Character Style in the Character Styles panel.
  
• Select Basic Character Formats on the left of the Character Style Options dialog.
• Choose the desired font from the Font Family menu. You can also change other settings, such as Font Style and Size.

• Click OK. Choose File > Save As to overwrite the original document profile template and close the file.
  
• Choose File > New and select the desired default document profile template.

Select a text and do one of the following:

• Choose a size from Type > Size. 
  
• Set a font size in Font Size drop-down the Character or Control panel

See also: Change the font size

To use a variable font:

• Search for variable in the font list or look for the  icon next to the font name.
  
• Click Variable Font icon () in the Control panel, Character panel, Character Styles panel, and Paragraph Styles panel.
• Use the slider controls to adjust the weight, width, and slant for variable fonts.

If you need to send your documents for print output, choose File > Package. Fonts are by default included with a package to ensure that the document fonts are always available.

To access packaged fonts, you must have the necessary fonts available on your computer and licensed via Creative Cloud subscription. The Adobe terms of service do allow font data to be embedded in PDF and other digital documents. Creating a PDF file is the best and most reliable way to ensure typographic fidelity in documents destined for print output.

Adobe Fonts offers thousands of fonts from over 150 type foundries as part of your Creative Cloud subscription. This Adobe Fonts library is included as part of all paid Creative Cloud plans.

All of the fonts are licensed for personal & commercial use; read about the font licensing in the Terms of Use.

See also: 

• System and subscription requirements.
• Welcome to Adobe Fonts
• Where do I get Adobe Fonts?

• You can activate a font using the Character panel of Illustrator. For more information, see Using Fonts in Illustrator.
• You can use Adobe's subscription-based online service (Adobe Fonts) that offers an unlimited library of high-quality fonts from hundreds of type foundries. You can browse these fonts from within Creative Cloud application or go to Adobe Fonts to activate instantly and use in your artwork.
• Sign in to the Creative Cloud desktop app with a named-user Creative Cloud subscription. If you aren't able to install the Creative Cloud desktop app for any reason, you won't be able to activate fonts.
• All activated fonts are available for use in all Creative Cloud applications.
• If you face any problems while activating a font or the font is disabled, see Troubleshooting guide: Activating fonts.

All fonts included with Creative Cloud can be used on mobile on iOS13.1 (and newer) apps that support Apple's custom font APIs. Search for your favorite font families or discover new ones with just a few swipes. For more information, see Activate fonts on Creative Cloud mobile.

When you activate fonts from Adobe Fonts, they will appear in the font menus of all your desktop applications, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Microsoft Office, and iWork. Use these fonts for print design, website mockups, word processing, and more.

For more details, see Activate fonts on your computer.

If you face any font activation issues, try these troubleshooting steps:

• Sign-in again into Creative Cloud
• Restart your computer
•  Check your network connection

See the following articles:

• Troubleshooting guide: Activating fonts
  
• "Unable to activate one or more fonts" or "A font with the same name is already installed"
• Creative Cloud desktop app doesn't open | Progress wheel spins continually

To identify a font used in your document, use the Find Font option (Type > Find Font). For more details, see Find and replace a font in your document.

• Adobe Fonts helps you find fonts matching with the text used in images. You can select a font displayed in the search results to immediately activate it. Once activated, the font becomes available in various Creative Cloud apps.
  
• You can upload the image for scanning in the Adobe Fonts online app. Click the camera icon   or drag-and-drop the image file. Align the text and click Next Step. To activate a font, click the Activate Font button.
• For more information, see Find fonts from images.

If your document contains fonts that are not installed on your system, you will receive an alert message when you open the document. Illustrator indicates the missing fonts and substitutes missing fonts with available matching fonts.

• To substitute missing fonts with a different font, select the text that uses the missing font and apply any other available font.
• To make missing fonts available in Illustrator, either install the missing fonts on your system or activate the missing fonts from the Adobe Fonts service. For more information, see Add fonts.
• To highlight substituted fonts for easy identification, choose Preferences > Type > Highlight Substituted Fonts.

For more details, see Resolve missing fonts in desktop applications.