How to subset pdf fonts for faster web delivery
- Step 1Upload the PDF for web hosting — Drop the document into the font subsetter.
- Step 2Subset all embedded fonts — Apply font subsetting.
- Step 3Also apply lossless compression — For best results, compress the PDF losslessly after subsetting.
- Step 4Upload to your web server or CDN — Deploy the optimised PDF.
Frequently asked questions
Should I also linearize the PDF for web delivery?+
Yes — combine font subsetting with linearization for the best web delivery performance: subset fonts, compress, then linearize.
Does font subsetting work with variable fonts?+
Variable font subsetting in PDFs follows the standard subsetting process. The reduced font data covers only the character instances used in the document.
Will font subsetting affect PDF accessibility?+
No — font subsetting does not affect the text content, Unicode mapping, or accessibility tags in the PDF.
Privacy first
All PDF processing runs locally in your browser using PDF-lib and pdf.js. No file is ever uploaded — only metadata counters are saved for signed-in dashboard stats.