When converting a doc file to pdf, the conversion programme has to
include information about the fonts to be used. It can do this in two ways:
- it can just give information about which font to use, which means
that the Reader of the pdf file will use this information to locate
fonts on the local computer and use these local fonts to render the
file. In this case the fonts are *non-embedded*.
- it can include the fonts in the pdf file in a compressed form, in
which case the Reader of the pdf file has all the information it needs,
and doesn't need to look for fonts on the local computer. In this case
the fonts are *embedded*.
The advantage of 1 over 2 is size of the pdf file. The disadvantage of 1
is the need for local fonts: if those fonts are not on the local
computer then the reader will not be able to display the file correctly.
So if you use non-embedded fonts, it is possible that you can see the
file perfectly on your computer, but that we on our computer cannot
display the file correctly, because we do not have the required fonts.
How to make fonts embedded: see the very useful information on
http://ismir2005.ismir.net/pdf.html
How do you know whether a pdf file uses embedded fonts: open it in
Acrobat Reader, choose File --> Document Properties -- Tab: Fonts, and
there you see all the information about the fonts used, and whether they
are embedded or not.