Fidelity loss for Sitka variable font when exporting to PDF from Word on Windows 11 build

Question

Fidelity loss for Sitka variable font when exporting to PDF from Word on Windows 11 build

Peter Hall 5

Hi, I am following up on this question: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5492453/has-the-bug-in-windows-11-that-prevents-sitka-font

I have the same issue with rendering fonts in the Sitka family appropriately on pdf export, despite following steps suggested in the Q/A

Specifically:

There exist multiple weights in this font family, several of which I am using in my document.
When printing or converting to pdf
1. Weight information appears to be lost
2. The kerning of fonts is poorly resolved

See the following sample text:

User's image

^pdf conversion (borderline illegible... :( very disappointing)

This is actually a major issue for me, as a workaround will involve extensive reformatting of multiple interlinked documents. The manner in which the fonts are rendered by the pdf converters is unacceptable.

Thanks for your assistance resolving this issue promptly.

3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Peter Hall 5

Hi Kai, Thanks for your help. Unfortunately these tips did not resolve the issue, but I was able to resolve it by using the Adobe browser based pdf conversion

Acrobat Pro installed locally did not work in this case, only the browser app.

Not sure exactly why. I should be OK now

Thanks for your time regardless! I think it would be good if this issue was resolved eventually. The Sitka font family is excellent and very much underappreciated for its legibility and versatility.

I hope you have a good day.

Answer 2

Pete Matthews Jr 15

After knocking on this door since 2022, I'm glad to discover this thread. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5492453/has-the-bug-in-windows-11-that-prevents-sitka-font was my previous post, and it refers to my post of 2022.

For all this time, I have assumed that the problem was that Windows Home and/or Office Home refused to export the Sitka fonts. All the symptoms fit with Word bit-mapping all the Sitka fonts. Bolds become much less bold, "normal" text becomes a little bolder or fuzzier (encroaching on the white space between characters) -- comparatively speaking, the appearance is deserving of four-letter words.

I had already tried renaming the Sitka 1.12 font families and installing them on Windows 11. It worked! I wrote it up on my site at 3nt.xyz > ideas > computer -- or search the web for Aktis font. My page says how, but does not include the font. It seems fair to continue to use the font I purchased with Windows 8.5 to 10. If somebody from Microsoft says it's OK, I'll be glad to post/donate Aktis.

However, my posts -- including this one -- became gibberish in Acroread a few weeks later. It's working for me today. I want to try some of the ideas above, especially clearing the cache. I'll report back.

Pete Matthews Jr 15 Reputation points

2026-01-08T20:07:51.93+00:00
The cache-clearing process did not help. The Font Cache process kept restarting on its own. (I could not delete the cache files, until I ran a Command Prompt as administrator, drilled down, and deleted them by name. Still did not help.)

Sadly, my Aktis font does not work properly ON THE WEB. I re-exported a document using Aktis to a PDF, and it looked fine on my system. Uploaded to the web, each Aktis character printed as a vertical rectangle with a hexadecimal digit in each corner. This says to me that Word refused to either export or bitmap the Aktis font. (I downloaded that file, and back on my system, it looked fine. It prints fine on my system.

Printing to a third-party PDF converter (I use CutePDF). However, my page dimensions are not 8.5x11. CutePDF provides margins, left right and below. My test article is to become a new section in a 6x9 book, so there is lots of wasted space. It's complicated, but when properly exported to PDF from Word, there are no gratuitous margins. That's better for reading online, better for printing full size (via acroread, text gets magnified to fill the sheet), and way better for printing two-up. I think Word passes important info to its exporter that does not go to mine. And a third-party PDF writer will usually remember the folder it last used, rather than using the location of the .docx file - this is sure to cause the occasional error.

When it comes time to make a PDF for the third edition of my book, I suspect the current tools won't work. I have been relying on Word's export.

TWO main problems here:

The Sitka 2.00 font of Windows 11 is defective, not showing Bold and other effects, as illustrated in the OP above. I have reproduced this problem on my system (no need to upload anything to the web). Better is the enemy of good enough. In this case, all we need is Sitka 1.12 from Windows 10, which way better than good enough.

Word Export to PDF is not properly embedding SOME fonts. (It does embed the non-Microsoft Cards font.) It is possible that purchasing Office Home and Business will fix this problem. It is also possible that my Aktis font is defective for export; it works great on my system and when exported via CutePDF.

Back in 2022, during my brief, first upgrade to Windows 11, I was unable to delete the Sitka 2.00 fonts. I'll try again. Otherwise, I'll try installing Sitka 1.12 in addition - seems like a risky approach, but any port in a storm.
Pete Matthews Jr 15 Reputation points

2026-01-08T21:57:32.4066667+00:00

OK, I have demonstrated to my satisfaction that the Sitka 1.12 fonts do indeed supersede the 2.00 (or 2.01) fonts on Windows 11. (I tried real hard to remove or even rename the bad versions, no luck.)

It seems likely that when Microsoft next updates Sitka, that the 1.12 fonts will need to be reinstalled (perhaps after removing them). Hopefully, this will be a long-term solution that will not require changing any documents. (Those that I converted to use Aktis can be converted back, or continue to be published via CutePDF.)

At least for now, I am calling this a solution.
Pete Matthews Jr 15 Reputation points

2026-01-09T03:37:11.0833333+00:00

While validating my recent postings to 3nt.xyz that use my (Sitka-renamed) Aktis fonts, I discovered that the PDF at { Ideas > Computer > Windows 11 Start (Links, Toolbars) } does not exhibit corruption. It was exported and posted on 9 Sep 2025. The corruption of Aktis in more recent documents may have been caused by an update to Microsoft Windows 11, to Word Home & Student 2021, or to its PDF-export component.
Pete Matthews Jr 15 Reputation points

2026-01-15T04:43:11.6933333+00:00

The above post seems to be garbled at the end. Aktis is broken. I installed Sitka 1.12 on top of Sitka 2.00 on 7 or 8 Jan and it worked for 2-3 days, then regressed. Reinstalling Sitka 1.12 had no effect. I opened https://learn.microsoft.com/en-in/answers/questions/5708961/sitka-font-family-broken-on-windows-11-microsoft-p, asking Microsoft to fix the bug.

Answer 3

Hi Peter HallWelcome to Microsoft Q&A.

I understand your frustration regarding this issue with PDF font display when exporting. It stems from a fundamental change Microsoft made to the Sitka font files in Windows 11, shifting from static fonts to a variable font format, which appears to conflict with Word's PDF export engine.

Here are some troubleshooting steps you can try to resolve this issue:

Install and Use Static Sitka Fonts

The most reliable workaround is to bypass the Windows 11 variable font entirely by installing the static versions.

Source the Fonts: You can obtain the static fonts from either:
- A Windows 10 machine. The font files are located in C:\Windows\Fonts. Copy all Sitka*.* files (e.g., SitkaB.ttc, SitkaI.ttc, etc.).
- Adobe Fonts. Sitka is available on Adobe Fonts and is cleared for embedding in PDFs.
Install the Fonts: Install the static font files on your Windows 11 machine. Windows will likely warn you that a font with the same name already exists. You have two choices:
Allow Duplication: You can allow the duplicate installation. Your system will now have two sets of Sitka fonts, and Word should prioritize the newly installed static ones.
Rename the Font (Advanced): To avoid any system conflict, you could use a font editor to rename the font family inside the static font files' metadata before installing them (e.g., to "Sitka Static"). This is a more complex process but guarantees no clash with the system fonts.

Clear Font Caches

A deep clean of the system and application font caches can resolve rendering problems.

Open the Windows Services Manager (services.msc).
Locate and stop the Windows Font Cache Service and Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache services.
Navigate to C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local (you'll need to enable viewing of hidden files).
Delete all FontCache*.dat files and the contents of the FontCache folder.
Restart the services and reboot your computer.

Use a Different PDF Creator or Font

Third-Party PDF Software: Using a dedicated PDF creation tool like Adobe Acrobat Pro (which adds its own "Adobe PDF" printer and ribbon tab in Word) can often handle complex font embedding more reliably than Windows' built-in tools.
Alternative Fonts: If your project allows it, consider temporarily using a different, well-documented serif font like Cambria or Times New Roman for PDF generation until a fix is released.

Note: Microsoft is providing this information as a convenience to you. The sites are not controlled by Microsoft. Microsoft cannot make any representations regarding the quality, safety, or suitability of any software or information found there. Please make sure that you completely understand the risk before retrieving any suggestions from the above link.

I hope this can help resolve your issue. If the problem reoccurs, please get back for further assistance.

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Fidelity loss for Sitka variable font when exporting to PDF from Word on Windows 11 build

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