How to Package Fonts from Photoshop Files Using Illustrator

Packaging assets for the purpose of sending them to a client or colleague is less of a common chore than it used to be, now that Adobe has built so many services for collaboration into Creative Cloud, such as Cloud Documents, Adobe Fonts, Adobe Stock, and so on. But should you ever need to package a Photoshop file containing type layers, you might benefit from this tip for collecting the fonts via Illustrator.

Packaging Options

Photoshop does offer a Package command in the File menu, but it won’t gather fonts. It only collects files that were placed as linked smart objects.

InDesign also has a Package feature that will collect all linked assets and fonts used in the layout, as long as they’re not protected (e.g. fonts synced from Adobe Fonts*). But InDesign won’t collect any fonts used in linked assets, except other InDesign files that were placed in the layout you’re packaging. If you’d like to see this feature added to the program, you can vote for it over at the InDesign UserVoice page, where it has been a longstanding request. *There is one exception: Fonts that you uploaded to Creative Cloud are not protected and will be packaged.

Illustrator to the Rescue

So, other than manually collecting the fonts used in your Photoshop files, what can you do? Illustrator can help. Its Package command (found in the File menu) will collect fonts used in placed Photoshop files—as long as the layers in those files are converted to Illustrator objects. Fonts in

linked or flattened Photoshop files will not be included in the package. To create a package including the fonts used in a Photoshop file, place the file into Illustrator (File > Place or Command/Ctrl+Shift+P). In the dialog box, turn on Show Import Options and click Place. Tip: If you don’t see Show Import Options checkbox, first click Show Options.

In the Import Options dialog box, choose Convert Layers to Objects. Click or drag on an artboard to place the Photoshop file and convert its type layers to live, formatted text in Illustrator. Save the Illustrator document. Choose File > Package. In the dialog box, make sure that the Copy Fonts option is turned on. Remember: The Package command won’t collected protected fonts you synced from the Adobe Fonts service. Click through the alert about font licenses. Click Show Package to reveal the folder containing the fonts from your Photoshop file(s). InDesign users, try not to be jealous.

Okay, but why?

Admittedly, placing a Photoshop file in Illustrator and then packaging it may be more hassle than just manually tracking down the fonts in a lot of cases. But consider that you can place any number of Photoshop files into one Illustrator file and then collect the fonts used in all of them at once. You can also bypass the Place command by selecting text in Photoshop, copying it, and pasting it into Illustrator. It will come in formatted with the same fonts used in Photoshop and from there you can package the file to gather the fonts. But this could get tiresome if you had a lot of type layers since you can only select one at a time. So, in situations where you’re dealing with lots of Photoshop files and lots of fonts, packaging in Illustrator could be your best bet.

An Industrial Strength Solution

If you need to do this sort of thing on a regular basis, you may want to reach for something stronger. That something would be FlightCheck from Markzware. Among the many features it offers is the ability to collect and package assets from many types of documents, including Photoshop files. For a full rundown of FlightCheck 2023, check out Jeff Potter’s review from Issue #15 of CreativePro Magazine (free to read for a limited time).