Change fonts in a report

One limitation is that the SEC's EDGAR system doesn’t allow embedding fonts in HTML. This means that when filing with EDGAR in HTML format, filers need to ensure that any fonts used in their document are web safe fonts.

In this process, you can create interchangeable style guides to efficiently change fonts in the reporting document to ensure that the filing appears as you expect when opening the filing in the SEC viewer.

Leveraging style guides can aid in creating various iterations of your documents. With multiple style guides, you can also produce a version tailored for the SEC that includes a web safe font, ensuring your filing achieves the intended look and feel. This process also enables you to preserve your corporate branding standards for other filing submissions or PDFs.

Before you start, here are some things to know:

The style guide in your source document should be complete, or nearly complete before this process is done to avoid additional follow-up efforts later in the process and in subsequent years if style guides remain consistent.
Text in charts don’t have corresponding styles in the style guide. However, charts are converted to images which means any custom fonts used in charts will render correctly for all viewers.

Create a new style guide version

Here, you’ll create two versions of the style guide that can be used to switch your document between the version that will be filed with the SEC and the version for PDF or filing with other regulators. This will allow review of the proper version of filing documents throughout your process.

This process takes approximately one hour up front.

Export style guide from source

To export your style guide:

In your source document, open your style guide and select Export in the toolbar.
In your desktop, rename your exported style guide to describe which report it relates to (e.g. BespokeFontName_Style.style)
Save the exported style guide into a known location for future use. It’s recommended to upload your Workiva file experience alongside your report.

Next, you’ll need to copy your source document for testing. This copy will be a space to create a web safe version of your style guide and visualize changes. To learn how to copy a file, read Copy a file or folder.

Edit copied style guide

To edit copied file’s style guide:

Open the copied file’s style guide.
For each style, change the font to a web safe font and lock the font style in the Style Editor. View a list of web safe fonts in Web safe fonts for Workiva.
Click Publish in the style guide and exit the style guide to review the copied file’s changes.
Check the number of pages in the document and compare it to the source.

There may be a difference in the number of pages because of the differing font measurements.

To resolve this, in your copied file’s style:

Apply a tighter character spacing in the style for the primary content in your report (e.g. Body Text), if the copied file has more pages than the source.
Apply a looser character spacing in the style for the primary content in your report (e.g. Body Text), if the copied file has less pages than the source.

Check style guide

To check your style guide:

Run a Document Health check to identify any areas in the content where it may be truncated in table cells, text boxes, or design sections.

Note: To properly run Document Health, make sure that the document type matches your intended filing in Document Properties. To learn more about Document Health, read Document Health in Workiva.
Make any adjustments to the style guide based on the Document Health run.
Click Publish and review the layout of your file.

Export copied style guide

When you’re satisfied with the layout, you’ll need to export your style guide.
To export:

Go to the copied file’s style guide.
Click Export.
In the computer, rename the style guide to describe which report it relates to (e.g. Arial.style).
Save the exported style guide in the same location as your previously saved style guide export. It’s recommended to upload your Workiva file experience alongside your report.