3665251 - Large file generated when exporting a Story using custom web font to PDF format in SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC)

• Exporting some Stories generates large PDF file.
• Exporting a Story to PDF that contains custom web font, takes time.
• When exporting a Story to PDF format that uses a custom web font, it takes more time to export, and generates a larger PDF file size, as compared to a Story using the standard fonts.

SAP Analytics Cloud 2025.14.17

1. In SAP Analytics Cloud, add a Custom Web Font:
    1.1  Go to: System / Administration 
    1.2  In Administration, select the tab "Default Appearance"
    1.3  In the section "Story Fonts", click the "+" sign
    1.4  Add a Custom Web Font.
    1.5  Click "Save"
       
2. Create a Story, and add a Table.
       
3. Save the Story.
     
4. Export the Story to PDF format.
     
5. Format the text on the Table to use a Custom Web Font, instead of the standard font.
       
6. Export the Story to PDF format.
     
7. Compare the PDF files size, and notice the one with the Web Custom Font is much larger than when the Story was using the standard font.

• When exporting a Story containing Custom Web Fonts to PDF format, it does not embed the Custom Web Font in the generated PDF document, it instead generates an image for each text in the Story.
• Images takes more space than an embedded font, and this is why the generated PDF file size is larger when using Custom Web Fonts in SAP Analytics Cloud. It is also the reason it takes longer to export the Story to PDF because it takes time to generates an image for each text that is formatted using a Custom Web Font.

To reduce the file size, and the time it takes to export a Story to PDF format, the suggestion is to replace the Custom Web Fonts used in the Story, by the "standard" fonts:

• 72-Web
• Arial
• Courier
• Lato
• Times New Roman

SAC, export, PDF , KBA , LOD-ANA-DES , Story Design & Visualizations , Problem