If you deliver a presentation on a system that doesn't have your slide show fonts installed, you could wind up with a font substitution mess. Susan Harkins shows how to save fonts with the presentation -- and how to find that elusive option in PowerPoint 2007.

Fonts are a luxury that we often take for granted. But the fonts that are available on the system you use to create a PowerPoint presentation might not be available on the system you actually use to share the presentation. At best, the system will substitute a font that works well enough. At worst, the system will substitute a font that makes a mess. Don't leave such an important visual tool up to chance.

The good news is that you can save the fonts you use in your presentation with your presentation. It won't matter if the presentation system doesn't have your fonts of choice because you'll have them. Simply tell PowerPoint to save the fonts as follows:

From the File menu, choose Save As. Click the Tools button's drop-down list and choose Save Options. In the resulting dialog box, select Embed TrueType Fonts (at the bottom). Select one of the suboptions. If you'll want to edit the presentation on other systems, choose Embed All Characters, although it will increase the file's size. Click OK. Click Save.

The main reason I'm mentioning this feature is because it's so hard to find in PowerPoint 2007 -- although it's right under your nose! This option's still available via the Save As dialog box, but instead of being on the toolbar, the Tools control is at the bottom-left corner of the dialog box. I know things change, but geez.... Perhaps I can save a few of you the unpleasant I'm such an idiot feeling when you transition to PowerPoint 2007 and you can't find the tools you need.