Question: I'm trying to build a Scribus template for use by people who do not necessarily have some of the fonts that the template prefers.

In CSS one can define a "font-family", such as `font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, serif;` or `font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;` (which isn't really the standard meaning for "font family", but never mind).

I see in the manual ([Help:Manual Fontswin32](https://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Help:Manual_Fontswin32) and [Help:Manual Fontsconfig](https://wiki.scribus.net/canvas/Help:Manual_Fontsconfig)) that it's possible to set font substitution preferences with this dialog box:
[![Preferences > Font substitution](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pQSN.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6pQSN.png)

But that appears to set user preferences in my instance of Scribus; what I'd like to do is define font substitution preferences for a *template* instead.

Related question if I have to fall back to Word (which seems even less likely to have a solution at this point): <https://superuser.com/questions/1337305/word-font-substitution-in-templates>

Answer: 
In Scribus 1.4.7 (maybe earlier too), there is an option to include the fonts when you save the template. Seems to work for me. It actually includes the font file in the directory you save the template to. The receiver will have to open it as a template (new from template), which means they need to put in one of the default places scribus looks or alter their preferences. They can NOT just open the \*.sla file by itself.

[![Embed fonts](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0r3aI.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/0r3aI.png)

Of course, the fonts must allow re-distribution in their licenses.
One way of doing this\* would be to **export your preferences**: `File > Preferences > Export` and include the generated file with your templates -- assuming that you have already included your font substitutions in *your* Preferences settings.

Users will then have to import these settings *before* calling the template in Scribus (you could add a `Readme` file for instructions). Have a look at: <https://scribus-templates.net> if you have more questions on templates.

\*That is if you cannot include your fonts in your template as described: <https://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com/a/111448/121612>