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breandáno50193510
Participant
March 12, 2019
Question

Ligature issue just cost me 1500 euro

  • March 12, 2019
  • 1 reply
  • 1009 views

I prepared a self-published book for an author recently, we had the printer run out two copies so that we could see how it looked as a 'finished' book.

I was happy with everything, but the author found several proofing errors (he was the proofreader), so I happily made those changes and uploaded the revised pdf to the printer.

The author then went ahead and had 600 copies of the book printed–hence the 1500 euro. However, when he sent it out to the local paper for review the reviewer noticed that there was a capital Y with an umlaut (Ÿ) present in about 20 instances. What I worked out was that in every instance of the word John the hn letter pair defaulted to Ÿ.

Obviously one seriously unhappy camper and who, I guess can blame him. Also, understandably he could not go ahead with the planned launch.

I have been at this stuff for 30 or so years now and I have never seen such an issue.

My 'fault' I suppose because even for three changes I should have made sure that the author checked the file.

Still an expensive mistake which I can ill-afford.

I have road tested the file extensively since and the behaviour is random, it occurs some times and not others which is extra frustrating.

Where is the responsibility of a software vendor in this?

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

David__B
Adobe Employee
David__B
Adobe Employee
March 12, 2019

Hi Breandán,

Sorry to hear this happened. You didn't mention what software and version was used or specifically at what point in the process the issue occured. I think you would need a clearer understanding of the cause of the issue before assigning blame.

I found this article, not sure if it is related or not, but it sounded like it might be. There are some potential solutions or workarounds discussed at the end of article.
Weird ligature issues 

Best,

- Dave

B
breandáno50193510Author
Participant
March 13, 2019

>I think you would need a clearer understanding of the cause of the issue before assigning blame.

Thank you David. I am not sure where you read the word blame in my post? Are you suggesting my final question

>Where is the responsibility of a software vendor in this?< implies blame?

Ultimately the 'fault' is mine in that I did not, nor did I ask the author or the printer to cast any eye over the final pdf. I haven't got a leg to stand on.

However, this issue did not crop up in the many proofs which we had reviewed in the course of producing the book. It manifested ONCE in the final pdf that went to print. When I generated a replacement copy it did NOT manifest. I changed no parameters between these two pdfs.

I see you are an Adobe staff member so work for the corporation and presumably have a salary every month. I am self-employed and 1500 euro is a large sum for me to find. So you may understand that I am slightly peeved. However, asking a question does not imply blame in my book.

The blame and the fiscal consequences, thereof, lies with me. But my question remains a valid one.

I use  Creative Suite and ID is 14.0.1 CC Mac OSX 10.13.6

Brendan

T
Test Screen Name
Legend
March 13, 2019

For "blame" read "cause". We'd like to help you track down the cause of this problem. Something you do? A bug in the software? Or system? A strange decision made by the font designer? Most worrying is the thought that it's a random effect with no knowledge of the cause. I suggest you start by posting this in the InDesign forum now we now the software involved, that's where you are most likely to find experts who have seen this before.

I suggest you keep the question of "what is the responsibility of a software vendor" entirely out of this, at least until it is understood. It is an entirely different thing from solving the problem, and will distract. People often turn up here and threaten legal action: people become very cautious about answering. Your post could be be seen as having that intent.

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