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Debbie @ Bella
Participant
Aug 8, 2021 11:54 PM UTC
Question

Additional Character spaces added when viewed as text

Hi,

We have an unusual problem and have done a fair bit of research without seeing a similar problem... 

We design a magazine in InDesign and supply in PDF format to a digital host (Zinio). But when the PDFs are viewed by them in their text reader additional random spaces are added between characters.

Also, if we copy paste the text from these PDFs the additional spaces appear. If I copy and paste directly from the InDesign file, the text spacing is correct.

This has only started since we started using InDesign 16. Currently we're on InDesign 16.3.2 running on a Mac running Big Sur 11.5.

Any clues as to the cause would be greatly appreciated!

 

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5 replies

Community Expert
LaubenderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
Aug 10, 2021 2:30 PM UTC

Hi Debiie,

sorry, I'm not able to download your posted InDesign document.

The forum does not allow this. Tried with Firefox and Chrome on Windows 10.

It may be the special characters in the document's name.

 

Could you post the document again just with no special characters in the name?

Simply Letter93.indd would do. Thanks!

 

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

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Brad @ Roaring Mouse
Community Expert
Brad @ Roaring MouseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
Aug 9, 2021 5:16 AM UTC

From your PDF, it copied and pasted just fine in every program I tried here EXCEPT for Word, where the first time I pasted it did the same thing, albeit a bit differently. HOWEVER, if you Paste Special as "Unformatted Text" in Word, the spacing doesn't happen. So it seems some weird rich text formatting is happening in the clipboard. How and why this is affecting your Zinio situation is not clear when it doesn't seem to affect exporting to RFT or Word directly from the PDF.

 

Hmmm.

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    Diane Burns
    Diane Burns
    Inspiring
    Aug 9, 2021 2:10 AM UTC

    Yes, please supply samples as Steve mentions. Thanks.

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    Debbie @ BellaAuthor
    Participant
    Aug 9, 2021 4:44 AM UTC

    Thanks for the speedy response.

    Files uploaded now.  

    Please let m eknow of any additional info you need.

     

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    Steve Werner
    Community Expert
    Steve WernerCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    Aug 9, 2021 12:32 AM UTC

    To investigate, we'd need to see a sample of the InDesign file and the PDF file. Impossible to help with just your verbal description (too many variables). Can you post samples and supply a link we can test?

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