Participating Frequently

Question

Updating a 27-year-old book PDF for reprint - how best to substitute old fonts?

Forum|Forum|13 days ago
February 11, 2026
4 replies
72 views

Once upon a time….

I published a book using then-new POD/PQN technology (1999). I created the book using QuarkXPress 3.31r5, that I no longer use. It was a fairly complex layout with multiple fonts used (one might say it was “over designed,” but I am unwilling to denigrate my former self). Several of those old fonts were Type 1 fonts, no longer supported in printing workflows.

The book needs to be prepared for reprint for the author’s backlist. I have access to the old backup files but may not have access to a machine to run the old version of QuarkXPress under which the file was originally built. I can substitute current versions of some of the fonts used, on my present system—in fact, I just acquired the current version of Adobe Garamond Pro (the body copy for 80+% of the novel); alas, the old .pdf file (created back in the day, sometime in 1999) still does not render Garamond when I display it on my system (Mac OS Monterey, using Apple Preview). Preview shows instead a Times NR-like font as a near-equivalent.

So clearly there is a discrepancy between the font being requested by the old .pdf and the newly-installed Adobe Garamond I just installed on this system. (I.e., “Garamond 1999” does not equal “Garamond 2026”.) There are several other fonts used in the document, not all of which are Adobe fonts, which will likely produce the same error. Sigh.

I’m wondering if my best bet is to try to acquire an old Mac to run that old QXP file and sub the fonts there. Or can I do efficient font-subbing within current Acrobat, and thereby update the file for a modern printing workflow? I also need to adjust a few details, such as missing blank pages (must have overlooked a checkbox when I made the original .pdf), so using Acrobat would be helpful for that work.

Thoughts?

Cheers,

Ben

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

“So clearly there is a discrepancy between the font being requested by the old .pdf and the newly-installed Adobe Garamond I just installed on this system”

Yes, there is. They are NOT the same.

If your PDF did not have the fonts embedded, and they aren’t already available on your sytem, it will substitute with something “similar”. Normally this would be Adobe’s Generic Sans/Serif MM font, but could very well be something else like the Time you are experiencing.

The reason your new Garamond Pro doesn’t work is that the original Garamond you used would have had a completely different internal Postscript name than what the Pro uses now, so they will not match.

Please try open the QXP file in InDesign.

BenofOldAuthor

Participating Frequently

Brad,

Thanks, that’s the route I’m taking now. And InDesign is not doing a great job of translating the QXP file. E.g., the text frames are offset about half their width off the pages on which they are supposed to appear! Very odd.

But at least this method will let—er, FORCE me—to really comb over the document carefully. AFTER I buy a lotta $$ worth of replacement fonts, that is.

Ugh.

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

Which fonts did you buy? Adobe Garamond Pro is free at Adobe Fonts.

In any case, if you’d like me to look at converting a test file from QXP to ID, DM me!

-Brad

JR Boulay

Community Expert

Never use Preview (aka “the PDF killer”) to view or edit PDFs, especially if they are pre-press files.

Acrobat should display the document correctly.

Do you need to make some changes in this file?

If you just need to add a few blank pages, you can do so with Acrobat Pro without modifying the rest of the document.

Otherwise, you can open (open, not import) the PDF with InDesign (version 25 or later) but you will need to redo the layout and replace the fonts.

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

Brad @ Roaring Mouse

Community Expert

If you have an existing print PDF (despite the changes you need to make) you might want to stick with that. You can use Acrobat to add the blank pages where you need them.

True, the best approach for the least amount of work would be to go back to a system that can run Xpress and use the existing Type 1 fonts, but you really should consider future proofing the document by rebuilding it in InDesign, which can still convert QXP 3 - 4 files. There will be definitely be reflow, and depending on the nature of your content, might be a just little bit of work to massage back to form, or…..A LOT!. Then you can sub in the new OpenType fonts as necessary and then you will have a file you can work with going forward. Who knows how long the built-in Quark converter stays in ID… it could very well be dropped in future versions, so your recourse then is a conversion utility like those offered by markzware…. so now is the best time to do it. Even if you don’t want to spend the time and effort to convert the entire document, you could always use it to work on indiviual pages that you can edit and reinsert back into your existing print PDF.

As a prepress person, that is literally the approach I would offer to a client doing a reprint of an old archived job.

Brad

AnandSri

Community Manager

Hello @BenofOld

I hope you are doing well, and thank you for reaching out.

What you’re seeing is expected behavior with a 1999‑era PDF that uses legacy Type 1 fonts.

Type 1 (PostScript) fonts are no longer supported for authoring or editing in current Adobe apps (support ended in 2023). Installing a modern OpenType font (for example, Adobe Garamond Pro) does not replace or “match” the old Type 1 font referenced inside the PDF.
Acrobat cannot reliably substitute or modernize fonts across a complex, book‑length PDF. It can inspect fonts and make minor edits (like adding blank pages), but it cannot safely re‑typeset or globally replace legacy fonts without breaking layout.
Preflight can only embed fonts if the exact font (same type, encoding, and metrics) is installed and licensed. A modern OpenType version is not considered equivalent to an old Type 1 font.

See these articles for more details:

PostScript Type 1 fonts end of support.

PDF fonts.

Analyzing documents with the Preflight tool (Acrobat Pro).

Suggestions/Workarounds:

If possible, go back to the original QuarkXPress source, replace the Type 1 fonts there with current OpenType fonts, and export a new PDF with embedded fonts. This is the only Adobe‑supported, print‑safe way to preserve pagination and layout for a reprint.

If the source file is not usable:
Use Acrobat Pro > All Tools > Print Production > Preflight and look for fixups such as embedding or converting fonts.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Anand Sri.

BenofOldAuthor

Participating Frequently

Anand,

Thank you for the informative response. I was afraid of this!

It MAY be possible to assemble a workstation using the old software, but doing so immediately begs the question: Can that old Mac OS even utilize the newer versions of the fonts I would need to use? My guess is that the system resources and architecture (Mac OS 9) would NOT allow the use of the new fonts. So opening the original document would be of no use in that environment. The next question would be: Could I export that old document in such a way that it could be imported into a current workstation workflow (e.g., InDesign on a current Mac OS computer)? Then I could “rebuild” the file with the correct modern fonts.

I’m going to attempt updates using Acrobat’s Preflight tool first.

Thanks for the insights!

Ben

BenofOldAuthor

Participating Frequently

Also: I just tried using Preflight, first by trying to even FIND it. I tried on the web client version, in my browser, but couldn’t find it; then I tried downloading the app to my computer, assuming it only is available in the desktop version. But when I try to access Preflight, using the All tools > Use print production left-menu item, nothing appears. The left menu area goes blank, with NO items appearing. I had learned Preflight is located under the print production section, but I can’t get to it.

So I guess I can’t use Preflight?

Sign up

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Sign in to Adobe Community

To post, reply, or follow discussions, please sign in with your Adobe ID.

Scanning file for viruses.

This file cannot be downloaded