Canva to PDF character encoding issues

[CM1002]

I have a document from a client that they made in Canva, and no matter how I try to export it, when I run it through the PAC checker I get a bunch of character and font issues. Font embedding, mapped to unicode, character encoding, all the errors. I've tried all the preflight fixes, but nothing works. When I try to autotag it, all the spaces in the document turn into "A"s. The fonts used in the Canva document are ones I have downloaded in Acrobat, so I don't know what the issue is. I'm not really sure how or if I can make this document accessible. I also have access to the Canva link. Has anyone else had this experience or do they know how to fix it?

[S. S]

Hi @CM1002,

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for writing in!

This seems like an embedding issue with fonts on the PDF. You might want to try the below steps:

• Use “PDF Print” instead of “PDF Standard”: The "PDF Print" option typically embeds fonts better.
• Flatten PDF: Canva might not embed the fonts correctly, but flattening the design might help. Be cautious with this as it can impact accessibility further.

If these don't work, you can try exporting the ODF to a word file and then re-create the PDF. When doing so, go to the Acrobat Ribbon-> Preferences-> Advanced settings-> Fonts-> check the checkboxes "Embed all fonts" and "Embed Open Type Fonts."

Then try the same workflow again.

Let me know if this helps.

-Souvik