Missing Fonts Issue When Auto-Tagging Korean PDF Files

Report · Apr 24, 2025

Hello, Adobe Acrobat Support Community,

I’m working on converting Korean-language PDF files into accessible PDFs using Adobe Acrobat Pro, and I’m encountering an issue during the auto-tagging process. Some portions of text seem to be missing, possibly due to a font issue.

These missing text segments are not visible on screen, cannot be read by screen readers, and do not appear in the Content panel, suggesting that they’ve been completely excluded from the document structure.

Has anyone encountered this issue before, and if so, do you have any suggestions or solutions for fixing it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you!

Best regards,
Haesolla Kim

Report · Apr 25, 2025

Hi @boinpdf_7265,

Hope you are doing well. Sorry for your experience with creating accessible PDFs on Acrobat.

What I would like to know here, is, how the PDF files are created?

Have you tried using the Preflight tool to eliminate any possible font embedding issue before going ahead with the auto-tagging process?

You can try the below steps:

Open the file > go to Tools > Print Production > Preflight > Select Single Fixups > Embed missing fonts > Fix (screenshot attached for reference).

Once done, try the auto-tagging process again.

You can learn more about the pre-flight tool here: https://adobe.ly/3GsuJE0.

Also, ensure that you are on the latest version of Acrobat (2025.001.20467) for the best experience.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Souvik.

Report · May 09, 2025

Hello, Souvik

Thank you for your reply!

The PDF files I’m working with were originally created in formats like DOCX and INDD, and then converted to PDF.

As you suggested, I tried using Preflight to check for any font-related issues before running the auto-tagging process, but unfortunately, the same issue still occurs.

This problem happens not only with Korean-language PDFs but sometimes with English-language ones as well.

Additionally, I’m currently using the latest version of Acrobat Pro.

I would greatly appreciate any further advice you might have on how to resolve this issue.

Best regards,

Haesolla Kim

Report · May 13, 2025

Hi @boinpdf_7265,

Thanks for the response.

Since you are creating the files from Microsoft Word, would you mind trying the steps below when creating the PDF:

Open the document in Word > Print > select "Adobe PDF" > click on "Advanced" > check the box "Do not rely on System Fonts. Use document fonts only." > Print.

Let us know if this works for you.

Regards,
Souvik.

Report · May 14, 2025

Hello, Souvik,

Thank you for your advice regarding possible solutions.

The file in question, which triggered the missing fonts issue, was provided to me as a PDF that had already been generated elsewhere. As such, I have no control over how it was originally created.
Given the wide variety of PDF files I work with, it is not feasible to examine the entire conversion process for each one. Additionally, I do not have access to—or the ability to modify—the original source files prior to PDF conversion.

I appreciate your guidance and sincerely hope that a more universal solution can be implemented within Acrobat Pro’s auto-tagging process to address this type of issue.

Thank you again.

Best regards,
Haesolla Kim

Report · May 20, 2025

Hi @boinpdf_7265,

Thanks for the response.

Would you mind sharing a sample file with me?

The before and after of an auto-tagging processed file would be great to understand and investigate further along with the development team.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Souvik.

Report · May 21, 2025

Hello, Souvik,

Please find attached the original file and the after auto-tagging version.

The document is a research paper written in Korean.
You can observe a missing character around the middle of page 2 in the after auto-tagging version.

“남숙경” → “숙경”
(This is a person's name — one of the authors.)

Please note that this PDF was created elsewhere and then shared with me.
As such, I do not have access to the source file that was used to generate the PDF.

Thank you very much for your response and support.

Best regards,
Haesolla Kim

Report · May 13, 2025

I’ve experienced something similar when fonts aren’t properly embedded in PDFs. It might help to ensure the font is embedded correctly during the creation process or try converting the document to a different format before auto-tagging. Also, check if the font is supported by Acrobat and update it if needed 여기여.