Old style numerals problem when creating PDFs from Word files

[psd87046446]

Hello,

I recently switched to Windows 10 and Word 2016. I just noticed a problem with old style numerals when saving Word files as PDF.

I noticed in one file that some numerals that were in were old in Word appeared as lining in the PDF. Other numerals were fine. It took me a bit of time of trial and error, but eventually I identified what looks like the source of the problem. If the paragraph in which the numbers appear contains an apostrophe, then numbers after it (but not before) will appear in old style in Word, but as lining in the PDF.

I know it sounds crazy, but here is the evidence. First, a screenshot from a Word document

As you can see the numbers are all in old style.

Now a PDF created from this file:

You get lining numbers after the apostrophe. The same sentence without the apostrophe looks fine.

The typefaces used here are standard Windows typefaces (Calibri and Times New Roman), but the same thing happens with many (not all) typefaces that don't come with Windows.

This happens both when "printing" a PDF and when using the save as PDF option. Rebooting didn't help.

Any suggestions on how to solve this problem that don't involve getting rid of apostrophes (or of old style numerals, which I like)?

Thanks!

[psd87046446]

Forgot to mention - I am using Adobe Acrobat Pro XI.

[Dov Isaacs · Accepted solution]

On behalf of Adobe Systems Incorporated …

I tried to duplicate the symptoms you reported with a similar source file (see attached .docx file) using Word 2016 under Windows 10, albeit with Adobe Acrobat DC Pro.

I tried the experiment with Calibri, Times New Roman, and Cambria, all fonts shipped with Windows 10. (Note that the Times New Roman available with Windows 7 does not have Old Style Figures capabilities!)

I created a PDF file via Acrobat's PDFMaker facility (file attached) as well as by printing to the AdobePDF PostScript printer driver instance (file attached).

In both cases, all the Old Style Figures came through the process unscathed! In other words, I could not reproduce the problem that you are experiencing.

You will probably counter that we used different versions of Acrobat. That is true, but the fact that printing to the Adobe PDF PostScript printer driver instance yielded a problem for you negates that argument. In fact, for that case, Word generates GDI output that is fed to the PostScript driver which generates PostScript. At that point, the Distiller converts PostScript to PDF, but all selection of which glyphs to use was made by Word when outputting GDI to the PostScript driver. No Adobe software was involved. Ironically, a similar situation exists with PDFMaker, regardless of whether it is Acrobat 11 or Acrobat DC. By the time PDFMaker gets to create PDF, the selection of fonts and glyphs (and for that matter, the other aspects of layout) have actually been completed by Word. PDFMaker just gets to convert what Word has provided it into PDF format.

So what is causing the problem for you? I honestly don't know. You can download my attached sample document and see if you get my results or the same issue you previously saw with your file.

Given the variables, what I would do would be to make sure all Microsoft-provided updates have been applied to Office 2016. Since installing Office 2016 on my systems, I have literally seen dozens of updates to fix unspecified problems in the various Microsoft applications that are part of Office 2016. My samples were created with all updates applied to Office 2016 (as well as Windows 10 although I think Windows 10 is not part of the problem).

Let us know whether this helps at all.

And FWIW, I also love Old Style Figures (and other aspects of fine typography) even in pedestrian applications such as Word! 

          - Dov

[psd87046446]

Thanks for the effort! If I don't come up with another solution I will try reinstalling.

[psd87046446]

Here is another twist in the mystery: I downloaded the Word file you attached and converted it to PDF on my computer. There was no problem. I copied the text from your file to the one I created. Your text still converted fine, my text did not.

I would have liked to attach my own Word file to see how it converts on your system. But I don't think I can.

I posted the question also on a Microsoft forum. I'll update if I get a helpful response there.

Thanks again for the help.