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J
JJorda
Participating Frequently
November 21, 2013
Question

Printing problem when PDF is sent to the printer with certain fonts - missing text

  • November 21, 2013
  • 4 replies
  • 117376 views

I'm running into a printing problem when PDFs containing certain characters of the Calibri font are used.  The text in large sections of the PDF is missing on the paper version, but the text is there on the screen.  It's also happened when the PDFs we created were e-mailed out to a client and printed on their printer.  The problem is not present when printing directly from the programs (Microsoft Word, Excel, Visio, etc.).  I've been trying to get tech support from Adobe on this, but every time I call they apologize and say they will call back in 4-6 hours with an answer.  Same result each time, no call back.  If anyone from Adobe is listening, it's case number 184891587.  The font appears as an embedded subset when I look at the document properties.  Sometimes deleting one or two Characters allows for larger text blocks to be printed - i.e. removing a long dash in bold from the heading of a paragraph makes the paragraph reappear when printed to paper from PDF.  In all cases the PDF appears correct on the screen.  Printing as an image allows the text to appear, but the image quality isn't acceptable for small text, even at the 600 dpi setting on the printer.  If the PDF is sent out by e-mail, we do not have control over the end-user's printer setup anyway, so we need this to work in all cases.  

The setup/process I'm using is as follows:

Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-Bit

Microsoft Office 2013 - problem is present when printing documents from Word, Excel or Visio.  Even other variations on documents. 

I've tried Acrobat versions 11.0.0 to 11.0.5 as well as Acrobat Pro 11.0.0 and 11.0.1.  Same Result

Printing to Adobe PDF as the printer, from the third party application

Printing to a Xerox printer from PDF using Acrobat - Text missing

Client prints to Konica printer - Text missing

I print to the wide-format Ricoh (which also does 11x17) and the text is present. 

Is there something I'm missing?  Is the entire font not getting embedded into the PDF file?  I noticed that rolling back to a much older version of the Calibri font (1.02 compared to 5.72) makes the problem mostly go away, but it's not completely gone.  Is it possible the font is too large to be completely embedded?  Where can I go from here? 

This topic has been closed for replies.

4 replies

D
Darlene5EDC
New Participant
October 9, 2020

We had a similar problem that we solved this week. I could print from our program to Adobe fine but the Controller of our company was having issues. I checked her printer driver and she was using a generic windows driver when I am using the correct driver for our Printer , Copier Scanner Multifunction Office machine. Removed her printer, reinstalled (it tried to use generic Windows 10 driver) overode with correct driver...bingo solved her problem. Operations Manager said he had problem to, (same generic driver), removed printer reinstalled TCP/IP correct driver...corrected his issues also. It is worth a try checking to make sure you have the correct up to date driver for your actual default printer.

A
AFFENDI5C4E
New Participant
July 7, 2021

Hi Guys. I just solved teh same problem today.  What I did: Open my pdf files using Microsoft Edge.  Then you could either print it or download it to be printed. I hope this helps

J
JessyeM1
New Participant
March 10, 2015

I have found a solution (workaround), I had a problem printing Calibri font in a PDF when I was using Acrobat XI Pro and printing with Adobe Reader X.

When printing in Word, choose Adobe PDF - Printer Properties - Paper/Quality Tab - Advanced - In the Document Options, and in the Postcript options, I have changed TrueType Font Download Option to Outline instead of Automatic

Working for me!

A
afpadc
Known Participant
December 5, 2013

More to add to the pile: We just upgraded to Acrobat XI Pro. Now when I print a Word 2013 document containing the Century font to PDF (Acrobat XI), all of the text appears on the screen. When I print the PDF file to paper, some of the text disappears and shows as blank space. If the font is changed to Century Schoolbook, the text both displays and prints. When I use the "save to PDF" option in Word, rather than the "Print" option, the document containing Century font both displays and prints. The same thing happens with WordPerfect files, so it doesn't seem to be limited to Microsoft Word. Different machines, different installs, different printers all act the same. The file printed correctly in Acrobat X.

Other folks have the same issue. Any suggestions?

Windows 7x64; Acrobat XI with the 01/08/2013 update; Microsoft Office 2013. WordPerfect X6. Embed all fonts set to on. Rely on system fonts only set to off. Phaser and Brother B/W and Phaser color printers.

J
JJordaAuthor
Participating Frequently
December 5, 2013

I just tested Century on my machine as well as Cambria.  Both have the problem.  Arial prints fine. 

A
afpadc
Known Participant
January 23, 2014

Success!  At least for now.  It looks like my problem was fixed with Adobe's most recent update, 11.0.06.  From the release notes:

PDF creation

  • Added support for Lotus Notes 9.
  • Added support for WebCapture in IE 11.
  • Added support for conversions from AutoCAD 2013.
  • 3652540 A blank pdf is created for files having hidden visual style.
  • 3601108 Flow Chart converts as a multicolored square.
  • 3654345 Word documents missing parts of images in conversion to PDF.
  • 3654572 Temporary file size increases when creating pdf by combining multiple files into one PDF.
  • 3670155 PDF file created with Distiller XI prints incorrectly to some printers. (Emphasis mine)
  • 3599407 Checkbox check marks do not appear in these files.
  • 3663233 IE Web Capture in localized OS: Icons and drop-down menu items are missing and conversion dialog is not localized.
  • 3651931 Chrome Only: Few web pages when converted to pdf from Chrome plugin doesn’t show up the Save As dialog.
  • 3597910 EPM Mode On: Web capture is not working on Windows 8-32 bit when cache folder is missing.
  • 3610644 Firefox 23.0: With Firefox version 23.0 (latest), the WebCapture icon shows up very dim as if it is disabled.
  • 3650244 ODA falis to convert DWG files to PDF for large files.

I don't know if that's definately what solved the problem, but it sure sounds similar and this is the update that made the printing problem go away.  We can't get the PDFs to fail at this point with our printers, even with Calibri 5.72.  I'll come back to thread if we have printing problems at the end-user locations. 


It seems to work for Century as well both in Word and WordPerfect. Yay!

J
JJordaAuthor
Participating Frequently
November 25, 2013

A quick update to this: I found that the problem appears to go away if I use a post script driver instead of the standard PCL driver for the printer.  This doesn't solve the problem of e-mailing files out to clients and having them not print, however. 

This may be a whole different round of questions, but how are fonts handled differently in PS vs PCL drivers?  I wouldn't think the the file would be so dependent on the type of printer driver, but printing with the same driver from Word/Excel/Visio etc. vs. printing from Acrobat have two totally different outcomes. 

H
HUnknown1
Inspiring
December 3, 2013

Yes I am running into this same problem with that font. When I convert from InDesign or Illustrator to PDF. I also found another font that causes an issue is Source Code Pro when coverted to PDF It is also blank or gives similar line issues. However, Source Sans Pro works OK no problems. One thing you can try is if you have acrobat pro xi is selecting just that text in edit mode change it to another font and then change it back again and save the document. This makes the file larger, but it sometimes helps if that text is in a small local area and not the whole document. Then print it out to see the result. The other alternative is just to use arial or helvetica if you're in a rush with printing or emailing. I think they look close enough. Hope that helps.

Oh One more item this solved the font problem too:

http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/quick-fix-print-pdf-image.html

J
JJordaAuthor
Participating Frequently
December 5, 2013

Thank you for your reply.  Were you able to finally get a solution for your issue?  Calibri is the standard Office 2013 font - every new text box on every drawing we do in every office will start out as Calibri.  It's throughout the entire drawing.  It's really not a feasable option to change the font in production or once the file is created. 

Is there any way to tell if the printer drivers can't handle the latest version of the Calibri font in a .PDF file?  I would think that if it will work going from Office to the printer, but not from Office to PDF to the printer, then it's not a print driver problem but instead a problem with the way the font is embedded in the pdf file that's not compatable with the driver.  Does that make sense? 

We have used print as image as a temporary fix, but the image quality isn't the best.  Some of the smaller text is not readable. 

Dov - I've seen you comment (very helpfully!) on other threads.  I know these forums are not an official Adobe method of communication, but I'm not getting much help from the official Adobe technical support.  Do you have any input?  Thank you in advance, I'm at a loss now! 

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