Windows 10 Print to PDF Error: findfont /courier

[jay45]

Recieving an error when attempting to print as PDF:

%%[ Error: typecheck; OffendingCommand: findfont ]%%

Stack:
/Font
(Courier)
/courier

%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%
%%[ Warning: PostScript error. No PDF file produced. ] %%

I have attempted the following....

- Confirmed Courier is isntalled in Windows\fonts (and added as resourse)

- Uninstalled/reinstall adobe Professional

- Changed font settings and folders used to locate fonts

- Start Acrobat Distiller and select "Font locations" within its "Settings" menu. Remove all the font folders listed there, except for the one that points to a subfolder called "/Resource/Font"

- Unchecked "rely on system fonts"

none of which seems to resolve the issue for me. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[Dov Isaacs]

You really are doing all the right things that we would advise …  😁

However, you should not remove C:\WINDOWS\Fonts\ from the list of font locations used by Distiller.

You didn't indicate what application you are printing to Adobe PDF from but if you are in Microsoft Office applications, you are much better off using the Acrobat PDFMaker capabilities that don't require production of PostScript and conversion of PostScript to PDF, the process used by printing to AdobePDF.

The other thing to note is that Courier is not a standard Windows font. There is a low resolution old style Windows bitmap “Courier Regular” font in the Windows font directory, but that is not usable by Distiller (or anything else as far as I know - it's there for hysterical reasons). Exactly what version of Courier did you install on your system?

[jay45]

Thank you for the rapid response.  To clarify, C:\Windows\Fonts was not removed as a resource, rather confirmed it was listed and that the Courier Regular and Courier New were listed. 

I am attempting to print from MS Word to PDF; the document does not contain Courier font (and the issue is present even if I attempt to print a blank document. I have also not manually installed any Courier fonts on my machine unless another application has installed it with an update. 

[Dov Isaacs]

What happens if you use the Acrobat PDFMaker facility? It uses not stink'in PostScript intermediary! 😁

[jay45]

Is this the PDFMaker any different than saving as Adobe PDF?

[Dov Isaacs]

Absolutely!

PDFMaker directly translates Word (or Excel or PowerPoint or Outlook) directly to PDF without any intermediary steps. It is the preferred method of PDF creation with Acrobat and Office. Live transparency and ICC color management is maintained. It allows for bookmarks to be created and links (external and internal) to be preserved. Adobe does not recommend use of printing to Adobe PDF unless you have (and really need) .EPS graphics in you Office documents (Microsoft still silently supports .EPS graphics, but doesn't document it anymore).

[ls_rbls]

++I would like to add to the discussion that, since you're trying to print to PDF see if this helps:

• Go to Control Panel
• Right-click in on the Adobe PDF printer icon, and select from the context menu "Printing Preferences" (not "Printer Preferences")
• Go to the "Adobe PDF Settings" tab
• Down below is a tick box "Rely on system fonts only; do not use document fonts"  unchek this tickbox and click OK

The suggestion above should also work if instead of printing to PDF directly from MS Word you choose from the File Menu " Save as Adobe PDF".

In addition to the steps above, you can rule out additional  issues by performing and Accessibility check from MS Word:

• Clikc on the File
• Then click on the "Info" tab
• Then select the second wizard "Check for Issues". From the context menu you can run "Check Accessibility". This checker will reveal if  certain fonts are not embedded, for example. It is useful to make sure that you embed all necessary fonts in your word document before a PDF conversion
• You can also disable the Accessibility Checker from running while you work, if, lets say, the Accessibility Checker is or could be the cause of the messages you're receiving during the Save As procedure.
• You can also check if the issue is related to actually not having TrueType and Open Fonts embedded in your word document. This may also be a reason for the conflict. If the case is that you need to embedd fonts : (1) Go to File, (2) Options, (3) Save (4) and go to the section below "Preserve Fidelity when sharing this document:". (5) Check the tickbox " "Embed fonts in the file"
• Additionaly you can also run "Inspect Document"  (it will check if there are add-ins, Macros, ActiveX controls Or XML data, etc.), This allows you to remove undesired objects that could be the root of the problem during a conversion to PDF.

If you run into other font  issues after the PDF was created successfully,  see if when you open the PDF with Acrobat these additional settings need to be modified:

• Go to Edit
• then Preferences
• then Content Editing
• See "Font Options", specifically "Fallback Font for Editing and the option to "Enable Artificial Bold/Italic Font Styles

[Dov Isaacs]

A major problem with some of this advice.

Embedding fonts into an Office document is very problematic. Besides the fact that a font must have editable embeddability permission, Microsoft only supports embedding of TrueType and OpenType TrueType fonts. It doesn't support OpenType CFF fonts (i.e., those with Type 1 Bezier outlines). There are also some issues with the way that the TrueType and OpenType TrueType fonts are embedded that interfere with full and proper PDF creation. Also, embedding fonts in an Office document tends to terribly bloat the size of the Office document, especially if you don't subset the embedded font (and subsetting the embedded font in the Office document makes no sense for an editable document?!?)!

[ls_rbls]

Thank you for clarifying this. Now I know.

[justaskingforafriend]

Did you find a solution to it? The whole this situation is frustrating and cretinistic. I can't find a solution for many months. By the way, Microsoft Print to PDF works just fine.

[ls_rbls]

I think Dov already explained this thoroughly, Print to PDF from MS is a different method than Print to PDF from Acrobat. You may need to manually adjust and customize  some printing  presets. At least that is how I work around it to avoid any sort of postscripting in the mix.

Maybe if you have an example file that you can share I could take a look at it and do some testing and then reply back with some step by step slides of what worked on my end. 

In any case, I've been able to achiev interesting results by Exporting the source PDF document to a .tif image file. Then open it in Acrobat and let the Scan & OCR convert the image to searcheable image automatically. And then SaveAs or Export to MS Word.  You would be impressed with the results.

Maybe the same could be emplyed from MS to Acrobat PDF, whereas the source Word document is exported as TIFF and then open it up directly in Acrobat , and let Acrobat handle the optimization based ion your presets. This is just a guess. I may be wrong, but still is something I would try and see for myself.

[Dan5FE9]

I have the exdact same issue. Started about a week ago. Tried the suggested solutions and still no go. Cute PDF writer works just fine. Pissed off is an understatement.

Dan Kantorowich

[Colmalo]

What is it with Adobe? I've been using Acrobat for years, upgrading from time to time and have been on Acrobat Pro 2017 since the end of 2018 - no problems up to now but presently cannot print using the embedded Distiller for any application (not just MS apps but also MathCAD, AutoCAD, web pages etc).

Tried repairing the Installation to no avail. Reluctant to uninstall / reinstall as I have a number of digital signatures and don't want to lose these in the process of a full re-install.

The message recorded in the Distiller Log is:

%%[ Error: typecheck; OffendingCommand: findfont ]%%

Stack:
/Font
(Courier)
/courier

%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%
%%[ Warning: PostScript error. No PDF file produced. ] %%

(NOTE: None of the files being printed contain Courier Fonts)

Has anyone found a solution to this problem please? (Doubtful I will invest in any future versions of Acrobat if Adobe support do not have fixes at hand when this kind of problem arises!)

[ls_rbls]

See if the following discussion with a correct answer is relevant to your issue: Error Printing to pdf from Word 2019 

[Colmalo]

Thanks but I had already tried this - unfortunately it makes no difference and the error persists.

[ls_rbls]

Would you be able to share an example of this file with no sensitive information?

I was thinking that, maybe you can spot issues running an Accessibility check with the Accessibitlity tool.

And based on the failed tests in the Accessibility Check report you may be able to work around those issues with the Print Production tool -->> Profiles--->>>PDF fixups --->>> Analyze and fix.

I know this is not much of a good answer and far from an easy workaround, but maybe worth trying. 

[Colmalo]

Hi - thanks for your continued support - I will look at the Accessibility check shortly. In the meantime, I can advise that this problem persists no matter which file I am trying to print to PDF (an example of an MS WORD document that I have been trying to print is attached - but the same error applies to this and when trying to print .dwg files (AutoCAD) too.

[ls_rbls]

I downloaded the file and did not encounter issues using the following methods:

• Using Acrobat Distiller - Right-clicking on the file and selecting from the context menu "Convert to Adobe PDF" ( I am using MS Windows 10, if that matters, and have no MS Office installed in this computer. Here is the resulting file: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:c71005da-57ff-4ae3-b4ce-2ee356a9da2...

• Not Using any Acrobat Distiller process - I also used LibreOffice Writer to open the downloaded file, and then selected "Export directly as PDF". Then I opened it Adobe Acrobat and had the same results as the file linked above. Here's the resulting file:  https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:e21d576e-2ad0-4ea9-8ee5-6773f83899c...

These two steps I used to rule out is there is an integration issue between   MS Office  and Adobe Acrobat. If there would've been a PDF restriction, I would've get a similar error.

The same  or similar results were obtained when I opened  the resulting PDF from the first link above directly in the Google Chrome web browser; upon clicking on the Print icon, I selected from the options "Save As PDF".  Here's the resulting document: https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:1dc70393-38e5-4243-b3cb-828c360f6cf...

The result with Chrome was slightly different when I chose Print --->> "Adobe PDF" : https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:3aa72bc4-46df-4227-8cfa-72d2f2c05e4...

In all of these tests I didn't experience any Acrobat Distiller issues.

What I would try in MS Word, is to open the Accessibility Checker  and correct any issued identified by the checker tool in MS Word. Then try again, but instead, don't use the Acrobat add-on. Just right-click on the MS Word file directly and select "Open with" from the context menu. Choose Adobe Acrobat and see if you encounter the same problem. 

[Colmalo]

Thanks again. I can get pdf's using other software or even using the "save as Adobe PDF" option within MS Office apps and I can use te tools in Acrobat Pro 2017 to edit, digitally sign etc etc. I'm just at a total loss to understand what might be preventing use of the Adobe Distiller function to create the pdfs - this worked in all applications up to yesterday and now none of the apps can print to the Acrobat printer. Perhaps this has something to do with Windows rather than Acrobat?

[ls_rbls]

In which version of MS Windows is this occuring?

[Colmalo]

Sorry for the delay in replying! My OS is Windows 10 Pro 64-bit - Version 2004 - Build 19041.1052

[ls_rbls]

Maybe, it is possible.

And it is also possible that a Windows unattended update could've changed something.

Just for testing purposes, I would manually unplug any printer hardware that you have installed in that computer via USB cable; if it is connecting via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, just power off that device. Also disconnect the computer from the Internet completely.

Then uninstall the Adobe PDF Printer from the control panel and restart the computer.

After restarting the computer, manually add the Adobe PDF printer again but set it up as the default printer.

Before reconnecting the printer hardware and going back online, do a print to pdf  test again with the newly added Adobe PDF printer and see how it goes.

As I am running out of ideas, I am also thinking if it would be appropriate to test the same files with a newer version of your current Acrobat classic track or with a computer with Acrobat Pro DC.

[Colmalo]

Really appreciate your help with this! I've followed your last recommendation and have taken screenshots every inch of the way - see attached. Despite indicating that a Test pdf was created, this was not the case - only a log file which strangely on this occasion, I cannot open, nor can I upload it.

[Colmalo]

OK, in desperation, I have upgraded to Acrobat Pro 2020 in the hope that this might solve the problem - but no!

The problem is clearly in using the "Adobe PDF Printer" (or Converter) which is my default printer for so many applications as well as those within Micosoft Office. This is causing me to wonder if it is Windows relatedbut I have no idea how to establish this or rectify the issue. Having spent a few hundred pounds on Acrobat 2020 and still seeing the same error log (see attached), I am at my wits end; no pdf is produced - just a log file stating:

%%[ Error: typecheck; OffendingCommand: findfont ]%%

Stack:
/Font
(Courier)
/courier

%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%
%%[ Warning: PostScript error. No PDF file produced. ] %%

[ls_rbls]

I had to carefully look at your slides a few times to figure out where could be a conflict.

I couldn't help but to notice that you have other printer harware; that means they also have their own print managing software.

However, on your last slide, you try to print a test page but the configuration wizard was not fully fnalized as to accept the Adobe PDF Converter as the default printer.

NOTE that at the very bottom of the list of printers in that last slide you have MS Windows managing "Scansoft PDF Create" software as the default printer.

That seems to be a document printing  scanning software which could be one of the problems since it has been acting as the default PDF creation software when printing.

In fact you have way too many printers and PDF creation software in that list:

• ABS PDF Driver v400
• Brother HL-L2350DW series
• Brother HL-L2350DW series Printer
• Gaaiho PDF
• HP LaserJet Professional P1102
• HPB0BA77 (HP OfficeJet Pro 8710)
• Microsoft Print to PDF
• Microsoft XPS Document Writer
• OneNote for Windows 10

If those printers and software are not in use anymore in your production environment uninstall them completely.

This would make things easier in the context of narrowing down some of the  troubleshooting procedures.

But if you need them all installed, then definitely force a manual update of their drivers and software directly from their respective vendor support websites, not from running Microsoft Windows automatic updates.

Make sure that all software is updated appropriately to reflect their current version(s).

Also, when you go to the Control Panel, right-click on the "Adobe PDF" printer icon, and select from the context menu "Troubleshoot"; see if the troubleshooter wizard can spot additional problems.

In fact run the troubleshooter individually for each of those printing devices, and annotate any failed tests or problems found.

Last, if the "Adobe PDF Converter" was indeed marked as your default printing device after the configuration wizard, it should have a green checkmark icon next to it.

This is basically a preference that you set manually to stop MS Windows from automatically handling and prioritizing 

printing devices.

My main observation though, is the Courier font type that your MS Word document is using; it  may be different than the Courier font types that are already supplied by MS Windows in the "C:\Windows\Fonts" folder and  the Adobe Acrobat fonts folders respectively: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat DC\Resource\Font"

NOTE that I use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC so the Resource Font directory may be slightly different in your case.