Hello,
I have a real head-scratcher here. We have a single user who cannot properly see a PDF file that was sent to us by a customer. When she opens it, it displays Wingdings-like characters in place of the actual font used in the PDF:
However, whenever anyone else in our company opens this same file, it displays normally. The PDF does not have embedded fonts, but the only fonts used in the document are Arial and Times New Roman. We are all using Windows 10 OS. I checked the user's installed fonts and Adobe Reader settings vs mine (I can see it properly), and they all match.
I've also attached the file.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. This seems to be the only problem file for this user but I don't want the issue to crop up repeatedly.
18
Replies
...the only fonts used are Arial and Times New Roman. These are present on both my and the affected user's computer.
There are many variations of these fonts, and the hidden font name must be identical for devices to recognize them as the same.
So it's risky to not embed fonts into a PDF, even if you think the end user will have such common fonts.
@marshaw34119649, I did indeed see those comments.
But the problem is still the same: all fonts must be embedded into the PDF to avoid having the swapped characters.
If you really like Wingdings so much that you want to keep the problem as is, then ignore the advice you've recevied in this thread and be happy.
Or you can find a way to address the cause of the problem and one way or another, get the fonts embedded into the PDF. Repeating the 2 methods of doing this:
Solution #1: Re-export the PDF, this time checking the option to embed all fonts into the PDF.
If it's a file from a client, our shop educates our client and guides them on how to check the option to embed fonts into the PDF, and then send us the revised PDF. We process, review, and remediate countless PDFs in my shop. We've found that the foolproof solution is to educate our customer.
Solution #2: You can attempt to force-embed the fonts into the PDF in Acrobat Pro. See instructions here: How to Embed Fonts in a PDF. Note that sometimes this method does not work, or Acrobat isn't able to embed all missing fonts.
the only fonts used are Arial and Times New Roman. These are present on both my and the affected user's computer
And as stated above, there are many different variations of Arial and TNR on everyone's workstations. Different font IDs. Different date stamps. Different font names (the computer names, not what we users see in font menus). Etc.
All of these can determine whether the PDF recognizes the workstation's font or not.
@jane-eI cannot use Bevi's steps for embedding fonts into an existing PDF from one of the computers displaying the PDF correctly because it requires Acrobat Pro.
By @marshaw34119649
I'm confused here.
So because you don't have the software to do the task that needs to be done, you deride me and state that my solution was unhelpful?
Wow. That's a great way to live life, isn't it?!
Here's one more suggestion: download a free trial of Acrobat Pro https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/free-trial-download.html and give it a try on that document. After it embeds the fonts, see if that corrects the font problem on the other computer. If it works and this is a task that you'll need to do frequently, then you might want to consider upgrading your Acrobat to the Pro version.
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