FrameMaker 7.2 - missing fonts

[lenahanson]

I recently switched from a computer with Windows XP to a new computer with Windows 7. I didn't install the exact fonts that I had on the old computer, but will install them as I need them (I saved them on disc).

In certain tables I have bullets created by \b\t in Numbering format. When I open a document containing a table with those, I get an error-message about missing fonts. This is only when I have linked the table from another document. The table in the document I have linked it IN to looks OK (but I get the error-message). But when I double click on the table and choose Open source, the bullets in the table are now replaced with black "standing rectangles". I also get the error-message about missing fonts when I open the document where the original table is. But it prints right!!

If you couldn't understand my rambling above, here's how it is exactly:

A) Documents with tables with \b\t, no links to or from: no error message and bullets looks like bullets.

B) Documents with tables with \b\t, table in linked from another document: error-message and bullets looks like bullets.

C)  Documents with tables with \b\t, original table to B) above: error-message and bullets looks like rectangles.

D) Documents with text that uses \b\t: no error-message and bullets looks like bullets.

E) Documets with text that uses \b\t and the text is linked in from another document: no error-message and the bullet looks like bullets.

F) The original text to E) above: no error-message and bullets looks like rectangles.

All these variations prints right...

I am now wondering this:

1) Wich font is FM using when it creates these bullets?

2) Why does it look right (even though I get the error-message) in the document where the table or text is linked into?

As it doesn't help if I click OK when FM asks me if I want to reformat the document (I get the exact same message the next time I open the file) I am wondering how to fix this. Very irritating!!

Lena

[Arnis Gubins]

Lena,

You don't mention which fonts are missing.

Do you have the AdobePDF printer instance set as your default printer when running FM? If not, you could be inadvertently toggling back and forth between a printer font and a "missing" font. The easiest way is to use Sundorne's SetPrint utility (see: http://www.sundorne.com/FrameMaker/Freeware/setPrint.htm )

When you specify the bullet buidling block (\b) it uses the specified font's glyph typically located in ANSI position 0149 (or \xa5 in FM's internal hex coding).

When you imported the tables, are they set to use the current document's formats or the source document formats?

If FM's substituions are acceptable, then turn off the Remeber Missing Font Names (File > Preferences...), save the documents, close them. Change the preference back and re-open your document(s).

[lenahanson]

I have no idea what fonts are missing as FM doesn't inform me about that.

I don't have Adobe PDF-printer as my standard printer although I print to it when I make my pdf:s.

I read what was written about the Sundorne printer thingy, and I don't think that is the problem. I set my printer in FM this morning, and have printed about 100 documents to my Adobe PDF-writer before this font problem came up for the first time today.

The tables and the text that are imported are set to use the current document's format.

I don't know if FM:s substitutions are OK as I don't know what it has substituted!! But at a glance it looks OK. Guess I will have to send a pdf to our printer's and see if he can see anything about missing fonts.

Thanks for your answer.

Lena

[lenahanson]

PS. When I look in the pdf I created (that I got a missing font error when I opened and also when I opened the table

linked into it) everything looks OK. The only fonts included are 4 versions of Futura and Futura light, just as it should be.

[Arnis Gubins]

Lena,

You need to look at the FM Console window to see what FM is complaining about for the font substitutions and what it is substituting in their place.

[lenahanson]

Although I have FrameMaker in English, I am Swedish. What is the Console Window? And how do I see if FM is complaining about a missing font?

Lena

[Van Kurtz · Accepted solution]

The missing fonts should be listed in the FrameMaker Console, which should be listed in the Task Bar.

The missing fonts may not be in your main content. There could be references to them in the master pages and in the reference pages. Sometimes such references can be as subtle as turning on the font, then immediately turning it off, with no characters in between.

If you want to be meticulous in rooting them out, you can save the files in the mif format, open them in a text editor (Notepad), search for references to the fonts listed in the console, carefully delete the references, and then save. Reopen the mif files and save in fm format.

If you do not have the time to be meticulous AND everything fontwise in your documents looks fine, then you can take Arnis' suggestion: turn of the preference to remember missing fonts, open each document, and save it; this causes FrameMaker to SUBSITUTE another font for the missing fonts, which you may never see in your documents because you have already determined that everything is fine. Once all documents are finished, then you can turn the preference remember missing fonts back on.

[lenahanson]

As I answered above, I have no idea what the console is...

I sent a file to our printer's and he said that it was OK, no problems with the fonts. That was the main concern as we are going to print some of the files this spring.

As we usually just use Futura and Futura Light, why can't I have "Remember missing font names" turned off all the time? Just wondering...

Thanks all for your answers!

Lena

[Van Kurtz]

Lena,

The Console is a window separate from the main FrameMaker window. Its output is like an old-fashioned computer terminal screen, just lines of text. It does not appears unless there are errors about missing fonts when you open a document. When it appears, it does not open but remains a button in the task bar; you can click the button to see the console window. I do not know the Swedish word for console; console in this context is like a computer terminal. Maybe the Swedish version of FrameMaker does not display the console window; just a guess.

You CAN leave remember missing fonts OFF all the time, as long as you know that the fonts in your documents are also installed on your computer. It is a feature that allows the user to edit a document for which the user does not have the fonts required by the document. It is a safety feature to avoid having to reformat a document that is opened on a computer that is missing the fonts.

Van

[Art Campbell]

If the console isn't open, you can display it by choosing File > Preferences > General, selecting Show File Translation Errors (selected by default.), and then opening the document that uses the unavailable fonts.

And yes, if you don't care about exact font useage, just leave the preference off.

You might also want to look at:

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/327/327053.html

[lenahanson]

Thank you both for your answers. I haven't been to work since Monday as I am home sick. I will test your suggestions when I get back on Monday. Just so you don't think I am rude...

Have a nice weekend!!

Lena

[lenahanson]

OK, I am back to work.

I have now done the following:

Opened the files that I linked FROM (those where the bullets looked like rectangles). There I changed the bullet to a + just to see how it looked. It looked horrible, not close to Courier as it is in the rest of the text. It looked like the + was made of just 4 pixles. So I checked my font library and saw that Zapf Dingbats was not installed. Installed that and suddenly the bullets looks like bullets again. But I still get the missing font error message, both when I open the file where I have linked in this document and the original document.

It doesn't help if I turn off Remember missing fonts, I still get the message. But at least I can work now, it's so much easier when the bullets looks like bullets, my eyes didn't like the rectangles.

Accordning to our printer's there's nothing wrong with the pdf:s I produce from these documents, so I guess I will have to live with the error messages...

Thanks again for all help and useful ideas!

Lena, from a very snowy and wintry Sweden

EDIT:

Installing ZapfDingbats obviuosly didn't help as the bullets are still rectangles in other documents... I have no idea of why and how.... Guess I will have to live with this problem.

[Arnis Gubins]

Lena,

Were you able to check the console to see which fonts FM was complaining about as "missing"?

[lenahanson]

Sorry, forgot to answer that question. If I understand it right, the console is the "page" that comes up when a cross reference is broken, for instance. If that is the case, no console comes up when I open the document. Just the error message. I haven't found any other way to see what font is missing.

Lena

[Arnis Gubins]

Lena,

The contents of the Console are also saved in the file "consfile.txt" (in the English version, I don't know about the Swedish version) located in the FM folder (e.g. the same location as the maker.ini file).

If you have the "Show File  Translation Errors" option enabled in your File > Preferences (as Art suggested) then you should see the console button in your Windows status bar right beside the FrameMaker button.

[lenahanson]

I do have the English FrameMaker, even though I am Swedish. So much easier when asking for help...

For some strange reason I now got a console for the first time (about missing fonts...). Never had it before. It says that Courier is missing and will be replaced by Courier New.

I read the help file and found out how to remove unused fonts (removing all and then taking back the used ones). Still Courier is missing and it will be replaced by Courier New... Is there a way I could search for where FM thinks Courier should be used? I have gong through all the formats used, and all formats uses Futura or Futura Light.

Now something strange happened. The document I worked with above was one where I had a file linked into. So I double-clicked the table and opened the source. I did the same thing with the formats there, and removed all formats and then got back the ones used. Then I saved and updated the linked table. Re-did the format thingy and now it's not just one version of Courier missing, but:

The "Courier Bold" Font is not available.
  "Courier New Bold" will be used in this session.
The "Courier" Font is not available.
  "Courier New" will be used in this session.
The "Courier Bold" Font is not available.
  "Courier New Bold" will be used in this session.
The "Courier" Font is not available.
  "Courier New" will be used in this session.
The "Courier" Font is not available.
  "Courier New" will be used in this session.

I am stumped. Don't know what to do more...

Lena

[Van Kurtz]

Lena,

Courier and Courier Bold are probably Postscript fonts that were in some printer that was attached to a computer on which these files were opened in the past. Sorry for the complex sentence. Courier New, etc, are TrueType variations of Courier, etc. They look almost alike and probably have very little differences between them. You can follow some of the suggestions in previous posts to root them out of your documents but I think the easiest thing to do is the following:

1. Open the preferences in FrameMaker and turn OFF Remember missing fonts.
2. Open one of the problematic documents. FrameMaker may complain about missing fonts.
3. Save the file.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each problematic file.
5. Open the preferences and turn ON Remember missing fonts.

Because you only care about Futura and Futura Light, this procedure tells FrameMaker to go ahead and make the replacement; you do not care about Courier anyway. Where ever these references to Courier are in your documents, they are too difficult to find; so just go ahead and make the replacements.

Also as mentioned in earlier posts, these missing font problems generally go away IF you set Adobe PDF as your default printer while working in FrameMaker. Specifically, set Adobe PDF as the default printer BEFORE you open FrameMaker; AND do NOT print from FrameMaker via any other printer. Changing printers while in FrameMake will cause it to reformat the document with the fonts from the printer, which may not be like the ones on your computer. This behavior is a remnant from the very, very old days when applications got their fonts from the printer.

I work in FrameMaker so much that I set Adobe PDF as my default printer for everything. When I need to print from an application that is not FrameMaker, I change the printer within that application and not in the printer control panel. If I want to print something from FrameMaker to a physical printer, I print to Adobe PDF, creating a PDF file, and then print the PDF file to the physical printer. Using this workflow, I rarely get missing font issues.

Good luck,

Van

[lenahanson]

Thank you for your very long and explaining answer. I will have to turn the Remeber... on and off all the time, as I can't say wich documents will be affected (have tens of thousands of documents). But if I open a file that complains I can close it without saving and do as you suggested.

It's true about the Courier vs. Courier New, I didn't install it on this computer as I got problems with it in Acrobat 9 while making fillable forms. When somebody who still had Reader 8 opened it, they got bullets in all pre-filled text fields. As all my earlier made forms have some kind of Courier in it, and it doesn't help if I change all fonts to Courier New, I decided to a) not install Courier and b) re-do all fields when I change a form I previously made in Acrobat 8 (instead of just copying the fields and make the changes that I needed).

So Courier is not a font I like very much right now...

I will think about changing my default printer, as I print lots of other stuff from other programs, I will have to change there instead. I will have to learn that I can't just press print in Word for instance, where the printer dialogue doesn't open if you click on the printer symbol, it just prints to the default printer. Maybe I will learn in time.

Thanks to all who have answered me and given of their time to solve my problem!! You are GOLD!!

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

To have the Adobe PDF printer set as your default printer ONLY within FM, use the free SetPrint FM plug-in (google it for the website). I highly recommend it - your default Windows printer is left alone for printing in your other apps & within FM it's set to the Adobe PDF printer all the time.

[lenahanson]

Thanks, forgot that someone wrote about that above. I have now done as it was written on the page and it seems to be working OK. Don't know what it will do about my problem though, haven't checked that yet.

Lena

[lenahanson]

PS. Now the cosole comes up every time I open FM telling me it went well. Very irritating....

Lena

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Just uncheck that "Show File Translation Errors" field in the Preferences - that will suppress it.

[lenahanson]

Just ONE more question: if I turn it off, will I every get a message if there are unresolved cross-references? That information I must have...

Lena

[Arnis Gubins]

Lena,

Usually, the console window doesn't come to the front when FM opens. Do you close it or leave it open and minimized while working in FM? I believe that it remembers the state it was in when you shut-down FM, so if you have closed it prior to shutting down FM, it will open when FM re-starts.

[lenahanson]

I always close it. But if I turn Show file translation errors off, will that turn off reports of unresolved cross-references too? That's the big question. Only way I can test that is to open a book and a file in that book, remove a cross-reference and then update the book. I don't want to do that if anybody can tell me the result of turning off Show file translations errors... Otherwise, I will have to test it.

Lena