I am using Framemaker v 17.0.4.628. Text in converted PDF files is "scruntched" up in odd places.

[Moshe3794815572r7]

Text in the converted PDF files is "scruntched" up weird places (there does not seem to be a pattern to the scruntching - sometimes a whole line; sometimes a few words.

I cannot tell why.

Some points for consideration:

- I am using Framemaker v 17.0.4.628. The files were authored using Framemaker 2019.

- The files I have use Open Sans font in their different variations

- I am converting the files  by Save as PDF from the book file.
HELP. I am in urgent need of a solution.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Could be a font issue; could be something in the PDF creation. In FM2022 the Save as PDF and the Publish to PDF mechanism is the same. So I suspect that you would get the same results if you went through the Publish menu. Have you tried printing to the Adobe PDF printer instance? Or generating a .ps file and using Distiller outside of FM to create the PDF?

[Winfried Reng]

Additional question: Is the text in the main text flow or in a graphics file (e.g. SVG file) or in an anchored frame?

Does this happen only in this file or in all files with Open Sans?

I use the very same font, and I do not have a general problem.

[Moshe3794815572r7]

Thanks, Winfried.
- It is happening in all files
- It is happening in the main text flow; not in an anchored frame.

[Winfried Reng]

Hm. Which font files did you install? When did you download them?

Did you install the font files from the static directory?

Or the variable fonts? In the zip file these are:

OpenSans-Italic-VariableFont_wdth,wght.ttf
OpenSans-VariableFont_wdth,wght.ttf

You should use only the static fonts.

When did this start?

And can you create a "good" PDF with Open Sans e.g. in Word?

In the Publishing pod you can set, if you want to create the PDF with the FrameMaker PDF engine (Use Acrobat Distiller for PDF generation deactivated) or with Distiller (Use Acrobat Distiller for PDF generation activated).

When you save as PDF (or create the PDF via the Publish pod, this setting is used.

You can also print to a PostScript file and then distill this with the Distiller. Then the Distiller might show some messages, which could help.

[Bob_Niland]

Open Sans is an OTF Variable font (OpenType Font Variations). FM doesn't yet fully support Variable fonts, as far as I know. Failure modes may or may not depend on internal font details, such as outlines being TTF, Ps, CFF or CFF2.

It appears that there are tools available to generate static instances of Variable fonts, aka "freeze" them, much as would be routinely done in the Adobe Multiple Master days of yore. This is all a bit more than I know about it.

[Winfried Reng]

I use Open Sans for several years now and never had a problem with it. Only one thing with the en-dash. See the Adobe Tracker; the issue is not solved, although it is closed (see the comments):

https://tracker.adobe.com/#/view/FRMAKER-13807

There are different font files for variable and static version of Open Sans. Therefore this cannot be the cause of the issue of the poster.

[Bob_Niland]

Winfried: There are different font files for variable and static version of Open Sans.

Thanks for pointing that out. It's probably similar for most Variable fonts, and when there's a problem with font metrics, installing the static would be the first thing to try.

re: I use Open Sans for several years now and never had a problem with it.

Static or Variable?

[Winfried Reng]

I only use the static Open Sans fonts. Not the variable fonts.

[Moshe3794815572r7]

I have taken over from a tech writer who left the company.

She used a previous version of FM, as I stated from the beginning.
All the files she created use the same font and she routinely converted to PDF with no problem.
So, it's  mystery. Are there settings in Framemaker that I can make to ensure a better outcome?

[FrameMaker-dk]

You have not described how you generate the pdf files, but an option might be that this is a Distiller issue. Distiller has these two settings:

In my experience making sure that Distiller has proper access to the relevant fonts and am able to embed them can solve a lot of font issues.

Another issue, may be the level of compression. I have experienced that some fonts will have issues with a high level of compression.

And then there are FrameMakers letter spacing and stretch tools in the Paragraph Designer. They may also provoke odd renderings of text.

[Bob_Niland]

Moshe: Are there settings in Framemaker that I can make to ensure a better outcome?
Unless a different output workflow (Publish-to-PDF, Print-to-PDF, Save-as PDF, Print-to-Ps&Distill) fixes it, nothing inside FM may be effective.

If the problem is the Variable instance of Open Sans, it will need to be uninstalled from the machine, and replaced with the Static instances. Doing that might require Admin privileges on the machine.

[Winfried Reng]

In this thread somone had a problem with the Roboto font on Windows 11.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/framemaker-discussions/embedding-fonts-used-in-fm-source-files-to-pro...

Possibly there is something which might help you as well:

Download Google fonts from Google.

Install fonts for all users.