Font corrupted or substituted?

[kiski]

I’m working on a brochure with a regional map ( dozens of lakes, rivers, names, roads, canoe routes, etc) in Mac OS X 10.10.5, Adobe InDesign & Illustrator CS6. (I’m semi retired and not using Creative Cloud!) The map was prepared by a government department and sent to me as an Illustrator CS6 file. The file was also sent as a PDF which I cannot change. I do have to make some type changes, but the map designer has gone on holidays. She did supply me the fonts.

My problem is, when I open her file, that some of the font styles - Times Roman Regular and Italic and Swiss 721 Condensed - are the wrong size and stretched beyond legibility. The Helvetica Regular, Bold, Narrow fonts are fine. My font palette shows the font size as 0.9 points when it should be about 6 points. There are dozens and dozens of words on multiple layers. So, somehow some fonts are being substituted.

Of the fonts the map designer sent me, one font would not download, and I do not recognize it - Ebrima.ttf.  Tried to buy it, but can’t find it from any font supplier.

I am on a severe deadline to get this printed. Any idea how I can fix this?

[barbara_a]

As far as the Ebrima font, you should be able to download it from https://ufonts.com/fonts/ebrima.html

If you and the map designer are on different operating systems that could cause a font issue. Not all Mac fonts are compatible with Windows and visa versa. If that is the case, you will need to download and install the fonts for your OS.

When you look under the Type menu and choose Find Font, any missing fonts will be listed.

[kiski]

Thank you Barbara!

The map designer is on Windows. She sent me Times Roman ttf fonts - "tt0002m_.tff". I thought they work on either platform?

I did download hers even tho it did not make any difference in the map document. If I already had Mac Times Roman installed, how do I make hers and mine compatible for this project?

[barbara_a]

TrueType fonts are not reliably cross-platform. OpenType fonts are truly cross-platform. Open type fonts have an OTF file extension, although that is not a foolproof way to identify them because sometimes the operating system misinterprets them and give them a TTF extension. OpenType fonts often have the word 'STD' or 'PRO' in the name. For example, Linotype's Times Roman is OpenType https://www.linotype.com/47622/times-roman-product.html?format=ot-cff&branding=std

If you click on Technical Details (about 1/3 of the way down the page), you'll see that the internal name contains the letters STD.

[kiski]

Still somewhat confused how to fix this, Barb. Hope you can stay with me on this thread for a bit. 🙂

See the screen shot. Some fonts show correctly. Some don't.

If I received a Windows Illustrator map file from the map maker, and I opened it in with a Mac OS, will that be a problem?

Or is it simply a font issue?

I downloaded the ttf fonts the map maker sent me and loaded into my Font Agent utility. Would it accept ttf fonts whether they work on a Mac or not?

I am now trying to figure out how to replace the incorrect/missing fonts on the Illustrator file I was sent. When I go to FIND FONT as you suggested, I see a list of fonts in the document and a list of fonts on my System, I don't see any missing fonts. Not sure what I should be looking for here.

[Larry G. Schneider]

Remember having problems like this years ago while working for the USGS. Just as an experiment try selecting all and use the arrow keys to move everything one click to the left and then back. Now try check the font sizes.

[kiski]

Tried that Larry. Only moved the cursor in either direction. Didn't change the font.

[kiski]

Here is another message window that just showed up. That word "Lake" looks fine vs the words above it which are stretched.

[barbara_a]

If I received a Windows Illustrator map file from the map maker, and I opened it in with a Mac OS, will that be a problem?

Or is it simply a font issue?

From the warning message you received, I now think that the issue is the Illustrator version rather than a cross-platform issue.

I don't see any missing fonts.

In that case, there are no missing fonts. We have to look elsewhere for the problem.

As far as the message . . .

Adobe changed the type engine in Illustrator quite a while back.

If the person you got the map from is using an old version of Illustrator, one that came out before the type engine was changed, and you are using a newer version, there's going to be a type issue.

If you can upload the Illustrator file, I'll take a look at it and see if I can troubleshoot it and find a solution.

[kiski]

How and where can I upload the map file?

[barbara_a · Accepted solution]

Put in in Dropbox or similar service and provide a link in your forum post.

[kiski]

The map document is 12 mb and it's too large to download it here as an image.

Not sure how to add a link from the PUBLIC folder in Dropbox to here? 😞

[barbara_a]

Copy the URL in Dropbox and paste the link into your forum post.

[kiski]

https://www.dropbox.com/home/Public

[barbara_a]

I don't see your file using that link.

If you can't find the correct link, you can choose to share the file with yourself, Dropbox will send you the link by email.

[kiski]

When I SHARE the file to me, it downloads the map.(?)

Does this link work for you?

Dropbox

[barbara_a]

After you sign in to dropbox, hover your cursor over the file you want to share and click SHARE when it appears. If a link hasn't been created, click CREATE A LINK. If a link was already created, click COPY LINK. The link will be copied to your cilpboard and you can then paste it into your post on the forum.

[kiski]

Dropbox - MAN2815 v2018 COPY.ai

[barbara_a]

Thanks for sharing the link. The text was distorted on my computer also.

I don't think that the distorted text has anything to do with your computer or your fonts.

The person who gave you the file has done some transitions to the text, and the file may have gotten corrupt in transferring it to you, or it could have been due to using different versions of Illustrator.

If you select a piece of text, then open the Character panel (you may need to expand the Character panel in the panel menu), you will see that the selected text has a width distortion. In the screen capture below the width should read 100%, but it reads 498.3%.

To fix this mess, you can start by selecting the black Selection tool and then choose Select > All.

In the Character panel, type 100% in the width field and press Tab or Enter to OK it. That will fix most of the text.

For those pieces of text that have more than one line of text, you'll need to highlight them with the type tool , one at a time. You can click anywhere in the text with your type tool and Select > All. Then Increase the leading amount. In the screen capture below I increased the leading from 0.9 pixels to 11 pixels.

[kiski]

Wow! That works. Getting some things corrected. Still looking at a few others. You are a Life Saver, lady! Thank you very much. 🙂

Will report back when I've completed.

[barbara_a]

You're welcome! I'm glad that helped and that you've got your project back on track.

[kiski]

Project has been sent away to the commercial printer. I was not able to use the EBRIMA font, but able to find and replace.

I appreciate very much your help on this urgent matter. Thank you for taking the time and patience to help me through.

I do have another question on another InDesign matter. Where can I post it so that you can reply?

[barbara_a]

YEA -- off to the printer!

It was my pleasure to be of assistance.

For further questions you can post on the InDesign forum. I periodically answer questions as time permits. There are many knowledgeable people who are helping on the forums.