My "Font Fix" action no longer works

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Not sure when this stopped working but I have an action that I'd set up to fix legacy font errors by finding missing fonts and replacing all with a new font.  This was working without fail and was a huge time saver for me since we have a lot of old legacy files that need to be updated whenever customer changes are required.

This is not the case anymore.  I can run the action and although it goes through all of the recorded steps, it no longer changes any of the fonts.

I can't even record a new action as the new action won't do it either.  I can still do it manually but come on... It's slowing down my workflow that I already estimated would take a certain amount of time based on using the action.

[Monika Gause]

Probably you can share the action and a sample file?

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Says I can't supply the action.    Also wouldn't let me attach the AI file.

Said this which I don't understand at all what it means.

• The attachment's sample.ai content type (application/postscript) does not match its file extension and has been removed.

[Monika Gause]

Please share it via Google Drive, WeTransfer or the like.

[CmdrTomalak6330]

*sigh* I don't have access to anything like that from my workstation.   We've got strict policies in place for what we can and can't access.

[Monika Gause]

For the AI file you can try and rename the file extension form .ai to .pdf

You can try if that works for the .aia as well

PDFs can be uploaded to the forum

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Sorry but that's not working either.  Getting the same error

• The attachment's font fix.pdf content type (application/pdf) does not match its file extension and has been removed.

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Essentially, it's supposed to run through several different fonts and fixes them accordingly.

Simply recorded while going through the "Resolve Missing Fonts" selected from the "Type Menu.

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Definitely an issue with a recent update.  I decided to revert back to V 29.0 and the action works perfectly. 😞

[Kurt Gold]

Can't you even share a sample Illustrator file as well as the action set file via your Creative Cloud storage (providing public download links)?

Otherwise it's hard to reproduce the issue (which I rather do not doubt as there were similar malfunctions in the past).

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Honestly, now that I've determined it works in previous versions, that tells me there's nothing wrong with it and that it's an issue with one of the updates.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @CmdrTomalak6330,

Thanks for the detailed updates so far.

When you say the issue is with the 'latest' version, can you confirm if you mean Illustrator version 29.5.1? Also, could you please share the details of your operating system?

I just tried recording and playing back a similar font replacement action in Illustrator 29.5.1, and it seemed to work fine on my end. The fonts were replaced as expected when I played the action.

To better understand what's different in your setup, would it be possible for you to share a short screen recording showing your full workflow? That will help us narrow things down and work with the team if needed.

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Abhishek

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Ok. Well, I was determined to get this figured out so I re-installed the latest version and of course,  now it's working again.

*sigh*  Thanks for your help.

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Sorry.  I'm back again. It worked once and now it's not working again.  I can't win for losing here.
Does this help you to know how my action is supposed to work?  I'm using Windows 11 Pro  Version 23H2  OS Build 22631.3447

[CmdrTomalak6330]

I too, tried creating a new action where I created a text string in Myriad Pro and then used the "Type/Find/Replace Font" from the top menu bar.  Recorded, and replayed it and it works every time.  The problem with my existing action is that it doesn't seem to want to change my older legacy fonts that are no longer supported.  As stated earlier, it was working in previous Illustrator updates but not now.

[CmdrTomalak6330]

For what it's worth, I just reverted to every past update until finally getting to  29.2.1 where my action finally started working again.  I'm not sure what exactly you want me to screen record for you.  I'm going to figure out a way to put my action somewhere where you can access it like Google Drive.  I'll just have to do it from home I think and then send the link afterwards.  

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Please let me know if this works. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nne1lCNTD43NupLvfY7ll4rXNz-ALb7S/view?usp=sharing

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Can I assume what I've provided via Google Drive didn't help?  I will add now that I had a co-worker attempt to use the action with their computer and it also didn't work.  Is anyone looking into this?

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Hi @Abhishek Rao ,
Other than rolling back a few updates, I still haven't found a solution.  I provided a link to my action that stopped working.  Can you or someone confirm whether or not it works/doesn't work for you with the latest version of Illustrator or at least let me know how to adjust it?

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @CmdrTomalak6330,

Thanks again for sharing the action file. I just tested it on my end, and interestingly, it worked as expected.

To better understand what might be different in your setup or workflow, could you please share a short screen recording that walks through your full process - from opening the file to triggering the action and seeing the issue? That will help confirm if I'm missing a step or if there's something specific in your workflow that's causing the problem.

Looking forward to your update!

Abhishek

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Hi @Abhishek Rao 

When I reverted back to the the newest version (as mentioned above) it worked for me as well.  However, just as quickly as thought it was fixed, it stopped again.  Just for the sake of my own sanity, can you please try it a couple more times to see if stops working for you as well?

I can maybe give you a recording if you explain how to do that.  It depends on what the recording process actually records.  I may or may not be able to supply you with it.

[CmdrTomalak6330]

Managed to put 25.5.1 back on my computer and the first file I tried worked.  Here's where it gets wierd.  I tried another file and it didn't work BUT, when I reverted that file and turned the dialog on for each step in the action so I would have to manually select the fonts, it then worked. 

I'll have to see if I can find a file that I'm allowed to record so I can show you what's going on.

[CmdrTomalak6330]

More information @Abhishek Rao (sorry I haven't recorded anything yet).

This information might be helpful.  I used my action on an older file and the action did not work.  I then saved as and made a new file while overwriting.  The action still didn't work work.  Once I saved as and then created an entirely new file (without overwriting the original), the action worked on the new file.

This should probably tell you something.

[CmdrTomalak6330 · Accepted solution]

@Abhishek Rao 
I give up.  There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to this problem now.  If I find a file that doesn't work and try to resave it as something I can at least give to you to try, whenever I resave it, the action suddenly works on the resaved file.  To make things even more confusing, once I get the resaved file to work, I can go back to the original file that previously didn't work and suddenly it works now.  That's it.  Until another update happens, I'm just going to revert back to 29.2.1 and stick with that.  This is just maddening on my end and I can't keep trying to jump through hoops trying to get it figured out.  As far as I'm concerned at this point, this will be marked as the correct course of action.

Thank you for your time.  I really do appreciate it.