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A
André5E12
Participating Frequently
August 31, 2021
Question

Exporting interactive pdf (form) with fully embedded font

  • August 31, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 11398 views

Hi there,

 

I´m creating a pdf form from InDesign.

As soon I export it as an "Adobe PDF (interactive) (*.pdf)" the required fonts won´t be embedded fully but only a subset of them. When using it on another computer without that font available, typing in the form gives you a completely different font as a result.

 

If I use "Adobe PDF (print) (*.pdf)" it works as configured: With Font-Subset setting configured to 0% the font is fully embedded, but this setting is not available for the "interactive" export.

 

As a workaround, I changed the font for all text fields before exporting from InDesign. Afterward I changed it back to the desired font in Acrobat. As soon I save the PDF with at least one character typed in such a field, the font gets embedded fully automatically.

The problem wiht this is, that it only works if the font is not used anywhere else in the document when exporting. So if you need the same font for a fixed piece of text (not an interactive form field) somewhere in the document but for a form field as well, I´m stuck.

 

As the font in one case is of an Barcode-type (Code 39), it is crucial this works. It is not to be expected that this font will be available on the computers the form will be used at. Due to IT regulations at the company the font will also not be made available on these.

 

  • So is this a bug?
  • Why can´t the/all font(s) set to be embedded for interactive, but just for print pdf?
  • As InDesign is (in my opinion) the way more accurate and professional application for creating forms, why is there a difference to embedding fonts in Acrobat?
  • Is there already a way to embed the entire font easily that I maybe just don´t know of, maybe by help of a different tool?

 

(Just to clarify in advance, as the font can be embedded in Acrobat it seems obvious that the required permissions for embedding are available.)

 

Any help is highly appreciated, thanks.

 

André

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

A
André5E12Author
Participating Frequently
October 26, 2021

Posting the result just for the sake of completeness:

 

Problems remained:

  • As soon any font is used once anywhere on the form in InDesign, you are not able to embed it fully with Acrobat later. It will always remain an embedded subset.
  • If a font is only used within form-fields, this is not a big problem:
    You can change the font before exporting from InDesign and change it back to the desired one in Acrobat.
    This way you are able to embed it fully.
  • But if a font is also used for fixed text (not form-fields) on the document, this does not work.
    You could only create all texts (including fixed text) straight in Acrobat but not in InDesign - with the (very) reduced possibilities given. So this is not an option for me. 

 

 

As I was not able to create the desired form the way mentioned as a *.pdf, I had to swap to another technology.

 

We will now use a HTML/CSS based layout that will be filled with data dynamically.

This need to be done by software developers now, but I hope my knowledge should be enough for still editing the layout/CSS later on.

 

A service on the server will then generate a resulting pdf based on that CSS-driven layout, that can be stored and also sent to the printer.

 

As a result of our evaluation, the CSS-approach is more flexible and does match the given requirement much better.

However, I still don´t like if programs behave differently when doing the same thing - espacially if they are made from one manufacturer...

    TᴀW
    TᴀW
    Brainiac
    August 31, 2021

    I don't know why Adobe's implementation of applying a font to a form field in InDesign doesn't work as it does in Acrobat with regards embedding. It is a little strange.

    I have a commercial add-on called FormMagic for InDesign which allows you to specify the font for fields easily (without using the small dropdown in the Buttons and Forms panel) -- in the same way that you apply a font to any text in InDesign.

    Then, with a single click in Acrobat, all the font info and formatting is recreated in Acrobat, so fonts are embedded properly using Acrobat's own mechanism to do so.

    It's free for short forms, so you may want to see if it solves your problem:  https://www.id-extras.com/products/formmagic/

    Ariel

      A
      André5E12Author
      Participating Frequently
      August 31, 2021

      Thanks.

       

      I tried using the script but it doesn´t help me out of the situation.

      No font can be embedded this way.

      The colour of one text is even (wrongly) changed.

       

      Beside this, even the free version forces me to register an eMail address for promotion purposes and doesn´t execute otherwise.

      So I can not recommend this one. However, it was worth trying.

      TᴀW
      TᴀW
      Brainiac
      August 31, 2021

      Hi Andre,

      If the font has embedded permissions, it will indeed be embedded this way.

      The color is preserved 100%, but of course, as you know, only RGB colours can be used for interactive PDF forms, so if you try to use CMYK, it will be converted by InDesign.

      You can opt out of any emails as soon as you receive the first one.

      I'll be happy to help if you're not managing to get it to work.

      The software is being used around the world, including by insurance companies and government offices worldwide.

      Thanks for trying it out!

      Willi Adelberger
      Willi Adelberger
      Community Expert
      August 31, 2021

      I would strongly recommend not to use other fonts for form fields than standard fonts. Fonts used in form fields must be complete available to all users who edit the forms:

       

      1.  Use the standard Acrobat fonts which are installed with all Acrobat Apps. This needs no embedding and it reduces the file size and the form will be compatible with all Acrobat versions and even some other readers.
      2. If you use it only local, as in a company you can additionally use the corporate fonts which are always available on any computer where this form is used.
      3. If you use some fance font and you want to use exactly this font you have to embedd it completely which has following problems:
        • The PDF file size may increase dramatically, depends on the size of the font.
        • Many fonts have tags which will hinder you to embedd the font complete and some even partially.
        • Some licences do not permit embedding, even if this is technically possible. Some do not permit embedding fonts for editing, which is necessary for forms. You could get letters from those fonts founderies with a high bill or from their attorneys with their fees if you use these fonts for forms.
        A
        André5E12Author
        Participating Frequently
        August 31, 2021

        Thanks for your reply.

         

        All understood and mostly known.

        The file size doesn´t really matter in this case (i. e. +3 to 4 MB when the Barcode-font is fully embedded by Acrobat is absolutely fine).

        So if the font is licenced and got the coressponding permissions, I don´t see a problem using it.

        But I get your point: "Be carefull and check the license properly."

         

        Editing and filling a form is two very different things.

        I don´t agree, that a user must have a font to be installed to fill in a form.

        A form must always provide anything it needs to be filled by itself and should never rely on anything special to be installed additionally.

        Basically the benefit of PDFs is to look exactly the same on any system. Why should this not apply to PDF forms?

         

        As I wrote, the barcode font can´t be distributed for other (not licensing) reasons in the company.

        There are also different locations of the company with their own restictions.

        In an ideal world at least our normal corporate text-fonts would be available on all computers using the form - but in reallity they are not.

         

        • How can I create a barcode from the input filled in a form field inside a PDF?
        • Why is full font embedding possible in Acrobat and in InDesign using the PDF (print) export, but not using the PDF (interactive) export?
        Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
        Bevi Chagnon - PubCom.com
        Brainiac
        August 31, 2021
        quote

        Editing and filling a form is two very different things.

        By @André5E12

         

        They are two forms of editing a PDF.

         

        quote

        I don´t agree, that a user must have a font to be installed to fill in a form.

         

        Over the past 5+ years, Adobe and other font manufacturers have adjusted the way fonts are handled. Software has become more capable of "policing" the use of fonts.

         

        Users have always needed to have the fonts on their system to do any type of editing, including filling in form fields and editing the actual content.

         

        Viewing a PDF, however, only requires that the font be embedded into the PDF. And when it's not embedded, Acrobat uses one of their standards fonts that's installed with all versions of Acrobat, such as their versions of Helvetica and Times New Roman, IIRC. These are specially designed by Adobe to be swapable with the original font and still maintain the readability of the text content.

         

        These are the same fonts you see in a form field's font dialogue. Therefore, folks above are recommending to stick with the default fonts in the form field's Properties dialogue. They work. Seamlessly.

         

        quote

        A form must always provide anything it needs to be filled by itself and should never rely on anything special to be installed additionally.

        Basically the benefit of PDFs is to look exactly the same on any system. Why should this not apply to PDF forms?

         

        Question: how could it be possible to include enough characters of a font to accommodate all of the glyphs in the world's languages? Or even just Latin-based European languages?

         

        Example, take the diaeresis over a lowercase i, as in “naïve”. Can you guarantee that the diaeresis ï is available in your embedded font? How about any of the other several dozen accented characters in European languages? Or Cyrillic? Or Armenian? Chinese, Japanese, Korean?

         

        It's not practical for us forms designers to ensure that the worlds' glyphs are available.

         

        Search these forums for comments by retired Adobe engineer Dov Issacs and memorize what he says. He spoke innumberable times about how fonts work, both in regular documents and forms.

         

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