Skip to main content
F
feliciam56741925
Participant
July 15, 2019
Answered

Font Appearing as Gibberish!

  • July 15, 2019
  • 3 replies
  • 17570 views

Hello all,

I'm totally stumped by this one. I'm working on an inherited catalog document in Indd CC 2019. When I open this packaged indd file which resides on my companies server the font Helvetica Neue Bold appears as it should. If I create a new copy of this document (to make changes to) on my desktop then all instances of Helvetica Neue Bold appear as random letters and symbols. See the example below:

Other observations: I do not receive any errors or indication that there's something wrong with the document, I just can visually see that there's an issue. I can create a new document and utilize that font all I want but if I copy the text over into the existing document it changes to gibberish. We do utilize a font manager and I have cleared the font cache both manually and through the font manager.

Any other suggestions on what might be causing this issue?

      Correct answer Steve Werner

      "Document fonts" means that it's trying to get the font from the package.

      Make sure the good font is installed on your computer (which you can see if it's in a new document created on your local drive).

      Then do a File > Save As of the old document and put the copy of the document in a new location on your computer. Open up the document. If the font is missing, using Type > Font Font to replace with the good copy of the font you have on your computer if you need to.

      Good luck. I have to sign off for tonight. Getting up early tomorrow.

      3 replies

      J
      jacob5CEE
      Participant
      December 17, 2020

      Hello Steve, I am have trouble and getting extremely frustrated with this exact font problem, and even with your instructions here I still did not fix the issue and/or I am not doing it incorrectly and wanted to know if you can elaborate more on what I should do. I have searched all the internet and still have not fixed this issue for weeks. Is there any way I can reach out to you to personally help me? I am willing to pay. Thanks

      Steve Werner
      Community Expert
      Steve WernerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      December 17, 2020

       

      @jacob5CEE 

       

      I don't have the time to answer individual messages (and I'm in holiday mode so I'm not working for a few weeks).

       

      You're replying to an existing thread. You situation may be in some ways different from the original poster. Go back to the InDesign forum level. Click the blue buttom at the upper right: "Post to Community".

       

      This begins a new post. Post as thorough a description of your problem as you can. Be sure to tell us exactly what version of InDesign you use. Please tell us exactly what operating system. If it's a font-related issue, be sure to tell us exactly what font you're having a problem. Choose Type > Find Font [older versions of InDesign] or Type > Find/Replace Font to show the font list in your document and make a screen capture to upload.

       

      It's really better to get the input from different users on this forum. And I'm not always here to see what is posted.

       

      Good luck!

      J
      Community Expert
      Jeffrey_SmithCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      October 18, 2019

      Are the blue blocks created as vector graphics and the other text set within Indesign?

      Steve Werner
      Community Expert
      Steve WernerCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      July 15, 2019

      Here's a guess:

      You say that the original copy on the server is a packaged INDD file. When the file is packaged, the fonts are included, and when you open the file, by default InDesign will try to open the fonts in the package even if they are also may be located somewhere else on your computer.

      When you make a copy of the file it doesn't refer to the packaged fonts, it needs to have the fonts installed on your computer in a location your OS supports (you didn't say what operating system you're running). Your computer may have a different version of that  font installed which is corrupted and needs to be replaced. Or you may need to copy the fonts from the package onto your computer and install them.

      Make an entirely new document with that named font on your computer and let us know if it works, or if it looks corrupted. Or try installing the font on your computer and opening the file locally.

        F
        feliciam56741925Author
        Participant
        July 15, 2019

        Thank you for the response! I can make an entirely new document with that exact font on my computer. It displays without any issues.

        If I copy the text out of the new document and paste it into the existing document (with the font issue) then the font will automatically translate into the gibberish. This works vice versa as well, I can copy out the corrupt text and paste it into the new document and it automatically displays correctly.

        Edit: I will note that the corrupt file has the problematic font listed under "document fonts" while, if I make a new document, it is not listed as "document font". I don't know if this is important but it's the only difference I see. Not sure how I can change the font from a document font into a system font...

        Steve Werner
        Community Expert
        Steve WernerCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
        Community Expert
        July 15, 2019

        "Document fonts" means that it's trying to get the font from the package.

        Make sure the good font is installed on your computer (which you can see if it's in a new document created on your local drive).

        Then do a File > Save As of the old document and put the copy of the document in a new location on your computer. Open up the document. If the font is missing, using Type > Font Font to replace with the good copy of the font you have on your computer if you need to.

        Good luck. I have to sign off for tonight. Getting up early tomorrow.

          Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
          Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices