InDesign PDF X4 Export - Missing Glyphs (own font)

[verena_8089]

I have created a document in InDesign with paragraph styles. One paragraph format is for the listings. For the bullet points, I have created a separate font so that a tick symbol is used as a bullet point. I use Open Sans for the font behind it.
If I now want to export the document as PDF X4 for the usual online printers, I get the error message “Text in this document contains one or more missing glyphs. ...”. The missing glyphs are the bullet points, which are created using a custom font.
Unfortunately, I am not making any progress and do not know how to solve the problem. Does anyone know a solution so that I can export the PDF without an error message and use my own bullet points?

I am using InDesign 2024 (20.0.1 x64)

When I export the document as PDF X3, the error message does not appear.

Thanks and regards

[jane-e]

@verena_8089 

I've moved your post from Using the Community to the InDesign forum

Jane

[Willi Adelberger]

Does the font allow embedding?

[verena_8089]

I tried to find this information with FontForge, but could not find any information. The font was created by a former colleague, probably with an svg to ttf converter.
Do you have any tips on how I could find out whether the font can be embedded?

[verena_8089]

Update: Just found something:
"Embedding: Installable font"

[chrissmith221]

The issue is your custom font’s tick symbol isn’t embedding correctly in PDF/X-4. You can fix this by converting the bullet symbols to outlines (Type > Create Outlines) before exporting. That should clear the error.

[verena_8089]

The problem is that when I convert the font, including the bullet points, into paths, my bullet point disappears.

[Robert at ID-Tasker]

The problem is that when I convert the font, including the bullet points, into paths, my bullet point disappears.

By @verena_8089

Yes, because it's not a proper way of doing things.

What platform and OS version?

Can you downgrade InDesign to v 19.5?

https://community.adobe.com/t5/indesign-discussions/indesign-2025-is-not-exporting-to-pdf/m-p/152664...

[verena_8089]

Unfortunately, converting things is not a solution for me.

Downloading the old version is also not possible as we all use the new version in the team.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @verena_8089,

Thank you so much for all the details you've shared.

I'm currently checking this with our product team to better understand the behavior with PDF/X-4 export and the use of custom fonts. I’ll keep you updated here as soon as I hear back from them.

Appreciate your patience in the meantime!

Abhishek

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @verena_8089,

Could you confirm if your custom font (created by your team) allows embedding? 

If the font is restricted or lacks proper embedding permissions, that could explain the missing glyph warning during PDF/X-4 export.

Let me know what you find, and feel free to share a copy of the font privately if you'd like us to test it further. Looking forward to your update!

Let me know what you find. 

Abhishek

[verena_8089]

Hi Abhishek,

Thank you for your help. I have attached the font (it is only a tick symbol). It would of course be great if you could check it.

Many thanks in advance.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @verena_8089,

Thanks so much for sharing the font!

I just tested it by exporting a PDF using the PDF/X-4 preset from InDesign version 20.3, and it worked fine for me. No missing glyphs, and the export completed without any error message.

While I test this further specifically in version 20.0.1, could you try updating your InDesign to version 20.3 and see if the issue persists there? That would help us narrow things down and confirm if it’s a version-specific behavior.

Looking forward to hearing how it goes!

Abhishek