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A
Amina Boussoura
New Participant
October 24, 2023
Question

Installed font showing missing only when exporting PDF (no preflight error)

  • October 24, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 3146 views

Hi, I'm having a problem with InDesign fonts currently and I can't seem to find a fix.

FYI I have tried filling the Fonts folder in C:Program Files>Common Files>Adobe but to no avail, problem still persists.

 

> Installed font is working and showing in the fonts menu
> InDesign randomly says the font is missing after closing then reopening the file (even with 5mins apart and without having closed the software or rebooted my pc), which makes me fight with the font replacement tool to replace the missing fonts (sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't)
> When exporting to PDF I get an error saying that a font is missing even though preflight is clear of errors

Preflight status: 

When I export: 

When I ignore the alert and export anyway, random textboxes get turned into a default system font, which is hard to spot in a document loaded with text and pages.

 

Also, where I work we're using an InDesign/InCopy workflow, the same issue persists on InCopy also (but I told the editorial team not to worry about it since I'm the one in charge of final exports)

 

I'm also starting to really suspect the quality of the font files and wondering if the font family attributes were done correctly so that softwares recognize the different weights in a font family (also idk if i can fix it myself)
About my fonts, the most problematic one is Nexa Regular from the Nexa font family bought on Fontfabric (before I started here, idk who was in charge), tried both the files I had received from corporate + the files in the font folder provided with the InDesign doc I'm working on, issue still persisting.
The other is Cormorant, idk from where they got it but since it's a Google font I thought that replacing it with files downloaded from Google Font would fix it. It did to some extent but still does some crazy stuff occasionally.

Has anyone come across such weird behaviour? And do you have any solution?

    3 replies

    charlottefrich
    charlottefrich
    New Participant
    February 7, 2025

    I´m having similiar issues. Font-familiy is Praktika.

    Font is properly installed. Preflight doesn´t indicate any errors.

    Upon packing file, Indesign claims missing fonts, and the pdf created will be missing the fonts.

    If I choose export as pdf for print, it comes out fine, looking as it should.

    What might be the problem here?

    jmlevy
    jmlevy
    Braniac
    February 7, 2025

    Hi @charlottefrich 

    I don't understand this language (Swedish? Danish? Norwegian?) but I think that your screenshot doesn't show any font error. The alert is relative to an RGB image.

    leo.r
    leo.r
    Braniac
    February 10, 2025

    Hi @jmlevy 

     

    Yes, it´s danish.

    Correct, the alert is related to RGB-image and has nothing to do with my issue regarding the font.

    Font is properly installed and if I export as pdf it results in font showing correctly.

     

    However, if I choose to pack the file, even if preflight shows no error, the fonts are not shown correctly in the resulting pdf.

     


    First, we again don't know what the message in your screenshot says - can you translate it?

     

    Second, can you post screenshots from two PDFs (exported for print and the one created during packaging) that illustrate the problem with the font.

     

    jmlevy
    jmlevy
    Braniac
    October 24, 2023

    Comme l'a écrit @Steve Werner il semble que la version de la police utilisée par l'agence ne soit pas la même que celle installée sur vos postes.

    Vérifie également si les polces qui posent problème ne sont pas installées dans des dossiers différents (ce qui serait une très mauvaise idée).

    Steve Werner
    Steve Werner
    Braniac
    October 24, 2023

    Does this happen only in one file? Or in every InDesign file which uses that font?

     

    If only one file, there could be file corruption. Save the file as IDML (File > Save As > InDesign CS4 or Later [IDML]. Reopening the IDML often solves corruption problems.

     

    You might also try restoring your InDesign preferences and caches. Here's how:

     

    Adobe InDesign: Rebuilding Preferences and Cache FilesRocky Mountain Traininghttps://www.rockymountaintraining.com › adobe-ind...

    A
    Amina BoussouraAuthor
    New Participant
    October 24, 2023

    Thank you Steve,

    Yes, all the files that use that font display this kind of behaviour.

    Said files were created by a design agency then sent in-house for further tweaking and content changing. Apparently files work perfectly at the agency but not on our devices.

    Ps: thank you for the cache fix, but unfortunately I already done that and it didn't change a thing 

    Steve Werner
    Steve Werner
    Braniac
    October 24, 2023

    Did you use the design agency's fonts or your company's fonts? Sometimes for font files of the same name, there can be different versions of the same font. 

     

    Examiine the clients' font file in InDesign. Type > Find/Replace Font. Select the font and click More Info. Then check the Version.

     

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