Problem finding fonts specified in a ps file

[RincewindWiz]

Hi All

I suspect a trivial question but it is driving me nuts so please be gentle!

I have a program that creates a .ps file

when processed by distiller the log says

Times not found, using Courier.
%%[ Warning: Times-Bold not found, using Font Substitution. Font cannot be embedded. ]%%

The offending lines in the ps file would seem to be

% now to copy the standard font and change the encoding to ISOLatin1
% see PS manual section 5.9.1
/Times findfont % find the font
dup length dict begin % make a copy of the dictionary exlcuding the FID entry
{ 1 index /FID ne
{def}
{pop pop}
ifelse
} forall
/Encoding ISOLatin1Encoding def % replace the fonts encoding array with the ISOLatin1 array
currentdict
end
/Times-ISO exch definefont pop % gives the new font a name

and there is equivalent code for Times-Bold (which produces an error) and ArialNarrow, ArialNarrow-Bold which works fine

Further down I have 

/FTitle   11   /Times-Bold-ISO FSD          % define the required fonts
/Subtitle 10   /Times-ISO FSD             %
/FRound   9   /Times-Bold-ISO FSD             %
/FGame    7.5   /ArialNarrow-ISO FSD         %
/FTeam    9   /ArialNarrow-Bold-ISO FSD    %

and I used FGame, Fround etc in the ps file

The system has a true type Times font installed (Regular and Bold) and also Times New Roman.

So why am I getting font not found errors?

Thanks for any suggestions

[Test Screen Name]

I can't see how this could even start working. /Times is not the name of a standard PostScript font (and the message says so). The standard name is /Times-Roman. /Times-Bold is standard, however, but Adobe do not provide it for embedding, so that's as expected. Are you hoping that these names will somehow be mapped to your Times New Roman font? That won't happen, at least not in Distiller.

[RincewindWiz]

Well it seemed reasonable to me as I had a Times font (and a Times New Roman font) installed.

But I did also try replacing /Times  findfont with /Times-Roman; /Times-New-Roman; /TimesRoman and they all failed with the same error (font not found using font substitution)

[Test Screen Name]

You'll notice you have two different errors.

1. Times not found, using Courier -- this means the font was not found and not known to Distiller. You've got rid of this by using the right name.
2. %%[ Warning: Times-Bold not found, using Font Substitution. Font cannot be embedded. ]%%

This means you don't have the actual font file so you can't embed it.

What's the difference? Distiller has the metrics (sizes) of hundreds of fonts built in. Such fonts (including the "base 13 fonts") can be included in a PDF as a reference, but not embedded.

As the world has abandoned type 1 fonts, you are unlikely to find embeddable base 13 fonts any more. But if you can find the "true" PostScript names of your TrueType fonts you might be able to use them. No idea (any more) how to get a list, but try /TimesNewRomanPS-MT.

[RincewindWiz]

I substituted Cambria font for Times and it worked fine so it is clearly something to do with the Times name. But Times/TimesRoman has to be one of hte most common fonts - how can it be so hard to find Adobe's name for it!! I have a PostScript reference manual and it makes no mention of a list of font names in there.

BTW /TimesNewRomanPS-MT not found uding Courier!!

[Test Screen Name · Accepted solution]

It isn't Adobe's name you need, exactly. Each font can contain a number of different names. The ones you need to know about are the display name, as used by Windows and Windows apps; and the PostScript name. PostScript predated all the platform fonts, so all fonts have a PostScript name, and it's rarely the same as the display name. It's chosen by the font foundry (BitStream for Times New Roman). There are Windows APIs to get this info, but I'm not sure where to get it otherwise. There might be a PostScript fragment to enumerate installed fonts, which you can use.

[Test Screen Name]

Try /TimesNewRomanPSMT

[RincewindWiz · Accepted solution]

Hi Thanks for this

It seems the actual font name is TimesNewRomanPSMT (and others like TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT).
You can find these in Adobe Distiller  under Settings->Edit Job Options->Fonts.

Sadly the panel is not wide enough to display the full font name!!
.

Hope that helps anyone coming here with the same problem

[Brad @ Roaring Mouse]

What does your PS file list under both %%DocumentSuppliedResources and %%DocumentNeededResources:?

"Times-Bold", for example, is asking for the one of the basic 13 fonts (Type 1) usually supplied by a Postscript printer. Your Postcript generator could be assuming that the Standard Basic 13 fonts are available so does not download them into the file. This can be because of the specific printer driver you are using (and any PPD associated with it, if so used), so I guess it depends on how you are creating these files.

In the olden days, Acrobat Distiller had a secret store of these basic 13 fonts built into in the program so they could be used if necessary, but current versions do not, since the licensing agreement for these fonts has ended.

Check Distiller's Font Locations settings and make sure it is has links to folders with the missing fonts. You can add a special folder with your own fonts. Make sure Distiller setting "Always Embeds" the fonts.

Check your printer driver's properties/preferences for its Font Substitution. Most drivers have a Substitution rule default to substitute Times New Roman (TT) for "Times", which is the Type 1 outline built into most PS printers. If this is the case, change it to "Don't Substitute" and see if that makes a difference.