Over the years, we have heard similar stories of printers not accepting content with Multiple Master fonts. This was supposedly due to "problems" in handling such jobs.
At Adobe, we attempted to follow-up on reports of such problems. Not once were we ever able to track any such "problem" to either the RIP with Adobe PostScript or to any Adobe Multiple Master font itself. Generally speaking, in the non-PDF workflow case, what we did typically find as the biggest problem was that users would deliver "the job" with "all the fonts" but without the specific and in many cases custom Multiple Master instance definitions used for the job. In other words, the problem was not one of technology, but of incomplete user "packaging" of all the jobs' assets. In some other non-PDF workflow cases, what we found were problems with print service providers using defective, third-party "added value" PostScript preprocessing programs that simply couldn't deal with Multiple Master fonts at all.
In terms of PDF workflows, we have never been aware of any problems with Adobe products rendering or RIPing PDF files that used Multiple Master fonts with all fonts embedded. On the other hand, we are aware of printers and prepress service providers being scared off of Multiple Master fonts simply by virtue of pre-flight software warnings against their use.
- Dov
- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)