Apostrophes dropping out of PDF

[mjb]

Greeting!

I've had a situation the last 3 months with a clients PDF. They send in 16-32 page block PDFs, we then extract the PDF to single pages, rename them and process them. What I've noticed is when the pages are extracted out of Acrobat, "some" of the apostrophes drop out.

The only thing I can come up with is that the client has a corrupt font, just a guess.

I have the PDF files if needed, they are quite large so I didn't post them.

Has anyone had this issue, does anone have any ideas what may be happening?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

[Joe Duffy]

Is it the same font that stays in other places?
I mean could the apostrophy be a differnt font that is not embedded? I know it is a long shot but seent it happen before when checking a file.

If it is the same, then more than likely a corrupt font - assumes they are embeded, not subset.

 

[Greg_Firestone]

Hi mjb,

Is the font visually missing after your generate single pages or does it appear on the page and disappear when RIPPed? Also, what application (App, OS, Version, etc.) are you using the split the pages?

Regards,
Greg

 

[mjb]

Seems like the Helvetica Neue font is the only font dropping out (bold italic & light).

The fonts are all "embedded subset"

 

[mjb]

I received PDFs created in InDesign CS4
I extracted the pages in Acrobat 9 Pro

After extracting the pages the apostrophes drop out, and obviously when ripping the single page the apostrophes are still missing. Even if I rip the file as a block the apostrophes drop out.

 

[mjb]

I found a Helvetica Neue Medium that doesn't drop out.

 

[Greg_Firestone]

Even if I rip the file as a block the apostrophes drop out.

That's very important to know...

Helvetica Neue is a common font to have. If you open the block of pages in Acrobat and go to File/Properties, you'll have a tab that says Fonts. What does it say about Helvetica Nueue? Does it say it's embedded? If it doesn't that could be your problem. If it says it is embedded, that makes it more complicated.

Greg

 

[mjb]

All fonts are "embedded subset"

 

[Stephen Marsh]

The embedded font, what type and encoding is it? [TT, TT (CID), PST1 etc]

What happens if you print the block or split pages to a laser printer or another "simpler" printer?

What is the RIP? Is the RIP capable of both CPSI and APPE output? Have you tried both settings?

What happens if you attempt to outline all fonts to paths in Acrobat Pro Transparency Flattener?


Stephen Marsh

 

[curveto]

I have the PDF files if needed, they are quite large so I didn't post them.

What are you using to split the file?

BTW - If it happens to be Acrobat 9 and you have access to Acrobat 10 trying redoing your work/process in 10 and see if the issue goes away (sorry, I cannot elaborate).

Send me one file (before) that a) has the apostrophy and b) has NOT been altered and one file (after) (just one page hopefully) that a) is missing the apostrophy and b) HAS been altered. Make it clear in your email WHERE the apostrophy resides (visually) so I know what I'm looking for. Make sure both files highlight (employ?) the same apostrophy, or course.

Oh, and please confirm if it is an apostrophy (i.e., not ASCII coding) or a foot mark (i.e., ASCII coding) or some other character (as we all know this one is commonly entered in one form and replaced with another).

I'll take a deep dive...

"curveto" at the big G is the mailbox

Best,
Jeff R. "JR" Harmon

PS - Extra points if the font happens to have a spaceband in its name. (e.g., Foo Bar vs. FooBar) I believe your notes above indicate that. Please confirm/deny.

 

[Joe Duffy]

Another thing to try that has worked for me in the past . I printed the pdf to as ps file and redistilled with my settings.
Not a great solution but when you just need something to work...

 

[Greg_Firestone]

I'd be interested in taking a look at the file as well...

Greg

 

[mjb]

Thanks for all your time on on this!!! I really appreciate it!

The customer got back to me this morning and told me their font was corrupt.

Curveto/Greg, if you still want to see the file let me know and I will send it to you.