So here’s the situation: I have a file assembled using Acrobat from smaller pdfs from another computer THAT HAS IDENTICAL FONTS TO MINE. This other computer does not have distiller (and for various reasons I cannot install it there) but it has a program called “pdfcreator”. Of course I embedded fonts whenever I exported, but when I double check on my own system using Acrobat pro 7.0 I see there are a bunch of “subsetted fonts” after I assembled the pdfs into one big file.
The problem is, I cannot upload the file to an online printer because I keep getting messages that fonts are missing. I tried using Acrobat 7.0 Distiller to rerun this pdf and embed the fonts, but the process just quits on me. Sometimes during this redistillation process, I get a message telling me that Adobe can’t find the fonts, such as “Helvetica”. Someone else told me that Adobe automatically substitutes Helvetica for Arial when you create a pdf. How the heck can I embed a font I don’t have and have never used in my document?
If someone could explain the logic behind this it would really help. Believe me I’ve spent days on this and have done everything right, so I don’t need step by step help or instructions on how to find the option that says “embed all fonts”. What I could use is practical advice on how to most simply take a pdf that looks fine, and convert it into a pdf that fulfills the “embed all fonts” requirement.
Possible workaround (we’ve had this problem here at work):
In the printer driver properties there may be a setting for how to handle TrueType fonts that can be toggled back and forth between “Download as softfont” and “Substitute device font”.
With an HP laserjet and MS Windows, it’s found under:
Printer Properties-Advanced tab.
Click on Print Preferences.
Click on Advanced tab.
Expand “Graphics” section.
Switch from “Substitute Device Font” to “Download As Softfont” and see if that helps.
Are the fonts embedded in the PDF, with no subsetting? If not, and both your PC and the creator’s PC have the fonts, nothing will appear wrong when you or the creator look at the PDF, but once the PDF goes to another machine or printer that does not have the fonts, Problems will Ensue.
It is best to embed all fonts in a PDF, even though this makes the PDF bigger. This way, the fonts will travel with the PDF. I wish Acrobat did this by default, but I get the impression that there are copyright isues involved: some font producers are snippy about licensing their fonts and allowing their copying when the containing documents are copied.
:: rereads OP ::
:: sees reference to subsetting ::
Yes, do not subset. Sometimes, it seems that the whole font, not just that part of it used in the text, must be in the document to avoid problems.
:: rereads OP again ::
By ‘online printer’, do you mean an online printing buisiness like Kinkos, that lets you print to their printers and bills you? Or do you mean a networked printer?
Okay, it looks like you’re past my usual level of expertise. I’ll shut up now. Carry on.
Been there, done that, for everything that has been suggested, including the softfonts, subset box (unchecked), and enhance for portability options.
Adobe software tries to embed fonts that don’t exist on my system and then has the nerve to tell me that I am missing fonts when I didn’t create the file with those fonts in the first place!
Just in case anybody can use it, here’s some oblique advice:
Don’t ever use fonts other than Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, and Symbol. They’re the only ones that should work on any Windows PC. At least, according to various references I’ve dug up because of similar problems.
And,
If you ever get the chance to derail Microsoft, please do it - the rest of us will back you up. But you’ll never get the chance.
