Fonts do not work in PDF documents or embedding utilities

Home: Support: Search:

Fonts do not work in PDF documents or embedding utilities

When creating PDF documents with barcode fonts or using other barcode font utilities, the resulting barcode field document displays text instead of the intended barcode font.

Solution(s):

This problem can usually be solved by one of the following methods:

The font may not actually be embedded in the resulting PDF document, therefore, the software must be told to embed the font or to embed the result as a graphic.
In Adobe products, deselect the "Compress Text and Line Art" option, under the "Compression" tab when exporting the document to a PDF format.
Some embedding utilities do not generally support custom fonts. This will require working with the vendor by supplying a font for testing. An IDAutomation font may be supplied to a vendor with an agreement to delete the font when testing is completed.
If PostScript fonts are being used, refer to the PostScript FSType Error KB Article.
Some PDF creation utilities have difficulties with symbol-encoded fonts. If this is the case, read the information below.

Symbol-encoded fonts: Some of the barcode fonts are symbol-encoded. Normally symbol-encoded fonts should be used in applications if possible. Symbol-encoded fonts display font names in standard text instead of in the text of the font. This is necessary while working in applications where fonts are selected from a drop-down menu. Symbol-encoded fonts may not work in a few applications. As a substitute, IDAutomation provides non-symbol-encoded fonts for applications that lack the compatibility with symbol-encoded fonts. Applications that have problems with symbol-encoded fonts usually involve embedding or generating documents and files, such as PDF document creation utilities. If unexplained font problems occur then try the non-symbol-encoded versions, which are provided in a folder named "Without Symbol Encoding" located in the ZIP file. If the ZIP file does not contain this folder then the package does not use symbol-encoded fonts. The following PDF creation utilities can be used with symbol-encoded fonts without any problems:

Adobe Distiller (the latest version supports symbol encoding)
BroadGun Software PDF Machine 6.2 (earlier versions have problems with symbol fonts)
Crystal Reports 9.1 and the version distributed with Visual Studio .NET can save reports as PDF documents.

Any applications that are not listed above and do not work with IDAutomation’s symbol-encoded fonts, please open an incident report with the application’s support team to resolve the problem. Once the problem is corrected, please contact IDAutomation with the name and version that works so it may be posted here. The IDAutomation fonts that are dated July 2003, and later, have been created without symbol encoding. The fonts after the above date include the new OpenType fonts.

If an active Priority Support and Upgrade Subscription through RegNow is in effect, please contact IDAutomation with the order ID number to receive the updated download link.

If an active support agreement is in effect through IDAutomation's store, please go back to the store online and go to “My Account”. Enter the user name, which is the email address and the password that created at the time of order. Then when logging in, the invoice should appear on the screen and in the upper right hand corner, there will be a link to “My Downloads”. This will be the location to download the update.

To reactivate the Priority Support and Upgrade Subscription, please visit: http://www.idautomation.com/extended/about.html

Related Documents and Keywords: