CID/double-byte and OpenType font and PDFs

[pcourterelle]

We're starting to see more CID/double-byte and OpenType fonts embedded and
subsetted into PDFS that come into our production stream from designers. It
has caused a few hiccups. Is anyone else encountering problems or have any
suggestions?

According to info from Acrobat doublebyte/CID fonts are handled by Distiller
7 and PDF 1.6. One problem is that QuarkXpress 5 and 6 cannot import PDF
1.6.

To date we've simply sent the files back to the original designer/client and
requested they outline all fonts, rather than embed or subset, and
re-submit the PDF.

Thoughts?

thanks
pc

[Dave Balderstone]

Post by pcourterelle
Thoughts?

InDesign?

[pcourterelle]

Post by Dave Balderstone

Post by pcourterelle
Thoughts?

InDesign?
--
Life. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. -- Dr. Who

Sorry, QuarkXPress 5.0 on Windows 2000 and XP. Acrobat 7.

pc

[Dave Balderstone]

Post by pcourterelle
Sorry, QuarkXPress 5.0 on Windows 2000 and XP.

I meant, switch to InDesign.

[pcourterelle]

Post by Dave Balderstone

Post by pcourterelle
Sorry, QuarkXPress 5.0 on Windows 2000 and XP.

I meant, switch to InDesign.

LOL. Ah. No can do. We use several third party extensions (AVUS) for ad
creation and classified pagination and the vendor is not planning on moving
to ID, although we have strongly suggested they do.

pc

[LT]

Post by pcourterelle

Post by Dave Balderstone

Post by pcourterelle
Sorry, QuarkXPress 5.0 on Windows 2000 and XP.

I meant, switch to InDesign.

LOL. Ah. No can do. We use several third party extensions (AVUS) for ad
creation and classified pagination and the vendor is not planning on moving
to ID, although we have strongly suggested they do.
pc

Get used to sending the files back. CID fonts, like transparency are not
going away.

Larry

[Ken Sharp]

Post by pcourterelle
According to info from Acrobat doublebyte/CID fonts are handled by Distiller
7 and PDF 1.6. One problem is that QuarkXpress 5 and 6 cannot import PDF
1.6.

CIDFont support has been built into PDF since version 1.0 if I remember
correctly, certainly since at least 1.3. PDF does not support OCF (which
I'm assuming is what you mean by doublebyte) fonts at all. CIDFonts may
use any number of bytes to represent a single glyph, one is common
(Corel writes PDFs where all fonts are CIDFonts, using one byte per
glyph) and I have seen up to 5.

Quark ought to import PDF files containing CIDFonts.

Post by pcourterelle
Thoughts?

It ought to work. If it doesn't, then complain to the application vendor
so they know you want the feature. If they won't provide it (not
uncommon with Quark) change to a different application.


Ken

[pcourterelle]

Post by Ken Sharp

Post by pcourterelle
According to info from Acrobat doublebyte/CID fonts are handled by Distiller
7 and PDF 1.6. One problem is that QuarkXpress 5 and 6 cannot import PDF
1.6.

CIDFont support has been built into PDF since version 1.0 if I remember
correctly, certainly since at least 1.3. PDF does not support OCF (which
I'm assuming is what you mean by doublebyte) fonts at all. CIDFonts may
use any number of bytes to represent a single glyph, one is common
(Corel writes PDFs where all fonts are CIDFonts, using one byte per
glyph) and I have seen up to 5.
Quark ought to import PDF files containing CIDFonts.

Quark 5.0 can import the PDF files but it cannot print them nor can they be
distilled a second time. Nor can Quark 6.5.

pc

[mother drucker]

I have had this problem before. The fonts are identified as Identity-H
and will not RIP and cannot be edited. I do not have a solution. When
the PDF was resubmitted by the client the issue was resolved.

Stiv

Post by pcourterelle
We're starting to see more CID/double-byte and OpenType fonts embedded and
subsetted into PDFS that come into our production stream from designers. It
has caused a few hiccups. Is anyone else encountering problems or have any
suggestions?
According to info from Acrobat doublebyte/CID fonts are handled by Distiller
7 and PDF 1.6. One problem is that QuarkXpress 5 and 6 cannot import PDF
1.6.
To date we've simply sent the files back to the original designer/client and
requested they outline all fonts, rather than embed or subset, and
re-submit the PDF.
Thoughts?
thanks
pc

[pcourterelle]

Post by mother drucker
I have had this problem before. The fonts are identified as Identity-H
and will not RIP and cannot be edited. I do not have a solution. When
the PDF was resubmitted by the client the issue was resolved.
Stiv

Our current solution is to have the client outline the fonts and resubmit.
pc

[K P]

Post by pcourterelle
We're starting to see more CID/double-byte and OpenType fonts embedded and
subsetted into PDFS that come into our production stream from designers. It
has caused a few hiccups. Is anyone else encountering problems or have any
suggestions?
According to info from Acrobat doublebyte/CID fonts are handled by Distiller
7 and PDF 1.6. One problem is that QuarkXpress 5 and 6 cannot import PDF
1.6.
To date we've simply sent the files back to the original designer/client and
requested they outline all fonts, rather than embed or subset, and
re-submit the PDF.
Thoughts?
thanks
pc

We had this problem with a guy sending us pdfs made from Indesign's
onboard pdf maker. We simply told him to send his native file to an
eps, then distill that with our Acrobat settings and the problem went
away.

KCP

[Neil Gould]

Post by pcourterelle
We're starting to see more CID/double-byte and OpenType fonts
embedded and subsetted into PDFS that come into our production stream
from designers. It has caused a few hiccups. Is anyone else
encountering problems or have any suggestions?

The root of the problem is that support for CID fonts is a *requirement*
of PostScript (double byte fonts of other heritage is a different matter),
but some application & RIP vendors do not adhere to this requirement (see
Adobe for more information). So, while your decision to pass these files
back to the designer is one way of addressing the problems, it isn't
really a solution. I expect that you'll see an increase in the number of
such files as InDesign and other apps that support OpenType fonts gain
market share.

Regards,

Neil

[pcourterelle]

Post by Neil Gould

Post by pcourterelle
We're starting to see more CID/double-byte and OpenType fonts
embedded and subsetted into PDFS that come into our production stream
from designers. It has caused a few hiccups. Is anyone else
encountering problems or have any suggestions?

The root of the problem is that support for CID fonts is a *requirement*
of PostScript (double byte fonts of other heritage is a different matter),
but some application & RIP vendors do not adhere to this requirement (see
Adobe for more information). So, while your decision to pass these files
back to the designer is one way of addressing the problems, it isn't
really a solution. I expect that you'll see an increase in the number of
such files as InDesign and other apps that support OpenType fonts gain
market share.
Regards,
Neil

Neil: I agree, which is why I"m looking at alternatives. OpenType will only
get more popular.

pc