Letters drop out of PDF file

[John_Callis@adobeforums.com]

I have a PDF file that was distilled in distiller 5.05 for windows, version 1.4 PDF.
All fonts show as embedded subset.

As part of our workflow we have to save as postscript then re-distill to a new PDF. At this point one letter drops out on several pages and does not display or print. It is just a blank space where the letter should. The odd thing is this same letter prints fine elsewhere on the same page that is has dropped away from. All fonts still shows as embedded on the new PDF.

Why does a file that has all fonts embedded lose letters? How can I prevent this or be aware of the problem?

This has been repeated on Acrobat 7.05 & 7.08 for Mac and 7.08 for PC.
Distiller for Mac and PC has been used also.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Leonard_Rosenthol@adobeforums.com]

First, any workflow that requires "redistillation" is JUST ASKING for trouble. Please see <http://www.acrobatusers.com/blogs/leonardr/2006/10/06/why-refrying-a-pdf-is-evil/> for details.

Second, because what you are doing is a lossy operation, it is quite possible that you are having problems with fonts and glyphs - esp. if the font in the original file is NOT present on teh computer doing the refrying.

Bottom line - FIX YOUR WORKFLOW!

Leonard
Adobe Systems

[John_Callis@adobeforums.com]

Leonard,

Thanks for the response. Your link details the loss of several things. Although none are any I currently need to keep in a text only file.

Granted this step is not optimum. Neither are the files I'm provided with that can come from all over creation using who knows what to create/edit them. On occasion PDF files that have had text edits performed in them will RIP with missing letters. They will appear fine on screen but when ripped, letters will drop out. They are being ripped on an Adobe PS3 rip, soon to be a print engine. The fix used is to refry and then the fonts behave as desired.

Why would having the font resident at this point of refry help if they are embedded to start with? I'm lucky to get PDF files with embedded fonts let alone trying to coax people into including font files also. That is the joy of PDF, all is wrapped into one neat container and works perfectly with no need for loose files, correct :-)

Please help me to understand what it is about the font tables that allow this to happen and how to be aware of or fix it before it is too late and ink is on paper.

John

[Jon Bessant]

You should arm yourself with PDF tools which avoid re-fry and allow for
editing (if required) inside the original PDF itself ...

Enfocus Pitstop
Acrobat 8 Professional
Callas PDF toolbox

worth considering as a backup plan ...

Jon