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Scribus => PDF Generation => Topic started by: RussellCollier on August 07, 2012, 02:17:08 AM

Title: Export to PDF generates text gibberish
Post by: RussellCollier on August 07, 2012, 02:17:08 AM
Good evening. I am working through a report for a client. We use PDF as our intermediate method of revising text and graphics.

When I try to export to PDF from the File menu, Scribus goes through the motions, but presents me with a final PDF that has little but gibberish where text is concerned.

I have been able to eventually arrive at a PDF by printing to a Postscript file, and then in Mac Pro's Preview, the .PS file seems to generate a PDF, which I can then save as PDF. The text works there.

I can also print to a free PDF writer and have the text show properly. However, at this point, Export to PDF does not seem to work correctly. Perhaps there is something yet I must configure?

I am using a very new Mac Pro (Retina) running Lion OS (10.7).

Best,
Russell
Title: Re: Export to PDF generates text gibberish
Post by: Nermander on August 07, 2012, 07:31:31 AM
More information is needed, can you upload a sample SLA and a sample PDF showing the behaviour? Just a single page with a single text frame should do.

My guess is that it is a font problem, so, what fonts are you using? Do you embed fonts in the PDF or not? What PDF viewer do you use?
Title: Re: Export to PDF generates text gibberish
Post by: RussellCollier on August 08, 2012, 02:14:19 PM
Good morning. Okay, I have re-created the problem using only one page with a single text frame. I have included both the .SLA file as well as the resulting PDF made using Scribus' export function.

I tried this first using no Styles, and the resulting PDF was fine. Upon applying Styles, however, and embedding or outlining the 2 fonts used, the resulting PDF shows gibberish.

I did try Printing it to file, specifically to a .PS file. When I try this option, and then view using Mac's Preview application, it reads it as a PDF, which I am then able to save as a PDF type of file. This route, while it works, is clunky. It does, howevr, look the way it is supposed to look.

Any thoughts?
Thanks.

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Title: Re: Export to PDF generates text gibberish
Post by: utnik on August 08, 2012, 04:39:41 PM
hi russell

looks really weird – all the characters are shifted by one place in the alphabet, but they use the space of the original character.
for me it looks like a font problem – did you try with another font?

i generated a pdf from your .sla file (mac os 10.6.8, scribus 1.4.1) – looks ok.

utnik


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Title: Re: Export to PDF generates text gibberish
Post by: RussellCollier on August 08, 2012, 05:18:41 PM
Ah, the old "shift everything by one character" trick. Yes, it looked really weird, didn't it?

I tried changing fonts as per your suggestion, so instead of Garamond (downloaded from Fonts2U), I used Apple Garamond, which came buit in with the machine, and it seems to work now. I will try one more font exchange and then export to PDF and see what happens.

Should it make such a difference between OS versions? I am using 10.7, scribus 1.4.1.

Thanks
Title: Re: Export to PDF generates text gibberish
Post by: utnik on August 09, 2012, 09:14:36 AM
hi russell

sometimes it makes a difference but this one looks like a font problem.
you uploaded the .sla without the font (the correct way as long as it isn't a free font...) – so i used my own garamond regular without this issue...

utnik
Title: Re: Export to PDF generates text gibberish
Post by: RussellCollier on August 09, 2012, 03:48:32 PM
Agreed. This was a font problem. I was using a couple fonts from Fonts2U, which are free fonts, but didn't think they might have problems associated with them. The problem was fixed when I changed to fonts that came packaged with my Macbook Pro.

Knowing there is a problem with the downloaded fonts, I think I will uninstall them so I do not inadvertently cause myself more problems in the future.

Thanks for the help!