Prepress: any tips for authorizing a PDF?

[mperonen]

I recently made a 4-page long layout job and sent it for printing. I recieved some comments:
1. the "Fonts were broken, and the structrue was strange".
2. Apparently the cursive and bold were done programmically (is this a reference to OTF, programmatic fonts?).

Also they sent me a screenshot of their PDF-authorize tool and I can see the following errors:
1. Font is not valid (134 matches on 2 pages)
2. TrueType font has differences to standard encoding but is not a symbolic font (14326 matches on 4 pages)
3. Wrong encoding for non-symbolic TrueType font (14326 matches on 4 pages)
4. Number of pages is more than 1 (weird error)

I wish to learn to correct my process to make quality PDF:s with Scribus if possible.
Thank you for any possible tips.

[a.l.e]

can you please post some details about the fonts you have been using?
and the exact error messages might also help.

if you don't want to share those information in public, you can open a "private" ticket in the bug tracker: https://busg.scribus.net

[Nermander]

Maybe also ask the printer for the specifications they need the PDF to comply with?

While some of the errors may be due to broken fonts, I would suspect that it is rather about limitations of their software.

What tool are they using to check the PDF?

[mperonen]

Thank you for your response.

Here is a screenshot of the errors that they sent me
(You may ignore the DeviceRGB error, that was my bad and I figured it out myself):




Here is pdffonts command output on the pdf:

name                                type              encoding        emb sub uni object ID
------------------------------------ ----------------- ---------------- --- --- --- ---------
Caladea-BoldItalic                  TrueType          Custom          yes no  no      19  0
Caladea-BoldItalic                  TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes      9  0
Caladea-BoldItalic                  TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    13  0
Caladea-BoldItalic                  TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    17  0
JMXFWM+DejaVuSans-Bold              CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    24  0
EMTWHA+RobotoCondensed-Bold          CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    161  0
OJAJKL+RobotoCondensed-Medium        CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    166  0
BAKUQH+RobotoCondensed-Regular      CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    171  0
ZJRXIX+RobotoCondensed-SemiBoldItalic CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    176  0
JUWHOW+DejaVuSans                    CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    29  0
VAYWSP+DejaVuSansCondensed-Bold      CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    34  0
GentiumBasic-Bold                    TrueType          Custom          yes no  no      54  0
GentiumBasic-Bold                    TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    40  0
GentiumBasic-Bold                    TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    44  0
GentiumBasic-Bold                    TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    48  0
GentiumBasic-Bold                    TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    52  0
GentiumBasic-BoldItalic              TrueType          Custom          yes no  no      74  0
GentiumBasic-BoldItalic              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    60  0
GentiumBasic-BoldItalic              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    64  0
GentiumBasic-BoldItalic              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    68  0
GentiumBasic-BoldItalic              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    72  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  no    110  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    80  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    84  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    88  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    92  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    96  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    100  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    104  0
Gentium-Italic                      TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    108  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  no    146  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    116  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    120  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    124  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    128  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    132  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    136  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    140  0
Gentium                              TrueType          Custom          yes no  yes    144  0
HFXHVF+Helvetica-Bold                CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    151  0
JOWYOZ+RobotoCondensed-Black        CID TrueType      Identity-H      yes yes yes    156  0

[a.l.e]

thanks for the information!

sadly, having the information hidden behind all those ▶ is necessary for most of the issues.

would it possible to ask the printshop about those details?

[mperonen]

I tried asking, but they had an annoying "Scribus is not good for this kind of stuff" attitude, and I also read that they will actually bill me for asking further information (taking their work time)...large company, silly rules.

I did some digging and reading, and it seems those "Custom" encoding fonts might be an issue here?
I do know the fonts were the biggest problem here, since they did something to fix the pages on their end and they printed out just fine.

I used my logical thinking on the "Number of pages is more than 1" error and that might simply be because they are using "Newspaper Ads" profile for the check and Ads usually are just one page-PDF anyway, so it's more of a warning that the PDF has more pages.

[Nermander]

The most common answer in a case like this usually is: Look for another printer.

But the first error message indicates they are looking for a PDF/X-4. Did you export to PDF/X-4? Did you do a preflight check in Scribus for PDF/X-4?

(PDF/X-4 will only be selectable for export when you have color management turned on.)

[a.l.e]

You can try to tell them that you're in touch with the developers of Scribus, and that they are interested in finding out what the issues were.

Sadly, I have to also to warn you, that Scribus has the "policy" to not care about other programs not correctly processing PDF files (in the contrary to Adobe, that tends to work around issues that other software down the chain might have...).

One example is: you seem to be producing a PDF X/4 which, as far as I can read in Wikipedia, allows RGB colors as long as they are color managed... But, if I understand the short error message correctly, the printer's software seems to complain about RGB colors being in the PDF.
And, as Nermander says, Scribus will force to activate the color management, if you export to PDF X/4.
(but the issue might be somewhere else: we don't see the details!)

Finally, a general notice about the fonts you're using: they don't seem to be good quality fonts, meant for print (as an example, Roboto is clearly a UI font...).

Personally, I believe that Scribus should better take care of real word issues and limitations, but I also understand that a small team might not want to fix the errors bigger and well payed teams are doing elsewhere...
(My rational: creating PDFs that the printers do like, might have helped in improving the acceptance of Scribus among many users and print shops! ... and maybe attracted some more developers...)
(But I also understand the team's rational: The only important thing is that the PDF created by Scribus must be correct! Otherwise nobody will trust our "small" software)

[Nermander]

I just noticed the profile was called GWG 2015, so I googled it and that turns out to be a PDF specification.

https://gwg.org/technical-specifications/gwg-2015-specifications/

They seem to want your e-mail for downloading it though... And want to send marketing.

[mperonen]

I just noticed the profile was called GWG 2015, so I googled it and that turns out to be a PDF specification.

https://gwg.org/technical-specifications/gwg-2015-specifications/

They seem to want your e-mail for downloading it though... And want to send marketing.

I also noticed that and I was able to download that PDF without giving any info, not sure if my browser blocked those

Will try read through that for sure.

[mperonen]

You can try to tell them that you're in touch with the developers of Scribus, and that they are interested in finding out what the issues were.

Sadly, I have to also to warn you, that Scribus has the "policy" to not care about other programs not correctly processing PDF files (in the contrary to Adobe, that tends to work around issues that other software down the chain might have...).

One example is: you seem to be producing a PDF X/4 which, as far as I can read in Wikipedia, allows RGB colors as long as they are color managed... But, if I understand the short error message correctly, the printer's software seems to complain about RGB colors being in the PDF.
And, as Nermander says, Scribus will force to activate the color management, if you export to PDF X/4.
(but the issue might be somewhere else: we don't see the details!)

Finally, a general notice about the fonts you're using: they don't seem to be good quality fonts, meant for print (as an example, Roboto is clearly a UI font...).

Personally, I believe that Scribus should better take care of real word issues and limitations, but I also understand that a small team might not want to fix the errors bigger and well payed teams are doing elsewhere...
(My rational: creating PDFs that the printers do like, might have helped in improving the acceptance of Scribus among many users and print shops! ... and maybe attracted some more developers...)
(But I also understand the team's rational: The only important thing is that the PDF created by Scribus must be correct! Otherwise nobody will trust our "small" software)

Thank you for your in-depth response. Yes I am aware some fonts were picked on haste. I had to do some "ads" and implemented them in the layout. This was a somewhat low-paying job so I didn't put too much effort (time) in those.

It seems I need to put some more effort and study the fonts and their encoding, etc.

[AdmFubar]

The most common answer in a case like this usually is: Look for another printer.

Sounds like there needs to be a resource for scribus users to locate them. A wiki for users to list print houses that dont have issues with scribus generated pdf's would be useful. Maybe even branding for them to display on their sites as well. Just a thought or two.

[a.l.e]

Nice found, Nermander!

I'm opening a ticket in the bug tracker and we will see if

• the team thinks that such a specification is "relevant",
• there is any way to ensure that the profiles defined in there can be supported by Scribus

https://bugs.scribus.net/view.php?id=17324

[Nermander]

They seemed to have preflight profiles available for InDesign (I think), I am not sure if those can be utilized for Scribus?

Ok, it was possible to download by just checking the tickbox allowing them to send marketing... Without giving an e-mail.

The whole specification seems to be for ads, because it specifies the number of pages shall be exactly 1.

Using this profile for a 1 page PDF will then of course fail.

They are also forbidding a lot of colorspaces...

[Aleks100]

4 pages IS one page folded in the middle printed on both sides - this is how printers think & that is how I send them - already impositioned PDF - outside 4-1, inside 2-3.
IMHO, only 4 pages - text should be converted to outlines - no font problems.
Anyway, I never use fonts with TT outlines when there is PS version of the same fonts. Fonts are designed using PS and at the converted to TT.
Finally pdf, if possible should be created with A.obe PDF driver, meaning A.obe Acrobat.