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Scribus => Text and Typography => Topic started by: Merton on June 23, 2011, 10:20:28 PM

Title: Strange characters with Adobe Reader X
Post by: Merton on June 23, 2011, 10:20:28 PM
Hi all,

     I've been a Scribus user for about a year now, but am having an issue with reading PDFs in Adobe Reader X (the latest version at this time).  I have a PDF with text frames and form fields (text fields and a push button), but the text of the form fields displays as weird characters.  It's almost as if there is a problem in the character set.

     I noticed this problem while using Scribus 1.3.3.13 and upgraded to 1.4.0.rc5, but this didn't help.  The PDF opens perfectly in Adobe 9 (I had Adobe v9.4.5 before upgrading), but not in Adobe X (v10.1.0).  There is no such problem in a PDF made in Adobe Acrobat Pro using both Adobe Reader 9 and X, so it's only the PDFs I've made in Scribus, and only with Adobe Reader X.  I'm running the latest version of Scribus and GhostScript v9.02 on Windows 7, though the same problem occurs on Windows Vista systems.  Additionally, I'm not using any crazy or rare fonts: the PDF fields use Verdana, though I have tried the standard Times New Roman as well.

I've also noticed a few differences between the PDFs made in Scribus and Adobe Acrobat Pro which may account for this, but I have no idea.  My Scribus PDF says it's not a "Tagged PDF," has a lower "PDF Version" than the Adobe PDF (1.4 compared with 1.7), and has "Page Extraction" allowed.  I'm getting these options by clicking "File -> Properties" in Adobe Reader X and not sure if they actually contribute to my problem, I just figured more information couldn't hurt.

Has anyone else had this problem?  Any suggestions for a solution?  Much thanks!
Title: Re: Strange characters with Adobe Reader X
Post by: Meho R. on June 24, 2011, 11:24:15 AM
An example SLA file (as well as its PDF output) would be useful. Have you tried saving the document as PDF 1.5 and use default "Helvetica" for text?
Title: Re: Strange characters with Adobe Reader X
Post by: Merton on June 24, 2011, 04:18:27 PM
Thanks for the quick response!  I had originally used the PDF 1.4 Compatibility, but I have tried PDF 1.5 with no improvement.  And, as you'll now be able to see, the text fields within my PDF do default to Helvetica, though I have tried both Times and Courier.

PDF:
http://www.mertonslair.com/tmp/employment_application.pdf

SLA:
http://www.mertonslair.com/tmp/employment_application.sla
Title: Re: Strange characters with Adobe Reader X
Post by: Meho R. on June 26, 2011, 12:24:46 PM
Hmmm, right. Actually, Adobe Reader X is the only reader that has this problem. I tested with a bunch of other PDF readers, no problems at all. Probably it's better to ask at Scribus mailing list, maybe devs can explain this.
Title: Re: Strange characters with Adobe Reader X
Post by: Merton on June 28, 2011, 06:03:53 PM
Just an FYI, I've submitted this as a bug and am waiting for the developers to evaluate and/or fix it.  I will post again when this is resolved, for those of you who are experiencing the same issue.

http://bugs.scribus.net/view.php?id=10079
Title: Re: Strange characters with Adobe Reader X
Post by: dexdex on July 28, 2011, 02:39:00 PM
Hello all. I have had the exactly same problem.

I've created a form with Scribus 1.3.3.14.
Some text fields and form fields are included in this PDF.

Now Adobe Reader X 10.0.x was released.
The font is gambled. :P
I've setup the original PDF with embedded fonts.
Tried it without embedded fonts.
It works! no gambled text
PDF settings: PDF 1.5, no embedded fonts

After some weeks, Adobe Reader X 10.1.x was released
The font is gambled again  :'(
Tried several settings, found out, that only formfields are affected with this problem.
After some try and error, following worked for me:
PDF setting: PDF 1.3, no embedded fonts.

I got a bad feeling about the next updates of the Adobe Reader ..
I have no clue what they are changing every time..

Regards
Vik

Title: Re: Strange characters with Adobe Reader X
Post by: dexdex on October 18, 2011, 11:58:06 AM
Hello together, problem was completely solved for me since update of Adobe Reader X to version 10.1.1

best Regards