Font Problem PDF

[Michael Trittipo]

At 08:17 1999/01/26 -0700, David Burrous wrote:
>> . . . other alphabets are a challenge.  . . . first with Russian.
>
>> Our plan was to scan the documents and convert them to PDF.  . . .
>> We obtained the appropriate font (SlavicSwissTT) . . ..
>> Unfortunately, though, people who downloaded them could only read them
>> if they, too, had the font (SlavicSwissTT) installed . . . We tried
>> embedding the font (SlavicSwissTT) . . . but that did not work.
>Can anybody help?

Maybe.  I have made several PDF documents in Czech.  You have two basic
approaches: (1) use a font that users may be likely to find (or be able to
get) more or less easily, either from you (absent copyright restrictions)
or from elsewhere; and (2) _both_ (a) embed the fonts, _and_ (b) use
Acrobat _Distiller_, not PDF Writer.  You've found (1) impractical with the
font you mentioned.  As to (2), my first guess would be that you're using
PDF Writer, not Distiller.  Is that right?

The reason for my guess and for the emphasis on 2(a) _and_ (b) is that PDF
Writer alone will not, repeat not, not even with supposed font embedding,
do most non-Romance characters (I'd say non-Roman, but of course Czech does
use Roman letters -- and PDF Writer doesn't reflect its hacky and carky &
so forth).  For that matter, PDF Writer doesn't even do a very good job on
things like exact positioning of graphic elements (underlining for forms,
etc.).  You have to use Distiller.  Distiller will do it perfectly, because
it works from the actual instructions to the printer about where to put ink.

Some people have problems getting Distiller installed right, because it's
finicky about its Postscript drivers.  But it works exactly as advertised,
with perfect mirror-image copies, even for stuff like Czech haceks and
Japanese kanji, so it ought -- unlike PDF Writer -- to work with Cyrillic,
too.  So my suggestion would be to install Distiller;  PDF Writer just
doesn't cut the mustard.

Just in case you're considering going back to the "easily addable font"
route, and if you're using M$ft products instead of WordPerfect (I don't
know about WordPro), you might try using one of Microsoft's "WGL4" TrueType
fonts.  M$ft touts them as being "web" fonts, but they work quite fine
anywhere else, too.  They include a Cyrillic subset.  I personally haven't
used the Cyrillic subset, but the Central European subsets work as
advertised.  I *think* but am not sure that I've heard various Lantrans say
they've used the Cyrillic subsets with success.  Those fonts are
downloadable from M$ft at
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/multilang/default.htm.  A downside is
that those fonts don't work in all Windows programs;  WordPerfect8, for
example, doesn't see their CE subsets, though WordPerfect5.2 (Windows)
does.  Go figure.  They work fine in Word & WordPad.

Between the two routes, though, I'd suggest Distiller, not changing fonts.










Michael Trittipo
Minneapolis, Minnesota
mailto:tritt002 at tc.umn.edu