How to solve the problem of font loss during prepress processing?

During the pre-press processing, various problems are often encountered, such as font loss, picture loss, file accuracy does not meet requirements, file content is incomplete, file size does not meet specifications, etc.This article summarizes common font missing problems during prepress processing and proposes corresponding solutions.
Usually, the types of printing files provided by customers can be divided into two categories: one is the design source file format; the other is the PDF file format.When the file submitted by the customer is in the first format, we need to convert it into a PDF file in the corresponding software before printing.This is because PDF files are based on PostScript language images and can ensure accurate colors and accurate printing effects no matter what kind of printer they are used on. That is, PDF will faithfully reproduce the characters, colors and images in the original document, and match the application used. Program, operating system and hardware agnostic.
During the pre-press processing, various problems are often encountered, such as font loss, picture loss, file accuracy does not meet requirements, file content is incomplete, file size does not meet specifications, etc.Font loss is one of the common problems in the printing process. Based on work practice, this article analyzes the causes of font loss and proposes corresponding solutions.
1. The design source file is missing fonts
When encountering a design source file that lacks fonts, there are three common solutions: first, ask the customer to convert the source file and then resend it, or ask the customer to generate the source file into a PDF file and then resend it; second, on the Windows system Supplement the missing fonts in the font library Fonts; third, with the customer's consent, replace the missing fonts in the file with existing fonts.
It should be noted that after the source file is converted to a curve, the text in the file is converted into a curve, which no longer has the attributes of text and cannot be edited like an ordinary file.
2. PDF files are missing fonts
The solution for missing fonts in PDF files is flexible and diverse, and can be combined with other software to solve the problem.
(1) Embed fonts when generating PDF documents
This method is relatively simple and easy to implement, because no matter what software is used, at the end of the design and layout, the PDF file can be output for transmission and printing.During output, the software will provide different setting parameters to meet different usage needs.At this time, we can set up to embed all fonts in this step (as shown in Figure 1).The problem with this method is that font embedding may fail due to issues such as font encryption.

(2) Use other similar fonts instead
With the client's consent, we may use other approximate fonts to replace missing fonts in the file.
(3)Use Adobe Acrobat Pro embedded fonts
Open the document that needs to be processed in Adobe Acrobat Pro, click 'Tools', find 'Print Production', click 'Prepress', click 'Analyze and Repair', and save the repaired version.During the process, the 'PDF Correction' item includes font embedding (as shown in Figure 2).

(4) Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to generate the conversion file
Open the document to be processed in Adobe Acrobat Pro, click 'Tools', find 'Print Production', click 'Splitter Preview' to convert all text into outlines.Because there are many front-end design software on the market, occasionally file conversion may fail due to software incompatibility.
(5) Use CorelDRaw to generate the conversion file
Open the document that needs to be processed in CorelDRaw, and the software will pop up a dialog box asking the user whether to convert the song.This solution is also suitable for batch conversion of files.
(6) Use a virtual printer to generate print files
As shown in Figure 3, when using the virtual printer, uncheck 'Rely on system fonts only, do not use document fonts', select 'Download as soft fonts' for TrueType fonts, and generate PS files.Then, use Acrobat Distiller to convert the PS file into a PDF file (as shown in Figure 4).

(7) Use Adobe Acrobat Pro to convert PDF files to JPG files
This method is suitable for digital printing and is not suitable for screen printing because the text has changed from vector to four-color dot matrix.Under normal circumstances, 236.22 pixels/cm can meet the requirements, but the higher the line number, the slower the storage and the more time-consuming the back-end printing process is.
(8) Supplement the font library for publishing and typesetting software
Taking the Founder Changliu system as an example, when its normalization module encounters a missing font, it can use the 'normalizer' to supplement the font. In this case, the network path to the supplementary font library needs to be specified.