Word 2010 problem with PostScript Type 1 fonts and PDF export

Anonymous

I have been using Office 2010 since the Beta period and I am now using the release build.

I use Adobe Postscript Type 1 fonts regularly in my documents, and I have found that Word 2010 (and presumably all of the Office 2010 applications) has several problems working with PostScript fonts.

Most notably, the "Save as PDF" function will create documents with an odd gradient effect applied to all PostScript fonts.

Secondarily, the Word editor frequently glitches and renders PostScript fonts using a sans-serif font that looks to be Arial.

The following are a demonstration of the issue:

![](http://www.tsotech.com/images/office2010/original-doc-small.jpg)

This is an original document typed in Minion, an Adobe PostScript Type 1 font.

![](http://www.tsotech.com/images/office2010/pdf-version-small.jpg)

This is the document as rendered by muPDF, a very lightweight PDF reader. Note that the official Adobe Acrobat Reader will render the document correctly. I suspect Microsoft only tested the PDF export functionality with the Adobe Reader and concluded that it was functioning correctly. But please note that alternative readers are fairly commonplace, especially with so many security issues being found daily in Adobe's products.

![](http://www.tsotech.com/images/office2010/mac-small.jpg)

I don't have access to a Mac, but the above screenshot was from a Mac's PDF reader attempting to display a different PDF document I had sent a colleague.

Finally, during regular use of Word 2010, the editor will fail to render PostScript Type 1 fonts correctly, falling back on a sens-serif font that I believe to be Arial. See below:

![](http://www.tsotech.com/images/office2010/display-glitch-small.jpg)

Please investigate these issues, Microsoft!

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

There are 4 issues in this thread for Word 2010 RTM:

Some PostScript fonts display incorrectly after being edited in Word's Print Layout.
Documents with some (but not all) fonts containing PostScript outline data (Ex: Helvetica, Times) crash on open.
Documents using fonts with PostScript Outline data saved as a PDF in Word render correctly in Adobe Reader but incorrectly in some other PDF Viewers.
Documents using fonts with PostScript outline data saved as a PDF in Word render the text as a static image rather than selectable text.

Issue #1

To assist us in solving this issue, please answer the following questions. Thank you.

What is the full name for the printers you have installed? Which of these is the default printer? [Start -> Type "Devices and Printers"]
What editing languages do you have enabled in Word? [Open Word -> File -> Options -> Language]
When in a corrupt state, does changing to a different printer (and back) fix the issue? [File -> Print]
Can you reproduce the issue in *.doc files? [File -> Save As -> Save as type = "Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)"]
Can you reproduce the issue in *.docx files? [File -> Save As -> Save as type = "Word Document (*.docx)"]
Can you reproduce the issue in Draft View? [View ->Draft View]
Can you reproduce the issue in both Portrait and Landscape orientations? [Page Layout -> Orientation]
Can you reproduce the issue in a version of Windows earlier than Windows 7 / Windows 2008?
Can you reproduce the issue in a version of Word earlier than Word 2010?

===

Here are several workarounds for this issue from my other thread, but please continue to assist us by answering the questions above. Workarounds in order of most convenient to least convenient are:

Add a Right-to-Left language, such as Hindi, to your list of editing languages. [(In Word) File -> Options -> Language -> [Add aditional editing languages] -> Hindi -> Add]
Each time a document is opened with the incorrect font being displayed change to a different printer (and back). [(In Word) File -> Print]
Uninstall all printers from Windows. [(In Windows) Start -> Devices and Printers]

Issue #2

Problem A – Use one of these workarounds if you are crashing when opening documents with fonts Helvetica or Times.

Remove offending PostScript font substitutions from the registry location. Restart computer.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\FontSubstitutes]

Install the OpenType versions of the offending PostScript fonts.
Uninstall the offending PostScript fonts.
Open the Font Dialog Box (Ctrl + D) before attempting to display an offending PostScript font. This fix lasts until Word is closed.

Problem B – Use one of these workarounds if you are crashing when opening documents with fonts other than Helvetica or Times. In this case you are most likely crashing due to your printer driver.

Change your default printer to another printer that does not crash (ex: Microsoft XPS Document Writer).
Uninstall your printer (or all printers).

Issue #3

Currently the best workaround is the one already given by the original poster: Open your PDF documents in Adobe Reader rather than muPDF or the Mac's default PDF reader.

Issue #4

When saving documents using fonts with PostScript outline data, Word 2010 only supports outputting the text as a static image, and does not support outputting the text as selectable text. Currently the best workaround is the one already given by the original poster: Use a printer driver that outputs to PDF such as Adobe Acrobat or CutePDF.

-Omega

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61 additional answers

Anonymous

2010-10-09T20:29:48+00:00

Adam,

I have a Word 2003 resume file of my own that crashes on every attempt to open it in Word 2010, and this is due to its use of one or more Type 1 fonts. The same file opens without issues in Word 2007 and of course 2003. I'd be happy to provide you a copy of the file if you can get Microsoft's attention with it.

This is DEFINITELY a Word 2010 bug!

Let me know if you'd like a copy of the file and feel you can provide it to the right folks at Microsoft so they'll get off their lazy bums and address the problem that many of us are having,

Tim Huckabay

P.S. Besides being a senior developer, I am also an author and publisher for what it's worth.
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Anonymous

2010-09-14T15:00:30+00:00

After finally running out of patience, I've initiated an official support request with Microsoft on this problem. So far I've been impressed with their responsiveness, hopefully they'll admit this is a problem "soon". I'll update on this thread.

Thanks for escalating this, Adam. Any news from Microsoft yet?

ARGH.

It seems that Microsoft's position is that until andunless the first-level Word tech support can duplicate the problem on a (virtual) machine, there's nothing that can be done. I've spent a fair amount of time trying things, but (1) though I have been able teo find a easy, simple, consistent reproduction scenario (on my machine), (2) have been unable to come up with a way for MSFT first-level support to see the problem happen.

The more I mess with this, the more convinced that this is certainly a Word bug, but simply can't get past the Word firewall "If I can't make it happen here, there's nothing we can do."

I have one PC with the problem, one without. Unfortunately, the one with the problem is my main PC (and the one that generates the bulk of my revenue). I could take a day or two and reinstall everything (taking good notes), which may yield a PC that has the problem... but frankly I'm not entirely sure if I can spare the time.

Does anyone out there care enough about this problem to help me out? I've spent a great amount of time getting nowhere, and the only path forward seems to be one that'll take another 'bunch' of time. Can someone start from scratch, a complete reinstall, and take very good notes about what was installed/updated in what order that yields a computer with the problem?

Otherwise, I'm not sure we'll ever get anywhere.

Adam

All:

MSFT tech support has closed the incident. They'll re-open and deal with it ONLY IF someone can describe a repeatable scenario for reproduction -- in this case, this means a PC configuration that yields the problem. See above, can someone help out?

UPDATE: Thanks to our good work here (and on the other thread or two on this topic), Microsoft Engineering has accepted this problem as a Bug! This means that MSFT support no longer owns it, and engineering will fix it (at some point).

Hooray! (and adding a R-to-L language is a useful workaround)
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Anonymous

2010-09-09T22:36:42+00:00
In an attempt to forge on ahead, I:

Installed the Microsoft Office 2010 Lanugage Pack (English) (which, I guess, merely reinstalled English-language files)

Added Hebrew to my list of languages (this did NOT install Hebrew, as I haven't purchased it), exited all Office programs and restarted Word.

Now I can no longer duplicate the problem (I think).... Can someone that's seeing this problem please just do #2 and see if it fixes the problem? Also, if someone out there has access to the language pack (which I do via a Technet subscription, but you might not), maybe try duplicating what I did?
Adam, I only did step #2 and the work-around has been working for me without issue since then.
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Anonymous

2010-09-09T22:31:59+00:00

Issue #3

Currently the best workaround is the one already given by the original poster: Open your PDF documents in Adobe Reader rather than muPDF or the Mac's default PDF reader.

I am marking your response as the "answer" for this thread. While the resolution to issue #3--the principal issue in this thread--is a disappointing one, you have provided a very useful workaround to the ancillary issue of Postscript display problems and have addressed each issue as best you can. Thank you!
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