Word 2010 problem with PostScript Type 1 fonts and PDF export

Anonymous
2010-06-18T19:07:47+00:00

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!

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2010-09-09T05:13:08+00:00

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

  1. Some PostScript fonts display incorrectly after being edited in Word's Print Layout.
  2. Documents with some (but not all) fonts containing PostScript outline data (Ex: Helvetica, Times) crash on open.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

  1. What is the full name for the printers you have installed? Which of these is the default printer? [Start -> Type "Devices and Printers"]
  2. What editing languages do you have enabled in Word? [Open Word -> File -> Options -> Language]
  3. When in a corrupt state, does changing to a different printer (and back) fix the issue? [File -> Print]
  4. Can you reproduce the issue in *.doc files? [File -> Save As -> Save as type = "Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)"]
  5. Can you reproduce the issue in *.docx files?  [File -> Save As -> Save as type = "Word Document (*.docx)"]
  6. Can you reproduce the issue in Draft View? [View ->Draft View]
  7. Can you reproduce the issue in both Portrait and Landscape orientations? [Page Layout -> Orientation]
  8. Can you reproduce the issue in a version of Windows earlier than Windows 7 / Windows 2008?
  9. 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:

  1. 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]
  2. Each time a document is opened with the incorrect font being displayed change to a different printer (and back). [(In Word) File -> Print]
  3. 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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  1. Anonymous
    2011-01-12T20:54:03+00:00

    A hotfix has been released to address the issue where Helvetica and other Type 1 fonts cause Office 2010 applications Word and Outlook to crash.  The issue was originally documented in KB, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2119612. 

    The hotfix to address this issue is now available,http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2459114.  The fix will be included in Office 2010 Service Pack 1.  If you need the fix immediately, please follow the instructions in the KB article.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-12-10T19:38:06+00:00

    When I went over this issue with MS tech support, he denied it was a problem--because it wasn't in their manual. Furthermore, he refused to listen to any input from me, blaming the problem on the font vendor.  We're going in circles.

    I believe I achieved more stability by enabling Hindu (a right to left language) in Word a workaround suggested in another thread. However the documents I created while I still had the bug are still unstable. I had to go to their second suggested workaround, changing printers and changing back again.

    It's annoying that Microsoft is so unresponsive to an important glitch.   Their installed IOTF fonts DO work, which makes me think there's some variable here.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-11-20T00:20:13+00:00

    Sounds like a Microsoft hack and not a solution to me.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-11-20T00:18:08+00:00

    Before coming across this thread, I spent 3 hours this morning with Microsoft Support before they isolated it to my installed Helvetica fonts.  Their solution was to have me uninstall *all* my Helvetica fonts.  Only after reading this thread did I learn about the Type 1 issue.

    If I have both Type 1 and TrueType Helvetica fonts installed on my system, my template crashes on open.  If I uninstall just the Type 1 Helvetica fonts, the problem goes away.  I'm running Word 2010 on Windows XP SP3 (32bit).

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