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
    2010-07-26T14:17:14+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.

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-07-20T00:59:32+00:00

    For what it's worth I'm seeing the exact same behavior with Lucida Bright font.  I hope MS is listening.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-07-15T12:45:46+00:00

    I'm running Office 2010 32-bit on Windows 7 32 bit and I'm having the font incompatibilities. It's very specific too, several of the fonts we use are fine, but the postscript "Times" crashes it. It's the roman instance of it too, not the bold, italic, or bolditalic instance. TimesSC and its instances don't cause the crash.

    I've also seen the onscreen display distortion (looks like Collibri to me) of opentype fonts, including Times Lt Std which replaces Times, but only a few times. I was hoping it was something odd with styles in the old template I was working to update, it's disturbing to hear it's a more general problem. We just started to rollout 2010 because we liked the feature improvements with it. Maybe not.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-07-05T05:47:52+00:00

    Dear Word 2010 Users,

    I experience the effects of OpenType Fonts gettings scrambled on screen as originally reported by zombie010 on June 18th.

    I had no problem using the MinionPro fonts (a OpenType Font delivered together with the CS4 suite) with Windows 7 32-Bit and Office Enterprise 2007.  I use a Dell Precision with Nvidia Quadro 770M with the lastest drivers (I have tried all that have been published in 2010, but the effect is not driver-related).

    I upgraded to Office 2010 Professional 32-Bit due to the fact that powerpoint used the improved equation editor introduced with Word 2007.  I uninstalled Office 2007 completeley and installed Office 2010 from scratch.

    The image shown in figure 4 of zombie010 is also what I get, sometimes after only a few clicks und key inputs, sometimes after a few 10 clicks or key inputs.

    What I found out:

    1. The problem seem to exist with all OTFs.  How to verify?  A high-quality font is Linux Libertine.  That comes as OTF and TTF.  The TTFs have no problem to be used with Word 2010, but OFT has.  First install only the OTFs, then subsitute them by the TTFs.  I assume, that others will be able to verify this effect.
    2. Using the switches "deactivate OTF extensions" and "deactivate grafic hardware acceleration" did not resolve the problems.
    3. Generating PDFs with OTF fonts (even with the "destroyed" fonts on screen) is possible, the output is what is to be expected, even if your screen signifies something weired.

    I hope that SP1 for Office 2010 solves the OTF problem and that SP1 will be made avaialbe soon.

    Regards,

    Tischbein.

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