====== Characters missing from PDF output ======


If you're using //Acrobat Distiller// to create your
PDF output, you may find
characters missing.  This may manifest
itself as messed-up maths equations (missing
"-" signs, for example), or bits missing
from large symbols.  Early versions of ''Distiller'' used to
ignore character positions 0--31 and 128--159 of every font: Adobe's
fonts never use such positions, so why should ''Distiller''?

Well, the answer to this question is "because Adobe don't produce all
the world's fonts" --- fonts like ''Computer''
''Modern'' were around before Adobe came on the scene, and
//they// use positions 0--31.  Adobe don't react to complaints like
that in the previous sentence, but they do release new versions of
their programs; and ''Distiller'', since at least version 4.0,
//has// recognised the font positions it used to shun.

Meanwhile, TeX users with old versions of ''Distiller'' need
to deal with their fonts.  ''Dvips'' comes to our aid: the
switch ''-G1'' ("remap characters"), which moves the offending
characters out of the way.  The PDF configuration file
(''-Ppdf''), recommended 
in "[[FAQ-fuzzy-type3|the wrong type of fonts]]",
includes the switch.

The switch is not without its problems; pre-2003 versions of
''dvips'' will apply it to Adobe fonts as well, causing
[[FAQ-charshift|havoc]], but fortunately
that problem is usually soluble.  However, a document using both
CM and Adobe-specified fonts is stuck.  The only real solution
is either to upgrade ''dvips'', or to spend money to upgrade
''Distiller''.


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//Source:// [[faquk>FAQ-distill-prob|Characters missing from PDF output]]

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