Fix Garbled Fonts and Square Characters When Combining PDFs
Question details
The user needs to fix an issue where text becomes unreadable when merging PDF files.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat DC
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- The user is attempting to merge multiple readable PDF files into a single document.
- Observed behavior
- After combining the files, the text in the resulting PDF is replaced by missing fonts, unreadable squares, or garbled characters.
Verify that your version of Adobe Acrobat DC is fully up to date and create backup copies of all original source PDFs before attempting any fixes.
Recreate Source PDFs with Embedded Fonts
Garbled text often occurs because the source documents do not have their fonts embedded, causing the system to substitute them incorrectly during the merge.
When a PDF is created without embedding its fonts, combining it with another PDF can confuse the software's font mapping system. Recreating the source file ensures all font data travels with the document.
Open the original source document in its native application, such as Microsoft Word or the software used to create it.
Navigate to 'File' > 'Save As' or 'Export' and choose PDF as the file format.
Click on 'Options' or 'Preferences' in the save dialog box, and check the box that says 'Embed fonts in the file' (or similar wording depending on the software).
Save the newly generated PDF, and try combining it with your other PDF files again.
Combine PDFs Using the Page Thumbnails Panel
Sometimes the standard Combine Files tool causes glitches. Dragging and dropping pages via the Thumbnails panel can bypass these font mapping errors.
Inspect and Fix Font Problems Using Preflight
Adobe Acrobat's Preflight tool can analyze the PDF and attempt to fix embedded font errors automatically without needing the original source files.
Combine PDFs Without Losing Formatting Using WPS Office
If Adobe Acrobat continues to produce garbled text, use the WPS Office PDF Merge tool. It perfectly preserves original fonts, formatting, and layouts when combining multiple PDF files into one.
- 1. Open WPS PDF: Launch WPS Office and switch to the 'PDF' tab from the home screen.
- 2. Select Merge PDF: Click on 'Merge PDF' from the top toolkit ribbon.
- 3. Add files: Click 'Add Files' to select the PDF documents you want to combine and arrange them in your preferred order.
- 4. Merge and save: Click 'Merge' to instantly combine the files and save your new document with all original fonts perfectly preserved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my PDFs turn into squares when combined?
This usually happens when the source PDFs use non-standard fonts that were not embedded when the files were created. When combined, the PDF reader substitutes the missing fonts with default system characters, which often appear as unreadable squares or overlapping text.
How can I check if a PDF has embedded fonts?
Open the PDF in your viewer, go to File > Properties (or Document Properties), and select the Fonts tab. It will display a list of all fonts used in the document and indicate whether they are marked as 'Embedded' or 'Embedded Subset'.
Can I fix garbled text in a PDF that is already combined and saved?
Once a PDF is combined and saved with severe font mapping errors, it is very difficult to restore the text because the underlying character data may be corrupted. It is highly recommended to fix the font embedding in the original source files and merge them again.
Does the software used to create the original PDF affect the merging process?
Yes. PDFs generated by certain third-party applications, outdated virtual printers, or custom reporting tools may not strictly adhere to universal PDF encoding standards, leading to font conflicts when merged with standard PDFs.
