How to Fix Acrobat Font Contains Bad Widths Error When Printing PDF Forms
Question details
Users encounter an error preventing them from opening or printing PDF forms, stating that an embedded font contains bad widths or cannot be extracted.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat PDF
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to open or print PDF forms that previously functioned correctly without errors.
- Observed behavior
- The PDF viewer displays an error regarding bad font widths, resulting in missing characters, distorted text, or a complete failure to print the document.
Ensure you have a backup copy of the original PDF form and its source file (e.g., Word document) before making any modifications to the fonts.
Identify Damaged Fonts and Recreate the PDF
Use Adobe Acrobat's Preflight tool and Document Properties to locate the corrupted fonts, then recreate the PDF from the original source file with correctly embedded fonts.
When a font is incorrectly subset or corrupted during the PDF generation process, Acrobat struggles to read its character widths. Fixing this usually requires returning to the source document.
Open the problematic PDF in Acrobat, go to File > Properties, and click on the 'Fonts' tab. Look for any fonts that do not say 'Embedded' or 'Embedded Subset' next to them, or those triggering the extraction error.
Navigate to Tools > Print Production > Preflight. Run a PDF analysis profile to check for font embedding errors and see if Acrobat can automatically fix the corrupted font widths.
If the PDF cannot be repaired, open the original source file. Select the text using the damaged font and change it to a reliable, standard system font (like Arial or Times New Roman).
Export or print the source document to PDF again. Ensure that your PDF export settings have 'Embed all fonts' checked. Test print the new PDF to confirm the issue is resolved.
Print the PDF Document as an Image
Bypass font rendering processes entirely by instructing your printer to process the PDF pages as flat images. This is a quick workaround when you cannot edit the source file.
Print PDF Forms Smoothly Using WPS Office
If your current PDF reader blocks printing due to strict font extraction errors, WPS PDF provides a highly compatible and tolerant rendering engine. You can easily view, manage, and print your PDF forms directly using the 'Print as Image' feature within WPS Office.
- 1. Open the PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office, select 'PDF', and open your form containing the problematic fonts.
- 2. Access Print Settings: Click on the Print icon located on the top toolbar or press Ctrl+P to open the print dialog.
- 3. Enable Print as Image: In the print settings window, check the 'Print as Image' option. This prevents the software from attempting to extract corrupted font widths.
- 4. Execute Print: Click 'Print' to successfully output your form without triggering any bad font width errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 'font contains bad widths' mean in a PDF?
This error means the font embedded inside the PDF file has corrupted metrics or data. The PDF viewer relies on these metrics to determine character spacing; when corrupted, the software cannot render or print the text correctly.
Can I fix the PDF font error without the original source file?
Without the source file, permanently fixing the font is difficult. However, you can use a quick workaround like selecting 'Print as Image' in your print dialog, which bypasses the font metrics and prints the document exactly as it looks on your screen.
Why did my PDF form suddenly stop printing correctly?
This often occurs if the PDF was recently edited in a different program that incorrectly saved a subset of the font, or if your PDF software updated to a version with stricter parsing rules for embedded font errors.
Does standardizing fonts prevent extraction errors?
Yes. Using standard, widely supported system fonts (like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman) when creating forms significantly reduces the chances of encountering bad width or extraction errors during printing.
