How to Fix PDF Text Printing as Dots on Commercial Printers
Question details
The user needs to resolve an issue where PDF text prints correctly on home printers but renders as dots on commercial printers.
- Product
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Printing PDFs generated via tools like iTextSharp on commercial printers (e.g., Ricoh, Canon, Xerox).
- Observed behavior
- Text appears as dots instead of legible characters on commercial printouts, while displaying and printing correctly on standard home printers.
Ensure you have access to an advanced PDF editor with document properties or preflight capabilities to verify whether all necessary fonts are properly embedded in your document.
Verify and Embed Fonts using PDF Preflight Tools
Use a preflight tool to identify and embed missing fonts, ensuring commercial printers can render the text properly.
Commercial Raster Image Processors (RIPs) require all fonts to be embedded in the PDF. If fonts are missing, the printer may substitute them or fail to render them, resulting in dotted text.
Open your PDF in an advanced PDF editor and locate the Document Properties or Preflight tool under the File menu.
Navigate to the Fonts tab to see a list of all fonts used in the document. Look for any fonts that do not say '(Embedded)' or '(Embedded Subset)' next to their names.
If fonts are missing, use the 'Embed Fonts' fixup feature in your PDF software, or regenerate the PDF from the source application (like iTextSharp) ensuring the 'Embed All Fonts' parameter is enabled.
Flatten the PDF Before Printing
If embedding fonts is not possible or fails, flattening the PDF processes the text as an image to bypass printer font rendering issues entirely.
Print PDFs Reliably with WPS Office
WPS Office offers a robust PDF editor that easily handles missing fonts. By using its built-in 'Print as Image' feature, you can ensure your text prints perfectly on any commercial or home printer, bypassing complex font embedding errors.
- 1. Open the PDF in WPS Office: Launch WPS Office and open your problematic PDF file.
- 2. Access the Print Dialog: Click on 'Menu' and select 'Print', or use the Ctrl+P shortcut to open the print settings.
- 3. Enable Print as Image: Check the 'Print as Image' option located in the print dialog to convert the text to graphics, effectively overriding missing font issues.
- 4. Print the Document: Select your commercial printer from the dropdown list and click 'Print'.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do PDFs print as dots on commercial printers but not on home printers?
Commercial printers use advanced Raster Image Processors (RIPs) that strictly require fonts to be fully embedded in the PDF file. Home printers rely on your computer's OS to render the page, utilizing local system fonts that the commercial printer doesn't have installed.
How do I embed fonts when generating PDFs using iTextSharp?
When creating PDFs programmatically with iTextSharp, ensure you are using 'BaseFont.CreateFont' with the embedded parameter set to 'BaseFont.EMBEDDED'. This guarantees the font data is physically included in the output file.
Does converting PDF text to outlines fix the printing issue?
Yes, converting text to outlines (or curves) changes the text into vector graphics. This eliminates the need for embedded fonts entirely, ensuring commercial printers reproduce the exact shapes without printing dots.
Can restricted font licenses cause printing errors?
Yes. If a font has a licensing restriction that prohibits embedding, your PDF creator might skip embedding it during generation. This leads to font substitution or rendering failures on external printers.
