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• • August 1, 2013 at 2:39 pm #64641
    Chris Benge

    Member

    Recently I designed a 44-pp A4 black and white conference handbook in InDesign CS6 (Mac OS X 10.6.8) using Opentype fonts Warnock Pro and Satero Sans LT Pro. The InDesign file looked great; the print-ready pdf looked great; but when the job was digitally printed (by a reliable, high quality print supplier) the Satero Sans font had frequently and apparently randomly toggled between Bold and Italic in the kind of way I used to experience occasionally a decade or more ago where fonts were not properly embedded with Acrobat files. This was despite my endeavours to use best practice by consistent use of Paragraph and Character styling throughout the document.

    My fault for not getting a printer’s proof, I know (fast turnaround pressure was part of the problem, but no excuse). But my question is: what happened? And how can I trust it won’t happen again?

    In case font management was the problem, we have tested the InDesign and pdf files on other production Macs — laser printouts behave similarly, even though we have explicitly checked that the relevant fonts are installed and accessible for use. We have examined Satero Sans LT Pro, Satero Sans LT Pro Bold and Satero Sans LT Pro Italic (the weights of Satero Sans used for this job) with Font Doctor: no indication of anything amiss.

    I like Satero Sans, but I’m now skittish about using it (it’s the first time I’ve used it for a major print job). Should I go back to the font supplier from whom I purchased Satero Sans — Linotype? Or is it more likely to be a font management issue within InDesign? Is there analysis I can apply to the InDesign file to ascertain what went on? What would the veterans of InDesignSecrets recommend I do in order to restore my confidence in using Satero Sans (or at worst, get my money back if it’s fatally flawed)?

    If anyone has the time or inclination to look further into this, a sample three pages of the flawed publication in pdf format can be accessed here: https://www.hightail.com/download/bWJwM25MTERUME5sQXNUQw

  • August 1, 2013 at 3:48 pm #64642
    David Blatner

    Keymaster

    Weird! I see one problem in Acrobat: Healthy Balance on Campus shows up with the “H” wrong and the “balance” comes out as “bA1anc” all mixed up. Is that what you’re referring to?

    If it shows up right in Acrobat, but prints wrong on the digital printer, I would say it’s probably their fault, not InDesign’s. But perhaps I’m biased. :)

    I haven’t used that font, but I would doubt that a Linotype font would have inherent problems like this.

  • August 1, 2013 at 3:57 pm #64643
    Chris Benge

    Member

    Sorry — ignore that Healthy Balance on Campus entry. It’s meant to be a kind of visual pun, and is deliberate. I’ll remove that page from the uploaded file so I don’t mislead anyone else!

    I’d be happy to blame my digital print partner, only I get similar (not identical) behaviour when I test print either the original ID file or the pdf from my own Postscript laser printer (a KonicaMinolta MagiColor 2450). This makes me think the file is somehow flawed, but not in any easily identifiable way. I’d be interested to know whether the problem appears if you printed to a local desktop printer.

    However, you have made me think I should enlist the help of my digital print partner — they run PitStop, and it mght give them some additional glimpses into what’s going on.

    Any further comment is welcome!

  • August 1, 2013 at 4:22 pm #64644
    Aleta El Sheikh

    Participant

    I would certainly talk to the printer about it. Something could have happened when they ripped the file, though it doesn’t explain why it does the same thing on your KonicaMinolta. Too bad; it’s a nice font.

    For what it’s worth, I printed out the first page on both an old laser printer and a newer inkjet, and they look just like the PDF as far as I can tell.

  • August 1, 2013 at 5:46 pm #64647
    Chris Benge

    Member

    Thanks for taking the time to check the printing, Aletabird — it’s really useful for my troubleshooting process to know that the file’s not misbehaving on your printers. I have now added to my files uploaded at the above URL: I have three pages scanned from the defective print job, and those same pages in a pdf file. So the problems I’m talking about should now be quite clear.

    I haven’t managed to get hold of my digital print supplier yet, so I don’t know whether they will be able to isolate any reason for this problem. I will post further when I do.

  • August 2, 2013 at 8:25 am #64650
    Aleta El Sheikh

    Participant

    Hello KapitiKit,

    I think that talking with your printer might shed some light on the issue. If they can’t, and you still want to use that font in future projects, you can outline the text as you make your PDF by using this trick from David: https://creativepro.com/converting-text-to-outlines-the-right-way.php.

    By the way, I think you need to generate a new link to the Hightail file, as the one above still goes to the original PDF you posted. but no worries; I think we can all imagine your troubles. I have seen my share of wonky fonts in the past.

  • August 3, 2013 at 3:23 pm #64659
    Chris Benge

    Member

    Thanks Aletabird. I appreciate the workaround info (though I think it would drive me to distraction having to outline everything on the page in order to make Satero Sans work for me — there MUST be a better way . . .)

    Sorry about the link. Here’s the Revised Standard Version, which I hope will work for anyone:
    https://www.hightail.com/sharedFolder?phi_action=app/orchestrateSharedFolder&id=kUM1AOR_COF3ulHDKEGYcIGnApu9rZhJvnImAB9pCAk

    My prepress manager at the printer was away from work Friday, so I’m waiting to hear from him on Monday, and will post again once he has had a chance to investigate.

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