[scribus] Fonts in PDF for Blurb

[Gregory Pittman]

On 12/7/19 2:57 PM, Šarūnas wrote:
> On 12/6/19 11:10 AM, Gregory Pittman wrote:
>> On 12/6/19 10:36 AM, Šarūnas wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> My first post here. Sincere thanks for Scribus developers for
>>> creating it!
>>>
>>> I have used Scribus on Linux for several years to create and 
>>> successfully print magazines (photos and text) with Blurb's 
>>> print-on-demand service. (I have also used their other tool
>>> Booksmart for many years before.) Despite warning on Blurb's upload
>>> webpage regarding possible issues with Scribus embedding fonts,
>>> there were never any preflight errors or incorrect printout.
>>>
>>> However, I have just received my first Blurb book I made with
>>> Scribus NG (1.5.5). This time all font characters printed as
>>> rectangles… The fonts (LinuxLibertine, TrueType) were embedded, not
>>> subsetted, as usual. Scribus own preflight for PDF/X-3 was happy.
>>>
>>> After contacting Blurb support, they converted my uploaded PDFs, 
>>> “outlining” fonts. I downloaded the files and while inspecting
>>> them, I can see that fonts are still listed as embedded, but now
>>> subsetted and Type-1C instead of Truetype. Here is an explanation
>>> from Blurb specialist, when I asked, what actually was done:
>>>
>>> (lawyer => layer):
>>>> What I did with your file is outline the fonts using the tool
>>>> called Pitstop, and then I distilled it in Adobe Distiller. In
>>>> this way your file is converted into one single lawyer instead of
>>>> several lawyers with non embedded fonts.
>>>
>>> I haven't yet received reprinted book, but I wonder if anyone here
>>> might have any insight on what might be going on with fonts and/or
>>> layers in PDF?
>>>
>>> P.S. I'm aware of Scribus's option to outline fonts when exporting
>>> PDF. I tried that and the resulting PDF doesn't use any fonts as a
>>> result, which is expected. Haven't received the printout yet
>>> either.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any advice,
>>>
>> Hi Šarūnas,
>>
>> I'm not a font expert, so we'll see what might come from those more
>> knowledgeable than me. The fault may not necessarily be with Scribus,
>> but rather the software being used by the printer. I would suggest in
>> the future to outline the fonts with Scribus rather than this other
>> pathway. It shows the importance of looking at your PDFs with your
>> own PDF viewer, maybe even more than one. If you can create it and
>> view it on your own computer, you can see that the problem lies with
>> the printer's software, not Scribus. Sometimes there are some
>> imperfections with certain fonts, so you might also try an
>> alternative font (this is where using Styles can be very
>> convenient).
> 
> Thanks, Greg,
> 
> Yes, all looked fine in multiple PDF viewers, including Acrobat Reader,
> as well as printed on a local laser printer. Blurb specialist confirmed
> all looked fine on their devices too. I have heard of some printers,
> contracted by Blurb, using outdated RIPs. Maybe I was just lucky until
> now, that none of my books and magazines ended up being printed with
> them. I never though of outlining fonts, as for years they “just worked”
> (the same Libertine font family). I wonder what, if any, downsides to
> quality might be, if font glyphs are outlined.
> 

The main downside of outlining fonts is that you will not be able to export the PDF text.

Greg