Offending command: findfont

As you could already have guessed, ‘Findfont’ errors are font-related.

Possible solution

Reinstall all fonts used in your document from the original disks, both on your Mac or PC and your RIP.

Invalidfont errors with Acrobat Distiller and Microsoft applications

When you try to use Adobe Acrobat Distiller to distill a PostScript file that was created by Microsoft Office Publisher 2007 and by Microsoft Office Publisher 2003, you may receive an error message that is similar to the following:

%%[ ProductName: Distiller ]%%
%%[ Error: Times-Roman not found. Font cannot be embedded. ]%%
%%[ Error: invalidfont; OffendingCommand: findfont ]%%

 

To work around this problem, use one or both of the following methods.

Method 1: Configure the Printer Driver Not to Substitute Fonts

To resolve this problem for the current publication, follow these steps:

• On the File menu, click Page Setup.
• Click the Printer and Paper tab.
• Click the name of the printer that you will be using, and then click Properties.
• Click Advanced.
• In the Graphic section, change the TrueType Font option to Download as Softfont.
• Click OK, and then click OK.

To prevent this problem from occurring for all current publications, follow these steps:

• Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
• Right-click the printer that you want to configure, and then click Properties.
• Click Printing Preferences.
• Click Advanced.
• In the Graphic section, change the TrueType Font option to Download as Softfont.
• Click OK, and then click OK.

Method 2: Configure Acrobat Distiller to Ignore the Error Message

You can configure Acrobat Distiller so that you still receive an error message, but the error message does not prevent a PDF file from being created. These steps apply to Acrobat Distiller 6.0.If you are using a different version of Acrobat, the procedure will be slightly different. See your documentation to determine the version that you have. To configure Acrobat Distiller 6.0 to ignore the error message, follow these steps:

If you are using a different version of Acrobat, the procedure will be slightly different. See your documentation to determine the version that you have. To configure Acrobat Distiller 6.0 to ignore the error message, follow these steps: Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Acrobat Distiller 6.0.

• Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Acrobat Distiller 6.0.On the Settings menu, click Edit Adobe PDF Settings.
• On the Settings menu, click Edit Adobe PDF Settings.Click the Fonts tab.
• Click the Fonts tab.
• On the When Embedding Fails list, click Warn and Continue.
• Click OK.
  When Acrobat Distiller prompts you to save a new settings file, do so.
  Acrobat Distiller will suggest a name that is similar to the following: Press Quality(1).joboptions
  When you use Acrobat Distiller in the future, use the new settings file that you just created.

 

Invalidaccess errors with Linotype RIPs

Invalidaccess Postscript errors, offending command ‘findfont’ are a known problem with Linotype PostScript level 2 RIPs when printing from FreeHand 7. Reinstall all fonts on the harddisk of the RIP to solve the problem.

 

Syntaxerror when downloading fonts using AgfaSet

Early versions of AgfaSet 4.2 caused a Postscript error syntaxerror, offending command findfont on a RIP if it was used to download .pfb fonts to the RIP. The problem with corrupting fonts on the RIP was solved in later versions of AgfaSet 4.2.

 

Findfont errors in files created using the TinyDict files

The digital gremlins got at one of the TinyDict html files. Users getting a ‘findfont’ error should make sure that section 43 starts with:

% 43. DEFAULT TYPEFACES:
% PC users should substitute o/s fontnames: Stone, Arial, etc.
/F {findfont exch scalefont setfont} def
/rom { /Times-Roman F } def
% etc….

 

Acrobat Distiller “invalidfont” offending command “findfont” error

Acrobat Distiller 3.0x or earlier can generate a PostScript error, “invalidfont”, offending command: “findfont”. The error message usually points to a problem with one of the base 14 fonts used by Distiller. For a detailed overview of this error, you should consult the Adobe database.

There are several solutions for this kind of problem:

• Make sure the folder or directory containing the required basic Distiller fonts appears in Distiller’s Font Locations dialog box.
• For the Windows version of Acrobat Distiller 2.1, the size of the Acrodist.ini file has to be smaller than 64K. Delete unused font entries in this file if necessary.
• Reinstall Distiller 3.x for Macintosh. This will also reinstall all its fonts. You should also reinstall the fonts in the system folder.

 

Acrobat Distiller ‘limitcheck’ offending command ‘findfont’ error

The Unix version of Acrobat Distiller 3.0x can generate the above error. Check the Adobe website for a work-around which involves editing a configuration file using Vi or so. A too obscure error for my taste.