Re: pdf-with-embedded-ttf-font-does-not-print

2018-03-07 9:41 GMT+01:00 Henning von Bargen <[email protected]>:

> Probably this is not a Reportlab issue at all.
> I suspect an error in the MS Windows printing system or in the printer
> driver or in the way the applications print.
>
> The library vendor told me that the library works in such a way that the
> subsetted TrueType fonts (contained in the PDF) are extracted and
> temporarily installed on windows, then they are used to print the document
> using the windows APIs, then they are uninstalled again.
> When printing on a network printer, one has to tell the library to wait
> until the printer has actually finished printing before uninstalling the
> TTFs again - it is NOT sufficient to wait until the print job has
> successfully been submitted.
>
> trusting to wait the right time for asynchronous network events is daring.
And trusting that the notifications from network printers stay constant
over versions is even more daring :)

Anyhow: a solution would be the "convert glyphes to curves", which is one
of the common workarounds in printing to not be required to embed the
fonts. The letters are converted into curves.  That may or may not increase
the PDF size; it makes it much more challenging to index the text inside;
but it makes it easier to print.

Could there be an operation to do this in the canvas.save() of reportlab?
Hard thing to program, but must likely more joyfull than hunting down
timing issues in a multi-version and multiple-printers windows network.

Cheers

Harald




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