Select or "Save as PDF" as your printer destination.
Consider this scenario: Someone sends you a PDF created on their computer using a specific font. If that font was not embedded in the PDF file during creation, and your computer does not have that exact font installed, the PDF reader or editor (like Adobe Illustrator or Acrobat) cannot display the text in its intended typeface. It needs to do something, so it resorts to using a placeholder name. These placeholders are often named CIDFont+F1 , CIDFont+F2 , and so on.
Different operating systems (e.g., moving a file from Mac to Windows) may handle CID Font maps differently. 3. How to Resolve CIDFont Substitution Issues
The designations "f1" through "f6" are placeholder aliases. When a PDF is generated, the layout engine creates internal labels (like Font 1, Font 2, etc.) for each font family or style used in the document. Root Causes of the Error
To understand these specific codes, we have to look under the hood of the PDF format. The "Cidfont" prefix refers to . Cidfont-f1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6
When software (like a web browser, specialized report generator, or older design tool) fails to properly embed the original font's actual name, it often uses a temporary or generic name, like CIDFont+F1 or [SubsetName]+F1 .
: Text appearing as dots, squares, or strange symbols.
Understanding CIDFont-F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6: Causes, Solutions, and Font Substitution
Depending on whether you just want to read the file or need to edit it, try these steps: 1. The "Print to PDF" Trick (Quickest Fix) Select or "Save as PDF" as your printer destination
On older macOS systems (Classic OS 9 or early OS X), data fork fonts (DFONT) sometimes exposed internal resources as f1 , f2 , etc. A corrupt DFONT containing CID resources might list its suite as:
The designations like F1 through F6 are generic, temporary names assigned by the PDF generator. They often represent different weights (e.g., F1 for Regular, F2 for Bold) or entirely different font families used within that single document.
tool to convert the text into outlines (vector shapes). This bypasses the need for the font entirely. Update Software: Ensure you are using the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader
, etc., to distinguish between different font styles or weights (e.g., F1 might be Arial Regular, while F2 is Arial Bold). The Problem: It needs to do something, so it resorts
: The "F1, F2, F3..." suffixes are typically just internal, randomized abbreviations assigned in the order they were used by the exporting application. For example, in one document F1 might be Arial Bold while F2 is Arial Regular . In another document, those same labels could refer to entirely different fonts.
If you authored the document and your clients are complaining about Cidfont errors, you need to fix how the file is exported.
: While these names are random, in many standard documents, they map to common system fonts: F1 : Often Arial Bold or Times New Roman Regular . F2 : Often Arial Regular or Times New Roman Bold .
The numeric suffix is the key to understanding your environment.