Q: Font problems after 10.6.7

This is a general post, I'm not replying directly to C42D.

It was suggested that we send feedback to Apple about the PDF issues raised in 10.6.7. (http://www.apple.com/feedback/)

Perhaps if Apple gets enough such feedback some action will be taken. Here is what I sent:

OS X 10.6.7 has caused incompatibility problems in PDF files generated by Mac Applications. In my case PDF files sent to my PC friends look okay on screen but will not print correctly. (In at least one case all characters were bumped up by one, i.e. "a" became "b", etc.) I've solved this by sending them PNG files instead so it is no big problem for me.  BUT PLEASE LISTEN TO THE GRIEF THIS HAS CAUSED AMONG PROFESSIONAL DESIGNERS WHO USE MACS.

https://discussions.apple.com/message/13295716?messageID=13295716

Heads up: Apple has just released the Mac OS X v10.6.7 Snow Leopard Font Update.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4605

...and who ever said that Apple do not listen. Shame on you.

And...

Please do not update/upgrade "mission critical! Will kill my business!" machines without,

A. having a recent full backup (preferably just performed prior to applying updates/upgrades) and,

B. waiting a week or 3 and researching the updates you are thinking about, for possible impact to your livelihood.

If you can't/won't do A, then you certainly should do B.

There's an update and it's worked for me!

Backed up my 10.6.6, applied the 10.6.7 Combo updater and then the fix. Everything working again as expected. Yay!!

10.6.7 Font update fixed it. Thanks apple!

I am so glad to see this fix appear. What great news!

I am certain that everyone who sent a message to support was part of making Apple aware that this was a real issue. Let's hope that the next system update is tested a bit more thoroughly.

Thanks to ALL of the great people here who have helped me personally understand the issue, and what NOT to do next time an update comes out.

Feels good - my faith in Apple has been restored.

Just got the update, awesome, although the hack fix worked as well for me, hopefully this fix won't mess up the hack, just set things back the way they were, see what happens. I feel sorry for those that swore they would dump their mac because of this issue, wonder if they know it got fixed?

@Michael Wineke: Yes, Precisely ! If your computer is used for business purposes - be it a workstation at a company or at home or a small/personal business,

and therefore used for generating revenue, never rush to update, ever. And always have a full backup before updating.

Hmm - we're still having problems ever after the update. i'm still getting:

ERROR: invalidfont

OFFENDING COMMAND: definefont

STACK:

/Font

-dictionary-

/PQYGQO+Stratum2-Bold

when printing PDFs to our Ricoh C2550 color printer.

We are also still having the issue.

ERROR: invalidfont

OFFENDING COMMAND: definefont

STACK:

/Font

-dictionary-

/NFGNIQ+GaramondBE-Condensed

@Nick Hobart: Forgive me if I'm pointing out the obvious, but any PDFs created through the Apple PDF engine on 10.6.7 prior to the update still contain the invalid font data.

Apple Preview on 10.6.7 can display these invalid PDFs, both before and after installing the update. However, even after the update has been installed, Adobe Acrobat crashes when attempting to open them.

Opening the invalid PDFs in Preview and re-saving them via Print -> Save as PDF does not correct the problem.

Are you attempting to print invalid PDFs as created on 10.6.7, or does the error also occur with PDFs generated post-update, or when printing directly from the original application?

"I feel sorry for those that swore they would dump their mac because of this issue, wonder if they know it got fixed?"

I wonder why there are so many who mock about those persons who's workflow was utterly disturbed by that font fault made by Apple. Actual I still think Apple should apologize. More over it took one month to fix the problem and Apple has not even stated that they are working on it and that they are going to release an update. This customer unfriendly attitude — is it arrogance or insensibility? — is what I learn now from Apple, and actual I find this really ugly not nice. Though I am grateful for the update — which seems to work so far — there are some things Apple should change in their customer policies. I think it is this attitude of Apple which annoys others, including me.

First, there's an update from Apple that may resolve the issue.

Second, you shouldn't install any software update, whether from Apple, Adobe, or anyone else, on production systems without testing it first, or at least waiting a couple of weeks to see whether any problems are reported that would affect your workflow. If you've never had a problem with an update before, you've been lucky.