PDF import: Letter combinations change to weird characters

[BookBildr]

Hi All,

I'm using Publisher 1.10.6 on a Mac running Monterey and I've been experiencing problems when importing PDF files. Some letter combinations, particularly "fl" and similar, turn into weird characters (see attached). The PDFs I import are flattened with NitroPDF.

What could I try to fix this issue? It's very annoying because right now I fix them manually and sometimes I miss them.

[GarryP]

Welcome to the forums @BookBildr

Some combinations of letters, such as ‘fl’, are called ligatures – the letters are ‘tied together’.

It has been mentioned in the forums a few times that ligatures are not always imported correctly.

Have you tried to import the PDF without first flattening it with NitroPDF?

Are you able to export the original document to PDF without using ligatures and then import it into Publisher?

This thread might have some information which could be useful: https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/158963-opening-pdf-in-publisher-alters-text/

[BookBildr]

@GarryP thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, the original PDFs don't have embedded fonts so I need to embed them first using flattening. The same applies to exporting without ligatures because the PDFs come from clients who use our online editing tool.

Thanks for the link but it mostly talks about exporting PDFs, not importing them with correct ligature recognition.

[GarryP]

Unless someone has a ‘workaround’, or Serif does something in a future version of the software, it sounds like you might be stuck, unfortunately.

The example in your image seems to be quite simple.
Would it be possible for your clients to give you the text from a different source, such as a word processor or text editor instead?
Or would your online editing tool allow your clients to give you a different file format?