Has anyone had a problem when sending a Dorico-generated PDF (Print/Graphics/Adobe PDF) to a commercial printer, where random music symbols get replaced with the wrong ones when they print the PDF? Here’s an example, where the flats in the key signature have been replaced by bass clefs, among other oddities:
I can replicate the issue by “printing” the original PDF generated from Dorico to another PDF, and it does the same replacements every time. I realize it could be an Acrobat issue, but hoping that if anyone else has encountered this, they can point me in that direction for a fix.
I’ve submitted a tech support request, but the publisher is under the gun and needs an answer yesterday.
I do have Acrobat and have poked around in the Preflight tool but not sure exactly what I should be doing there.
Yes, I used Dorico’s Graphics Export to create the PDF.
I’m on Windows 11, Dorico v 6.2.30.
The problem does not appear when viewing the original PDF generated by Dorico, nor when I print that PDF on a laser printer. Again, when I print the PDF to another PDF, that’s when the issue occurs.
So not using the Adobe PDF print queue, as stated earlier? “(Print/Graphics/Adobe PDF)”
Open the Preflight panel and choose one of the profiles, and “Analyse”. Serious problems of this sort will be flagged on any profile, but things like Digital Print (Black & White), or just Check Syntax will do.
Sorry, my original “print to PDF” description was imprecise. I was trying to say that in Print mode, I clicked on “Graphics” and then PDF. Thanks for the clarification.
Thanks, Dan. So, I’m actually using Finale Maestro as my music font at the request of the publisher, to match other books in the same series that were done in Finale. It doesn’t seem like that should be an issue, and I just checked, it IS installed.
The plot thickens, though. This is a medium-sized collection, about 130 pages. The book was created by combining the individual Dorico-created PDFs for each song in Acrobat into a single one for ease in printing. I mentioned before that I can exactly replicate the substitution issues produced by the printer’s software by printing this combined PDF in Acrobat to another PDF.
I just realized that if I take one of the Dorico-created PDFs of a single song–one that showed substitution errors in the printer’s version–and print that, no substitution. So it seems that the issue might have to do with combining the individual song PDFs. This is a method I used for many years in my Finale days without issue.
Benwiggy, I dove into the Acrobat preflight “List of possible font problems.” There are dozens on each page, but again, I’m not sure what to do with the information:
Could it be there is one, or a few files with a problem, which shows in all when combined?
You could try them all individually, and if and when you find a file with a problem, you could try to recreate that one from Dorico to see if that solves it
There’s nothing inherently wrong with those entries (though odd that they’re coming in as TrueType).
You may need to open the disclosure triangles to see the details. Or you can export the whole report and send it to me.
Tangentially, this is exactly what “flows” in Dorico is designed for. Put all the songs in one Dorico project, with consistent, automatic page numbering, and consistent settings.
Thanks again to everyone who responded. It’s in the tech support queue, so I’m hoping they’ll be able to figure it out. Again, I posted here because the publisher is under the gun and I was hoping someone might have experienced something similar.
Benwiggy, to your comment about this project being a good candidate for flows, it’s my understanding from researching this (mostly here and on the FB forum) that the Dorico files get to be slow and unwieldy once they reach a certain number of pages (I don’t know what that number is), which is why I decided not to go that route. I’ve only been using Dorico for 3-4 years, so I’m happy to be disabused of that idea if someone has contrary information. How can I send you my exported Acrobat report?
The “generic” Steinberg support queue is not the best way to get to the product specialists and development team. The best way is this forum. (Though things might be a bit slow on a weekend in August…)
It’s not the pages that’s the problem.
Dorico can get sluggish with very large files, but that tends to be things like Large Orchestra scores for 1000s of bars with Condensing and Divisi and various other “computationally expensive” layouts or notation.
I’ve produced several 18th-century opera scores of over 250 pages, nearly 100 flows, c. 25 Players; without any slowdown.
Also I’ve done a full score of Mozart’s Requiem – 20 Players, 180 pages – with no problems.
I did experience a bit of slowness when working on an anthology of Anglican Chant – over 600 Flows on over 80 pages. It got quite slow, but only after about 400 flows!
Of course, it may depend on the CPU of your computer; but if it’s just piano/vocal for 130 pages, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Zip it up and send it in a Private Message on this forum.
