Cidfont F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 Full Upd
:If you only need to print the document and it looks terrible, select the Print as Image option in your print settings to bypass font rendering issues entirely. Likely Font Mappings
Across the web, countless users have encountered this exact issue. For example, a user on the iT邦幫忙 forum reported receiving a PDF where copying text resulted in "squares" and the font list showed "CIDfont+F1, F2, F3, F4...F7". A discussion on the Chinese forum 52pojie states unequivocally: "CIDFont+F1 to CIDFont+F5 are usually not independent font files, but placeholder names used in PDF documents to represent missing or non-embedded fonts.". Another user on the Creative COW forum expressed their frustration: "The names are CIDFont + F1 to CIDFont + F5... I can’t even find them on Google.". As you can see, this confusion is a global phenomenon.
If you are trying to view or print a file causing this error, try these common "pieces" of advice from Adobe Community Print to PDF: Open the file in a web browser (Chrome/Edge) or macOS Preview
| Type | Registry-Ordering | Primary Script | Base Standard | Typical Use Case | |------|------------------|----------------|---------------|------------------| | | Adobe-Japan1 | Japanese (Kanji + Kana) | JIS X 0208 | Magazines, books, web | | F2 | Adobe-GB1 | Simplified Chinese | GB 2312 | Mainland China publishing | | F3 | Adobe-CNS1 | Traditional Chinese | Big Five / CNS 11643 | Taiwan, Hong Kong | | F4 | Adobe-Korea1 | Korean (Hangul + Hanja) | KS X 1001 | Newspapers, official docs | | F5 | Adobe-KR (rare) | Korean (legacy) | Older KS standards | Legacy systems (deprecated) | | F6 | Adobe-Japan2 | Japanese (supplementary) | JIS X 0212 | Academic, historical texts | cidfont f1 f2 f3 f4 f5 f6 full
It often happens with files exported from older software or specific CAD programs where font character mappings are lost. How to Fix It
If dealing with Asian characters, select an appropriate CJK system font package (such as SimSun or Meiryo ). 3. Flatten Transparency and Outline Text (For Designers)
Method 1: Outline the Text in Adobe Acrobat (Best for Preservation) :If you only need to print the document
To understand why CidFonts exist, we first have to travel back to the late 1980s. The world was moving from analog typesetting to digital desktop publishing. In the West, this was relatively simple. A standard font family (Regular, Italic, Bold, Bold Italic) contained roughly 256 "slots" for characters—more than enough for the 26 letters of the English alphabet and standard punctuation.
If you own Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can permanently fix the file by stripping out the complex font subsets and flattening them into standard vector shapes. Open the PDF in . Navigate to Tools > Print Production . Select Flattener Preview . Check the box for Convert All Text to Outlines .
When you print a document to a PostScript file ( .ps ) and then use Adobe Acrobat Distiller to convert to PDF: A discussion on the Chinese forum 52pojie states
Here's a brief overview of each font in the CidFont F series:
: In many cases, these generic names map back to common system fonts. For instance, F1 is often Arial Bold and F2 is often Arial Regular . Why You See These Errors
is a common error encountered when opening, editing, or printing a PDF file. This guide explains exactly what these technical font names mean and how to fix them completely. What is a CIDFont (F1, F2, F3, etc.)?
:If you are trying to edit the document, manually change the font for the affected text blocks to a standard system font like Arial , Roboto , or Calibri .