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Text re-flows incorrectly

Our Guest Expert, Forest Wathen, of EU Services answered this question. Thanks EU!

Question:
Recently we sent a Quark file to one of our regular print vendors. When the blueline came back to us, we noticed one text line out of a multi-page document had re-flowed incorrectly. What would cause text to re-flow in an isolated instance? We always send fonts with our jobs, so it shouldn't be a font issue. Besides, if the problem was font incompatibility, wouldn't you expect to see re-flow throughout the document -- not just in one place? Thanks. Susan Kolman

Answer:
Re-flowing text is usually a symptom of a font-related issue. Differences in font versions, cross-platform compatibility, and even font management software can introduce unexpected changes. Since the problem was isolated to a single line, it would appear to be more an issue of file handling. It is possible that the line was forced by the introduction of a space or hard return. If the line was long, changing the text box size may have caused the problem.

The issue should be discussed with your service provider to the point of resolution. Finding the underlying cause is essential to avoiding this problem in the future. Is your job being produced on the same type of computer platform (Mac or PC) as it was created? Were the supplied fonts the exact same ones used in producing the document? Were any fonts substituted? These are just a couple of questions you could ask.

It is difficult to say for certain what caused this particular issue. Including all fonts and sending a set of composite and color-separated lasers as a reference should have produced the expected results. To avoid last-minute surprises, be sure that you understand how your job will be produced and communicate with your service provider very early in the process.



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