iLiad Enable non-embedded font pdf on iLiad

ericshliao · 03-01-2010, 12:21 AM

For CJK people, many pdf files are created without font embedded. These pdfs are not readable on iLiad. I have figured out how to make iLiad capable of displaying these pdfs correctly. The steps are simple:
1. Get the latest poppler-data from http://poppler.freedesktop.org/
2. Create a directory "poppler" in either /mnt/card, /mnt/cf, or /mnt/free.
3. Unpack the poppler-data package and put those 4 directories in the package into "poppler" directory.
4. Create a symbolic link from the poppler directory to /usr/share/poppler. The command should look like:
"ln -s /mnt/card/poppler /usr/share/poppler". Personally, I prefer to put it in /mnt/free.

Then poppler will retrieve correct font mapping if a non-embedded font pdf is being opened.

Note:
1. The size of poppler data is 11 MB. It's too large to fit into rootfs, so don't copy it to /usr/share/poppler directly.
2. You must have some CJK font installed in your iLiad.
3. Sometimes I can't get CJK glyphs displayed correctly. I just exit ipdf and re-open the same file again, and everything will be ok.
4. Scribble function is still working, but zoom function seems causing ipdf crash.

laozhang · 03-18-2010, 11:57 PM

hi,ericshliao

I try it ,but it doesn't work. anything else you can instruct me?

ericshliao · 03-19-2010, 12:51 AM

If you followed exactly the above steps and got no success, the only possilbe cause that I can think of is:
I have upgraded the underlying freetype, fontconfig and gtk+ libs of my iLiad.

To be honest, I don't think it the real cause. The above steps should also apply to official iLiad FW2.12 (or 2.12.1). Please check again and tell me what did you do, so that I can see if I can do any help.

ericshliao · 04-23-2010, 03:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laozhang

I try it ,but it doesn't work. anything else you can instruct me?

For Chinese firmware, there is already a dir /usr/share/poppler, so command "ln" will fail. If you feel safe enough, you can try "rm -r /usr/share/poppler" before executing command "ln".

laozhang · 04-26-2010, 08:48 PM

dear ericshliao,

I have bravelly delelted the “/usr/share /poppler”,then" ln -s /mnt/card/poppler /usr/share", but I still can not read non-embedded font pdf . it looks like some of the non-embedded font pdf can be read, others
can not. there is a free chinese pdf you can get from below link ,http://ishare.iask.sina.com.cn/f/6189500.html, will you try it?

ericshliao · 05-18-2010, 12:38 PM

Your sample pdf is created with specifying bitmap fonts but without embedding them. Such pdf files are common in China, especially on some online periodical websites. It seems they use pdf solution provided by a copmany named "Founder". It's quite reasonable that the pdf file is not readable on iLiad because there is no GB2312 bitmap font on your iLiad. Other pdf files using outline font should be working without any problem.
Before investigating into the problem, I have some conjecture:
1. It's not the problem of poppler-data.
2. A Chinese ttf with embedded bitmap font is required.
3. Maybe the problem can be solved by modifying config data of fontconfig in dir "/etc/fonts/conf.d".

You can do some experiments on a Linux desktop. If you can read this pdf file on a Linux desktop, then it should be possible for iLiad to read it.

laozhang · 05-18-2010, 09:56 PM

dear ericshliao

thanks for your reply. but i am not good at computer,and have not much knowlege of linux, my major is medicine.and you is a professor, could you please do some experiments . then give us a solution?
there are a lot of liad 's user in China. they will appriecate for what you did.

ericshliao · 06-20-2010, 01:51 PM

The font-related info (such as font name) in these pdfs are encoded in GB2312 encoding scheme. Opening such pdfs on a system without GB2312 supporting internally will lead to wrong font mapping.

I think the best way is to re-print them with Adobe Acrobat Pro on a Windows XP Simplified Chinese system and embed proper fonts in them. That's the only working solution that I can provide to you.

03-01-2010, 12:21 AM	#1
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Enable non-embedded font pdf on iLiad For CJK people, many pdf files are created without font embedded. These pdfs are not readable on iLiad. I have figured out how to make iLiad capable of displaying these pdfs correctly. The steps are simple: 1. Get the latest poppler-data from http://poppler.freedesktop.org/ 2. Create a directory "poppler" in either /mnt/card, /mnt/cf, or /mnt/free. 3. Unpack the poppler-data package and put those 4 directories in the package into "poppler" directory. 4. Create a symbolic link from the poppler directory to /usr/share/poppler. The command should look like: "ln -s /mnt/card/poppler /usr/share/poppler". Personally, I prefer to put it in /mnt/free. Then poppler will retrieve correct font mapping if a non-embedded font pdf is being opened. Note: 1. The size of poppler data is 11 MB. It's too large to fit into rootfs, so don't copy it to /usr/share/poppler directly. 2. You must have some CJK font installed in your iLiad. 3. Sometimes I can't get CJK glyphs displayed correctly. I just exit ipdf and re-open the same file again, and everything will be ok. 4. Scribble function is still working, but zoom function seems causing ipdf crash. Last edited by ericshliao; 03-01-2010 at 04:48 AM.

04-26-2010, 08:48 PM	#5
laozhang Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Beijing,China Device: iliad v1	dear ericshliao, I have bravelly delelted the “/usr/share /poppler”,then" ln -s /mnt/card/poppler /usr/share", but I still can not read non-embedded font pdf . it looks like some of the non-embedded font pdf can be read, others can not. there is a free chinese pdf you can get from below link ,http://ishare.iask.sina.com.cn/f/6189500.html, will you try it? Last edited by laozhang; 04-26-2010 at 08:58 PM.

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03-18-2010, 11:57 PM	#2
laozhang Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Beijing,China Device: iliad v1	hi,ericshliao I try it ,but it doesn't work. anything else you can instruct me?

03-19-2010, 12:51 AM	#3
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	If you followed exactly the above steps and got no success, the only possilbe cause that I can think of is: I have upgraded the underlying freetype, fontconfig and gtk+ libs of my iLiad. To be honest, I don't think it the real cause. The above steps should also apply to official iLiad FW2.12 (or 2.12.1). Please check again and tell me what did you do, so that I can see if I can do any help.

05-18-2010, 12:38 PM	#6
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Your sample pdf is created with specifying bitmap fonts but without embedding them. Such pdf files are common in China, especially on some online periodical websites. It seems they use pdf solution provided by a copmany named "Founder". It's quite reasonable that the pdf file is not readable on iLiad because there is no GB2312 bitmap font on your iLiad. Other pdf files using outline font should be working without any problem. Before investigating into the problem, I have some conjecture: 1. It's not the problem of poppler-data. 2. A Chinese ttf with embedded bitmap font is required. 3. Maybe the problem can be solved by modifying config data of fontconfig in dir "/etc/fonts/conf.d". You can do some experiments on a Linux desktop. If you can read this pdf file on a Linux desktop, then it should be possible for iLiad to read it.

05-18-2010, 09:56 PM	#7
laozhang Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Beijing,China Device: iliad v1	dear ericshliao thanks for your reply. but i am not good at computer,and have not much knowlege of linux, my major is medicine.and you is a professor, could you please do some experiments . then give us a solution? there are a lot of liad 's user in China. they will appriecate for what you did.

06-20-2010, 01:51 PM	#8
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	The font-related info (such as font name) in these pdfs are encoded in GB2312 encoding scheme. Opening such pdfs on a system without GB2312 supporting internally will lead to wrong font mapping. I think the best way is to re-print them with Adobe Acrobat Pro on a Windows XP Simplified Chinese system and embed proper fonts in them. That's the only working solution that I can provide to you.