PDF conversion > spaces become "?"

[Tango]

I'm encountering a strange problem I can't figure out. Some, not all, pages converted from PDF into ePub insert a question mark (?) in place of a space between words.

Has anyone run into this issue? Any suggestions on how or why this is happening?

Thanks for the feedback!!

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Tango

I'm encountering a strange problem I can't figure out. Some, not all, pages converted from PDF into ePub insert a question mark (?) in place of a space between words.

Has anyone run into this issue? Any suggestions on how or why this is happening?

Thanks for the feedback!!

They are probably not normal ASCII spaces (0x20). They may be hard spaces, or something similar.

[Tango]

Thanks for your feedback Starson17, I will check to see if I can isolate the problem.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by Tango

Thanks for your feedback Starson17, I will check to see if I can isolate the problem.

I was in a rush when I wrote that, so I didn't give you much feedback. Basically, the type of problem you have is related to "input character encoding" as specified in the conversion setting of Preferences. If you can tell Calibre how your source pdf is encoded, it will be able to handle the conversion better. Try searching here for "input character encoding" and you'll find lots of discussions of this. Also read this.

For your issue, I'd be tempted to use a hex editor, look at the problem characters, and possible search and replace them with normal spaces, but it may be as simple as typing the correct character encoding into the conversion settings before converting.