Depending on whether you are the trying to read a broken file, or the creator trying to fix a file you generated, use the following step-by-step methods to resolve the issue. Solutions for Document Recipients (Viewers) Method 1: Open with a Different PDF Engine

This article explains what is, why it appears, and how to fix related rendering or printing issues. What is a CID Font?

A shorthand alias (Font #1) assigned by a PDF printer or creator engine (like Adobe Acrobat, Crystal Reports, or AutoCAD) to track a specific font used in the document.

When exporting a PDF from Word, InDesign, or Illustrator, check the settings menu and ensure "Embed All Fonts" is selected. Avoid "Subset Fonts" if your users need to edit the file later.

If you own Adobe Acrobat Pro, you can permanently strip out problematic CID font coding by "flattening" the document text into basic vectors. Open the PDF in Acrobat Pro.

If you ever open a PostScript file (.ps) in a text editor and search for Cid Font F1 Normal , you might see a block like this:

Download the matching your software version. Install the package and restart Adobe Reader. 2. Print the PDF as an Image

Instead of using a traditional character map, a CID font organizes characters by assigning each glyph a unique Character Identifier (CID) number.

Change: /CidFont F1 Normal findfont To: /Times-Roman findfont

Older versions of PDF viewers struggle with newer CID font encoding.

Therefore, translates to: The first font utilized in this PDF document, which uses a Character Identifier structure for large character sets, formatted in a regular style. Why Does "CID Font F1 Normal" Cause Errors?

When a PDF is created, the creator has the option to "embed" the fonts. Embedding packages the font data directly inside the PDF file so it looks identical on any device. If the creator fails to embed the CID font, or if only a partial subset is embedded and some data goes missing, your PDF reader will try to substitute it. If the substitution fails, the document crashes or displays an error. 2. Corrupted "/Widths" Tables

Problems arise when the PDF is opened in a program that cannot find the original font data or the "map" required to translate those CID numbers back into readable text. Common symptoms include:

: CID stands for Character Identifier . This encoding method is used in PDFs to support large character sets, such as Asian or multi-byte characters, that go beyond standard Western European sets.