topic Why are my PDF Layout Maps showing up with weird symbols? in ArcGIS Pro Questions

Why are my PDF Layout Maps showing up with weird symbols?

KaitlynAbrahamson — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 20:21:25 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I am totally stumped. When I export a layout in ArcGIS Pro as a PDF, it shows up normal as the original copy on my desktop. However, when I copy it to a shared folder anywhere, it opens with bizarre symbols like it's corrupt. I'll attach a screenshot, but I can't figure out what is happening.

Re: Why are my PDF Layout Maps showing up with weird symbols?

jcarlson — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 20:26:55 GMT

It sounds like a font issue. Your machine would have access to the same fonts that Pro does, so it wouldn't be a problem, but another machine / web interface that lacks those fonts would not display it correctly.

In your export settings, is "Embed Fonts" checked?

Re: Why are my PDF Layout Maps showing up with weird symbols?

David_Brooks — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 20:28:05 GMT

The ESRI fonts are needed for marker symbols to work in PDFs.

In the PDF export, select either of these options to test:

Converting to polygon is the fail safe, but you should be fine just embedding the fonts.

Re: Why are my PDF Layout Maps showing up with weird symbols?

KaitlynAbrahamson — Tue, 07 Sep 2021 21:13:03 GMT

Thank you! It worked!