Bug: Copying text from certain PDFs with "Custom" encoding broken

[Ginfer2]

OK, this is sort-of a continuation of the thread "RFE: OCR feature with more settings" where I was asking for a feature to solve a problem which I just noticed was actually a bug in the XChange editor. The RFE still stand on its own and the bug is in a different product, therefore here this separate thread, I hope this is OK.

Now onto the bug, which BTW does not appear in Adobe Acrobat Reader DC:

I have several PDF files which look OK but when I try to copy from them I get different characters than what I was supposed to get (see the attachment in the other thread), e.g. instead of "a" (0x0061) I'm getting "❛" (0x275B). Searching does not work either. If using the "Content" pane (where I see the garbled characters as well, again, see the screenshot) I'm changing the font away from F16 or similar Type 3 fonts I'm getting the strange characters also inside the visualized PDF.

I can't post the PDFs publicly but I can send them to you if you wish, could you maybe send me an email address as a PM? /edit: You got mail, I sent you an example of such a PDF as an attachment to support@…

[Paul - Tracker Supp]

Hi Ginfer2

thanks for the report and most importantly the sample file.

The issue has been reproduced and the bug confirmed. A ticket has been raised around this (internal only). If you refer to RT#3787: Copying text from certain PDFs with Type 3 fonts broken when asking about this then any support staff member can look up the status for you.

hth

[Ginfer2]

The bug still appears in build 6.0 build 321.0.

I also noticed that the encoding is shown as "Custom", so this might be real culprit instead of Type 3 fonts.

[Will - Tracker Supp]

Hi Ginfer2,

Thanks for the post - I've asked for a status update on the issue. One of us will post back here when we hear back.

Thanks for your continued patience!

[Ginfer2]

Good.

BTW, I have a lot of fresh PDF material with this issue, so just tell me if you need more test cases. I really need this bug fix.

[Patrick-Tracker Supp]

Hello Ginfer2,

It can never hurt to have more samples. If you are so inclined you may feel free to post a few more, and we will add them to the ticket.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation so far.

[Ginfer2]

It seems like this problem is largely fixed now (except for special characters like quotes and ligatures which apparently can't be always copied or searched for).

Thank you. I wasn't informed by you though, I guess this is because your internal bug tracker entry (RT#3787) is still open because of the remaining little issues.

[Tracker Supp-Stefan]

Hello Ginfer2,

Glad to hear it's resolved now!
I see the ticket was set to a resolved status - so not quite sure why you were not notified - but yeah - we also believe we've resolved that particular problem now.

Cheers,
Stefan