How can I restore proper PDF exports from InDesign CS3 or CS5 in Snow Leopard?

Question

I had no problems exporting PDFs from InDesign CS3 (on a Mac Pro running 10.6.4 Snow Leopard) until this past weekend, when all the fonts appeared bitmapped or thin and raggedy, and the images lost some color depth and contrast. When I copied the InDesign document to my MacBook Pro laptop, also running 10.6.4, the PDF emerged with its original quality. Calls to Adobe support referred me to documents concerning incompatibilities between InDesign and Snow Leopard. One of these documents was several pages long, but I could not print it from the Adobe website to my HP All-In-One Officejet, because one-third of the document was hidden under a white panel. This makes the document impractical for troubleshooting, because I don't have enough screen real estate (even on a 23-inch display) to keep the document open along with all the pages and dialogue boxes needed for reference. Back to phone and chat support, I was advised to upgrade my Creative Suite Premium CS3 to CS5 ($800!!!) and purchase the latest Acrobat Pro upgrade ($200), with no guarantee that this $1,000 cost would actually solve the problem. I did download the trial version of InDesign CS5, and it did NOT solve the problem. I'm also concerned that the problem did not exist until last weekend. Prior to that, my CS3 and Snow Leopard combination worked just fine. I then checked the forums and was dismayed at the variety of problems associated with PDF files, for which there seems to be no general fix. Meanwhile, I have hundreds of ads I'm supposed to be preparing and emailing as PDF proofs to businesses around the country. I have two books of 120 and 256 pages that need to be submitted to printers in PDF format with all kinds of fonts and image files belonging to my clients. The last time I submitted a book to a printer via email, the job went perfectly. This time, and next, it's obvious I won't be able to send PDFs at all! If that's the case, my 27-year-old directory business will be unable to absorb the expenses necessary to start all over with new computers and software, and I will be out of business. Period. So-- does anyone have a way to fix this? I would surely be grateful.
David Henderson

Answer 1

I'm on a local network, built on Apple's Airport Extreme. but I'm the only computer user on it. I use it for transferring files between the desktop computer (Apple Mac Pro) and laptop (Apple MacBook Pro) and, occasionally, to print from the laptop to a Xerox Phaser printer.
About a year ago, I added an Apple Airport Express to the network, allowing me to play iTunes music from the laptop through a Panasonic BluRay player connected to a home theatre sound system. No problems of this nature appeared with that installation.
About four months ago, we connected a DirecTV satellite receiver system to the D-Link router that carries wired network service from the desktop computer to the Xerox printer. The satellite TV system includes a series of modems that allows DVR recordings to be accessed and played from any of the TVs in the house. (As you would now perceive, I run my publishing business from my home). However, this set-up has been functioning for about four months, and I did not encounter the PDF problem until last weekend.
Now -- about the fonts.
Because of the many ads that I publish from various sponsors, it is possible that different versions of the same fonts have invaded my system. In the "missing font" alerts I get, InDesign frequently is seeking TT or T1 versions, which I replace with Adobe fonts when possible. Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium included a fairly large collection, which it keeps in one folder.  The Apple OS also includes a bunch in a separate font management folder; and there are carry-over fonts that came with the business when I acquired it 10 years ago. Some of those fonts may go back 25 years to the book's inception. However, in the past several years, I have generally rebuilt all the ads that appear in my publications, substituting newer versions of fonts. Hence, the preflight program has been able to locate and include all the necessary fonts in the packages that go to the printers.
Once again, I have been able to export good PDF files for all the varieties of ads and books included in my system, until last weekend. One of the documents is built entirely with Helvetica Narrow, for which I have only one version.. Another document consists mainly of Times, and there are 3 or 4 versions of that font in the system; but the version contained in the document has not changed from when it exported properly.
So... I guess the complexities involved in the network and/or fonts could be part of the problem, as you suggest, but golly -- I hope not. The last thing I want to do is disrupt and rebuild the network or font collections. The font situation especially would set back production for months if not years, because so many individual ads and off-site clients would be involved in the process.
I'm sorry if I provided more details than you expected. I didn't mean to take so much of your time.
Thank you.