Adobe FrameMaker: Troubleshooting Unavailable Fonts

I never like opening up a FrameMaker document and getting the dreaded unavailable fonts dialog box:

Sadly, with multiple authors who contribute documents to me from around the world, it's just a fact of life that I see the dialog box frequently. Each time that I do, my goal is to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

When a document has unavailable fonts, the missing fonts will be listed in the FrameMaker Console. Look at your taskbar to locate the Console and you can see the list of troublemakers:

I typically begin by noting the unavailable fonts, and then search for them by choosing Edit > Find/Change. I then pick Character Format from the Find drop-down menu, and press [Shift] [F8] to set the window to As Is. I change the Family to the missing font, and repeat for the Change drop-down list, only I substitute the Family I'd like to use. With the Find and Change buttons, I remove all usages of unavailable fonts, repeating as necessary to address all fonts listed in the Console.

To test the results, I save the file, close it, and then reopen it. Normally, I'm good to go. Sometimes, however, the document will still show unavailable fonts. I check the Console again, make a note of the names, and then try it again, because maybe I missed one or two on the first try. Or not.

What frustrates me is when a documents states it has unavailable fonts, but then comes up with the Not Found message when I search for them:

Now what? It's actually pretty simple. Just choose File > Save and save the file as a MIF document. Close the file, open the MIF, and then save it over the FM file. That will take care of unavailable fonts that are not actually in the document.

Why do we need that extra step? I don't know. I guess I'll head over to the Adobe Feature Request & Bug Form and remind Adobe that this needs fixing. If you see bugs or think of some great feature for FrameMaker 10, don't just think about it, please use this form to let Adobe know.

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