If you are viewing this page, it is likely because you are seeing strange characters when you use the preview function. Most commonly, this is when previewing a report - such as a Payroll Check Listing - which needs to use small fonts to fit all the numbers on the page.
When previewing reports, Medlin Software (since 2013) first creates a PDF file. Once the PDF file is created and saved, Medlin sends a command to Windows, asking Windows to open the PDF file. If you have a working PDF reader software installed and setup, your PDF software will open and show the report. This process has been stable since first introduced, and is known to create valid PDF files. From time to time, an update to the PDF software you are using (which may have happened automatically, without telling you) will cause problems when viewing certain PDF files.
Step 1. Instead of clicking the Print Preview button in Medlin, click the Print button. This sends the item directly to your printer. You will see the item prints properly, using the font you have selected. This confirms Medlin is creating valid reports.
Step 2. Make sure your PDF reader is NOT set to "use local fonts" or is set to use the font as included in the PDF file itself. In other words, let the software which created the PDF decide what fonts to use. When you allow the PDF reader to substitute fonts, in most cases, you are going to cause a problem. The "local font" option is mainly for a rare case when you are intending to have the document use a different language than the language used to create the document.
Step 3. If allowing the PDF reader to use the fonts Medlin embedded in the PDF file did not solve the issue, uninstall your PDF reader, and reinstall the current version of your PDF software. This should clear all settings for the PDF software, returning them to their defaults. We recommend and use both the free Adobe Acrobat reader, and the free Foxit PDF software.
Step 4. If you cannot solve the problem on your own, send us the actual PDF file Medlin created, as an email attachment. We will open the file here, and email back a screen capture (image) of how the file looks when we open it, using a current PDF reader, properly setup to show the file as designed. Use the print preview in Medlin to create and view the item in question. If it appears scrambled, make a note of the PDF file's name - which should be shown at the top of your PDF software's screen. Close the preview. On the Medlin screen, make a note of the data folder, when at the lower right. Send us, as an email attachment, the actual PDF file, from the data folder, with the file name as shown in your PDF software.
If you are the adventurous type, open the PDF file you are trying to view, using a text reading software (such as Notepad). A PDF file created by Medlin will be something you can actually read as plain text. Allowing for your actual licensed name, and the current creation date, the first part of the file will look like the following text.
%PDF-1.3
1 0 obj
<<
/Title (Medlin Software Report)
/Author (Medlin Software Licensed to: MEDLIN)
/Creator (Medlin Software - medlin.com)
/CreationDate (D:20171003091218+01'00')
>>
endobj
2 0 obj
<<
/Type /Catalog
/Pages 3 0 R
/PageLayout /SinglePage
/PageMode /UseNone
/Lang (en)
>>
endobj
5 0 obj
<< /Type /Font
/Subtype /MMType1
/BaseFont /Arial
/FirstChar
32
/LastChar 255
/FontDescriptor 6 0 R
/Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding
In the above text, from a PDF file created by Medlin, you can see the file contains the title, author, creator, and creation date. After that part of the file, the next part is the first font we have embedded into the file.