When exporting a document to PDF, you may see the following error in the PDF Preview:
Unsupported Character Found
This error appears when a character in the document cannot be rendered by the font used in the selected PDF Layout. Although the character may appear correctly inside the Pergamon Editor, the layout’s font does not include the required glyph, causing the PDF export to fail.
Why this error happens
Each font contains a collection of glyphs - the visual shapes used to display characters. If a document includes a character that the layout’s font does not support, InDesign Server reports a missing glyph, and the PDF export cannot proceed.
Typical reasons:
The character belongs to a writing system not supported by the layout font
A symbol (such as ❎, ✓, ★, etc.) is not included in the layout font
A pasted character is from a special Unicode block (emoji, math symbols, decorative characters)
What the error message tells you
The PDF Preview panel provides:
The unsupported character (with Unicode code point)
The Content ID(s) where the character was found
The language of the document
Error code (typically 3020)
Example
Missing Character: NEGATIVE SQUARED CROSS MARK (UNI: 274E)
Content IDs: IL275530
Error code: 3020
Important behavior
If multiple unsupported characters exist, they appear one at a time:
You fix the first missing character in content blocks A, B, C
Then the next missing character appears in blocks C, D, E
After fixing, another instance may appear (e.g., the same character in block F)
Export succeeds only when all unsupported characters are removed or replaced
How to fix the error
To resolve the issue, you simply need to remove or replace the unsupported character in the affected content block.
1. Copy the Content ID shown in the error message.
Example: IL275530
2. Search for the content using Search by Content ID.
Use the Search by content ID feature in the Editor.
For detailed steps, see:
👉 Search content using a Content ID
3. In the highlighted content block, remove or replace the unsupported character with a supported symbol or plain text. Repeat if the system reports additional unsupported characters.
Tips
Unsupported characters often come from copy/paste from Word, PDF, or websites.
Prefer plain ASCII characters or symbols supported by your layout font.
If the same unsupported character appears in multiple places, all affected Content IDs will be listed in the Details section of the error message so you can locate each one.
If different unsupported characters are detected, the system will report them sequentially. Fix the character shown in each error message after resolving it, the next unsupported character (if any) will be displayed.
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