# Korean text looks correct in compiled PDFs but copies as garbled characters — switching from OTF to TTF helped **URL:** \ **Category:** Scrivener for macOS\ **Tags:** feedback\ **Created:** [October 24, 2026, 5:31am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937 "2026-10-24T05:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/cansmile/32/16536_2.png) [@cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/cansmile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:31am UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/1 "2026-10-24T05:31:17Z")
Hi everyone, I’d like to share a workaround for a problem I encountered when compiling Korean text to PDF in Scrivener for macOS. I was using an `.otf` font synced through Sandoll Cloud (a Korean subscription-based font service). The compiled PDF looked correct on screen, but copying and pasting the Korean text produced garbled characters instead of the original text. I changed to a `.ttf` font, also synced through Sandoll Cloud, and compiled the document to PDF again. After that change, the Korean text copied and pasted correctly. The results in my setup were: - **OTF font:** Korean text displayed correctly, but copied as garbled characters. - **TTF font:** Korean text displayed correctly and copied correctly. I found a couple of earlier discussions with related symptoms: - A [2021 macOS discussion about unreadable Chinese text copied from compiled PDFs](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/unreadable-code-when-copy-chinese-characters-in-pdf-compiled-by-scrivener/94729) describes PDFs that looked normal but produced incorrect text when copied. - An [older Windows discussion involving Nanum OTF fonts](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/cant-keep-the-font/20140) includes a report that text in a directly compiled PDF could not be selected. That is a different symptom, but it seemed relevant to mention. I don’t know whether these reports share the same underlying cause. My observation is limited to the fonts and setup I tested; I haven’t isolated whether the decisive factor was the font format, the particular font files, or their interaction with PDF compilation. I’m sharing this in case trying a TTF font helps someone encountering a similar problem. Has anyone else seen this with Korean, Chinese, or Japanese text, particularly when comparing `.otf` and `.ttf` fonts? Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kewms/32/15720_2.png) [@kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/kewms)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/2 "2026-10-24T16:08:16Z")
Could you test this using TextEdit, please? (Create a document in TextEdit, then print to PDF.) For the text layer – what the Copy command sees – to not match the visible text probably indicates a problem well below the level of Scrivener’s own code. We depend on Apple’s tools for PDF generation. ---
**Author:** ![cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/cansmile/32/16536_2.png) [@cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/cansmile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/3 "2026-10-24T16:38:15Z")
As you suggested, I created a PDF using TextEdit, and the result is like the image. While the letters of OTF font are visible and can be selected for copying, the text appears garbled when pasted elsewhere. ![스크린샷 2026-10-25 01.33.19](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/c/e/cefade48ffdd1f16dae445b7130f5dee7f10d284.jpeg) I have attached both a version that copied correctly and a version of the same text that resulted in garbled characters. 􀩅􀚨􀪁􀝱􀍠􀪁􀝱􀘳􀮽 􀚹􀬴􀮽􀀴􀀥􀮽 􀀭􀁂􀁗􀁂􀮿􀀰􀀵􀀧􀯀 텍스트에디트에서 실험 Sandoll Lava TTF ---
**Author:** ![kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/kewms/32/15720_2.png) [@kewms](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/kewms)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 4:44pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/4 "2026-10-24T16:44:07Z")
Definitely an Apple issue, then. What version of Mac OS do you have? ---
**Author:** ![November\_Sierra](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/november_sierra/32/41086_2.png) [@November\_Sierra](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/November_Sierra)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:04pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/5 "2026-10-24T17:04:41Z")
I tried your experiment’s text with [Adobe’s Source Han Serif](https://github.com/adobe-fonts/source-han-serif) (SIL Open Font License). Here’s the result (top: Scrivener, middle: PDF in macOS Preview, bottom: copied from that PDF to plain text): ![test](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/uploads/default/original/3X/0/0/00361e3906b16f2df1e1e74e2bdd7e1e2cc4b9d0.png) (Weirdly enough, some of the “serifness” gets lost in the process.) > [@kewms](#): > > Definitely an Apple issue, then. Could be a font issue, as well. ---
**Author:** ![cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/cansmile/32/16536_2.png) [@cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/cansmile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:06pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/6 "2026-10-24T17:06:06Z")
The Mac version is 26.6.2 (25G83), but I believe this issue has existed since even earlier versions. My research suggests that in PDFs built using the native macOS engine, certain virtual Unicode segments—associated with Korean CID fonts or OTF-format fonts—may go missing, or the mapping tables may become completely corrupted, leading to a failure in reading the text layer (a “CMap parsing failure”). ---
**Author:** ![cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/cansmile/32/16536_2.png) [@cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/cansmile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:08pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/7 "2026-10-24T17:08:41Z")
It is said that Source Han OTF fonts are “exemplary” because they strictly adhere to Adobe’s standard CID technical specifications, while excluding all the ambiguous edge cases that might cause the Quartz engine’s legacy parser to malfunction—but it seems the font I used doesn’t meet that standard. ---
**Author:** ![November\_Sierra](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/november_sierra/32/41086_2.png) [@November\_Sierra](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/November_Sierra)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:11pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/8 "2026-10-24T17:11:26Z")
Do you have to stick to your current font? Otherwise I’d proceed with a better behaving alternative. ---
**Author:** ![cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/cansmile/32/16536_2.png) [@cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/cansmile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/9 "2026-10-24T17:25:31Z")
I already solved the problem by changing the font to TTF, so I wrote the post saying that others can do the same. I think it is a mistake not to specify it clearly. ---
**Author:** ![November\_Sierra](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/november_sierra/32/41086_2.png) [@November\_Sierra](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/November_Sierra)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:31pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/10 "2026-10-24T17:31:09Z")
No no, my bad. My brain got stuck in “problem solving mode”, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/user_avatar/forum.literatureandlatte.com/cansmile/32/16536_2.png) [@cansmile](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/u/cansmile)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://forum.literatureandlatte.com/t/korean-text-looks-correct-in-compiled-pdfs-but-copies-as-garbled-characters-switching-from-otf-to-ttf-helped/154937/11 "2026-10-24T17:32:35Z")
Anyway, I am still fully satisfied with it, so I always use it with gratitude.