Introduction

AppendPDF Pro can use Unicode Asian characters in the Text parameter to stamp Asian language characters. The stamp Type must be set to UTF8 or UTF16, and the font set to one of 7 predefined Asian fonts. If the stamp will be on more than one line, the MultiLine parameter must also be set. The only place double-byte characters can be used is in the Text parameter.

Prerequisites for Acrobat full version

In order to use Acrobat to view and print Asian text, you must have Asian language support files installed for both the Operating System (OS) and Acrobat. The table below shows whether Asian font support is automatically installed for your combination of OS and Acrobat, or whether you have to manually install it.

Unicode Font Support for Windows and Mac OS X and Acrobat.

Operating System

Asian font support is automatically installed for all OS platforms except Windows 2000/NT. To install Asian font support, open Regional Options in the Control Panel, and add the fonts you want. You may need your original installation disk. Refer to the Windows on-line help for more information. You can also install keyboard support.

Acrobat

Asian font support is automatically installed only in Acrobat 6 under Mac OS X. For all other versions, you will need to do a custom installation, and choose to install Asian font support. Refer to the Acrobat on-line help for more information.

Prerequisites for Adobe Reader®

In order to use Adobe Reader to view and print Asian text, you must install the Asian Font Pack from Adobe Systems.

Windows/UNIX

Download and install the Asian Font Pack.

Reader components can be updated in a variety of ways. Some updates are available when you open a PDF that triggers the updating process automatically. For example, if you open a form that uses Asian language fonts, Reader asks whether you want to download the fonts. Other updates are available only from the Help menu, and you must install them manually. Some updates are available both automatically and manually.

Mac OS X

You cannot download the Asian Font Pack for Mac OS X. You must choose to install it when you install Acrobat Reader. If you did not, you must reinstall Reader.

Available fonts

The table below lists the seven fonts that are available for double-byte character stamping:

Use the font name in the left-hand column above in the Font parameter in your stamp file.

Character encoding

Stamp files can be encoded as Plain Text (ISO-8859 or ISO Latin 1) or as UTF-8. If you are going to use Asian characters, we recommend using UTF-8 stamp files and a text editor that supports UTF-8.

Type UTF8

Enter the Asian characters directly into the Text parameter.

Only the Text parameter can have Asian fonts or any other higher level Unicode character. All other text in the file must use only the Latin character set (the first 128 characters, equivalent to “ASCII”). For example:

Type (UTF8)
Font (HeiseiMin-W3)
Text 

Type UTF16

Enter double-byte characters in big-endian hexadecimal. Each character is represented by four hex digits. Enter the entire Text parameter as a string of hex codes with no breaks or prefixes.

For example, to enter the three characters 5185 5BC6 306E, enter:

Type (UTF16)
Font (HeiseiKakuGo-W5)
Text (51855BC6306E)

Refer to Resources for help finding codes.

Multi-line UTF8/UTF16 stamps

In order to get multi-line text stamps, you must set the MultiLine parameter to yes. AppendPDF Pro will not check for line separator characters if the MultiLine parameter is set to no. Use the following codes for the line separator:

For UTF8, use \r as a line separator character. Place \r directly into the text where you want the new line to start. For example:

Type (UTF8)
Font (HeiseiMin-W3)
MultiLine (yes)
Text 

For UTF16, place the Unicode line separator character 2028 in your text string where you want the new line to start. For example:

Type (UTF16)
Font (HeiseiKakuGo-W5)
MultiLine (yes)
Text (51855BC6306E202851855BC6306E)

Both Text parameters result in this stamp:

Resources

1. The Unicode Consortium has the complete Unicode specification, providing a wealth of information on Unicode, character sets, and conversions.
2. SC UniPad provides a free trial of UniPad, a Windows-based Unicode text editor.
3. IT and communication provides an extensive tutorial on character sets, including Unicode.