TcPpdfOutput and FpdfOutput do not support full utf-8 character set

[onebeat]

Hello, i am using tcpdf as output option. Here is my code

$tcPdf = new TCPDF('P', 'mm', 'A4', true, 'UTF-8');
$tcPdf->setPrintHeader(false);
$tcPdf->setPrintFooter(false);
$tcPdf->AddPage();
$output = new QrBill\PaymentPart\Output\TcPdfOutput\TcPdfOutput($qrBill, 'en', $tcPdf);
$output->setPrintable(false)->getPaymentPart();

Originally posted by @onebeat in #130 (comment)

[sprain]

Please show us your result, too. Where and how does the utf8 issue appear?

[onebeat]

Hello, you can see it on pdf which i have uploaded...
qrbill-issue.pdf

[sprain]

Thank you for the example.

I can confirm that TcPdfOutput and to some extent FpdfOutput do not fully support the utf8 charset. It works for characters like é, but others like ł or ą are displayed as ?.

Based on a quick Google search, this seems to be a widespread issue. It is discussed here, for instance.

Maybe @sdespont or @Franco2911 know how to fix this issue?

[onebeat]

Hello, i have solved issue with help of your link and my trying to digg up the part of code where QRbill uses fonts definition..

1. download file on link here
2. /path/to/tcpdf/tools/tcpdf_addfont.php -i /path/to/fonts/ArialUnicodeMS.ttf
3. go to TcPdfOutput.php on line 25 then change to ArialUnicodeMS
4. problem solved
5. it would be greate to integrate in construct to change dynamic font

[KamilPesek]

As mentioned above, this is a problem of TcPpdf/Fpdf and ISO-8859-1 encoding. When usign TCPDF, the easiest is to set
private const FONT = 'dejavusans'; in
src/PaymentPart/Output/TcPdfOutput/TcPdfOutput.php:25

Just keep in mind that if you are using composer that you can't change it directly in vendor folder. Make own copy of it.

[sprain]

Just keep in mind that if you are using composer that you can't change it directly in vendor folder. Make own copy of it.

Or you provide a pr to fix it for good within this library 😉

[KamilPesek]

Just keep in mind that if you are using composer that you can't change it directly in vendor folder. Make own copy of it.

Or you provide a pr to fix it for good within this library 😉

Totally agree. If there will be time, I will look at it.

[tafel]

Just as a reminder about fonts. Directly from SIX specification

Only the sans-serif fonts Arial, Frutiger, Helvetica and Liberation Sans are permitted in black

So the usage of dejavusans is not spec compliant.

I'm not sure how to handle these special chars.

• throw exception if a special char is found
• replace special char with the most relevant "standard" representation (ł to l)
• implement a spec compliant font (like arial unicode)

Any thoughts about this?