Strange characters in PDF mail merge

Problem

When generating a mail merge, strange characters are appearing in the PDF output.

Explanations

Non-standard characters

Copy and paste from applications such as Microsoft Word can put non-standard characters into the HTML which is converted into Unicode.

These mainly include punctuation such as:

• Curved apostrophes

• Curved quotes

• Dashes of various lengths (such as the long dash)

example of strange characters resulting from use of a wrong apostrophe

Solution

Locate the non-standard characters and replace them with web safe (Unicode) alternatives.

This can also be achieved by copying the text into a plain text editor like Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (macOS) to strip out the non-standard text).

More Help

If you've read through these instructions and are still stuck contact the Service Desk we can assist you to identify potential problems with the template/s.

Send us a copy of your HTML via the service desk and we can help to resolve the issue.