Check under Document Options to see what fonts have been assigned.

This is most common when fonts other that those included with Finale were used in the original document. Really old files could have used versions incompatible with modern systems or not found (Sonata was the original Finale music font, for example). 

As shown above, reassigning fonts gets most people fixed up. If that doesn't work, there are other things to look at, 

Does the attached look familiar?

This file is a template, originally created in Finale 2003 and upsaved to Finale 2010. This shows the result of the 2010 version as opened in Finale 25.3. The misbehaving font is "Goudy Plain". At the top of the page you can see that the "Goudy Italic" font displays properly. Same for Goudy Bold at the bottom.

I have more font foolishness I've been dealing with since Finale 2014 was released some 3 1/2 years ago. Rather than highjack Matthew's thread, I'll start a new one as soon as I can.

>Rather than highjack Matthew's thread, I'll start a new one as soon as I can.<

A good font thread that we can all point to is a good idea.

a) Is the font installed properly on your system?

b) Was that font properly installed on the old system?

Just because one can use custom fonts doesn't mean one should. Knowing this helps solve problems 10, 15, 25 years in the future.

Let's be clear: THIS IS NOT A FINALE ISSUE except for the fact that we see it in Finale. It could just as easily be an issue in Word, AppleWorks, Adobe anything...

Mike Halloran asked:

a) Is the font installed properly on your system?

Yes

b) Was that font properly installed on the old system?

Yes

Just because one can use custom fonts doesn't mean one should.

It's not a custom font - it was purchased from Adobe. It's 25 years old, but works flawlessly in the latest QuarkXpress, Photoshop and Acrobat.

>It's not a custom font<

Was it supplied with Finale or the Mac OS? No. Does that make it a custom font? Yes, as far as Finale is concerned. 

Do you want help fixing this, do you want to argue or do you wish to declare yourself right and live without what should be easy to fix? I can ignore this—not a problem.

Being that it's an Adobe font points is a major clue. I'll need some more information but I've a pretty good idea.

Mike Halloran said:

I'll need some more information but I've a pretty good idea.

I'll provide whatever information you like, including sending you the font, privately of course. And, I don't argue. I'm too old and my blood pressure is way too high for that.

Actually, this is a Finale issue.  At home, I imported the file into Finale 2012, and it is fine.  I then import this re-saved file into Finale 25 and it is fine.

If I go directly from the old version to Finale 25, there is this problem.

You might think "well, go from 2012 to 25 then", which is all well and good given that I have a currently computer that runs Finale 2012 - but this will not be the case forever.  And something is wrong with Finale, not the fonts.

It seems to be a problem with the characters being changed. If I alter the font to anything else, the new Chinese characters stay the same.  Interestingly if I change to a Chinese font, the characters stay the same, albeit with extra serifs etc.

The annoying thing would be having to change them all back again, every text occurence. No way. I can't even easily see what they once were.

This seem a serious (and doubtless frustrating) problem for you. If you have not already, you should use the "Submit a request" link at the top of this screen to make MakeMusic Support aware of your problem. No doubt they wish to see you succeed with Finale 25.

It depends where and how the font was originally installed. Many applications, especially those from Adobe and Apple, often install fonts where they are not available to other applications. There are other issues with fonts released before 2011/2012  Then there are fonts installed in User accounts—this isn't supposed to happen since OS 10.7 but, before, it was quite common to application installers to do so.

To be available to all applications, fonts should be installed in Library/Fonts. 

Any fonts installed in (user)/Library/Fonts should be removed and reinstalled correctly. When I did that on my system, I moved all those files to my desktop, opened them and clicked on Install which put a copy in the proper directory.

if you have Adobe, Microsoft or other application fonts including the many hidden in various folders in Finale, again, it's simple. Just open the font, click on install and it will do so in Library/Fonts. In these cases, you do not need to remove the originals from their locations. 

Longtime Finale (it could be many other applications) users often run into an issue where the installer saw an old version of a font with the same name and didn't replace it with a newer version. Run Get Info and if you see a date going back to the PPC days, trash it and install the newer copy. Most Finale fonts are located in the Finale/Components. Locate them, open and reinstall.

i went through the above when I installed 2014.5.

Certain old fonts are not compatible with 64bit applications. If that is the case, Finale 25 cannot use them. Generally, some kind of wrapper is involved and installing directly into Library/Fonts will fix this. Occasionally you need a newer version of the font. 

There re are other font issues that can affect a Mac. I'm trying not to write a book here so I'm mentioning the common ones. 

I have the same Asian character display issue from 2010 to r25. I didn't specify special font in 2010. Default is Times New Roman. Any solution?

Did you try Mike H's suggestions avout reinstalling the fonts?

When did Finale change to Unicode font support?

Victor, we need to know your OS and version. This is one area where Mac and Windows are not the same. 

2012.

https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/finale-2012-and-unicode-in-plain-english/

So might font problems transferring from F2010 to F25 then be due to the switch to Unicode?

I know this is an old thread, but I just had the same problem.  I'm on a 2018 iMac running Sierra and Finale 25.  When I opened a 2011 file, some of the text shows as Chinese characters.  I believe the culprit font is Bellevue.

I'm willing to concede that it's a font problem, but it only occurs in Finale.  Furthermore, I can select any part or all of the characters and they remain unchanged, no matter what other font I select.  The only way I can change it is to somehow remember what it says, delete it and type it in again.  I can even choose the same font, Bellevue, and re-enter text with no problem.

Also, if I copy any portion of these characters and paste into TextEdit, it acts the same.  There is no way to change it to any other font.

This implies that there is something Finale does to the metadata of the text, that prevents normal manipulation of the font (although I can change the point size successfully).

I remember having this problem when I first bumped up to Finale 25 last year, but I can't remember how I got around it.  This only happens in a few rare instances.  I would hesitate to hold Finale blameless here.

BTW, I found the thread (Finale slow and laggy)...

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/219104948/comments/360000856653

I had created new True Type fonts for my Times Condensed font and it solved the problem for hundreds of files.  Now I guess I'll need to fix Bellevue as well.

Thanks.

I had this problem a while back. The solution for me was to go into my Finale preferences, go to the "open" page and make sure "automatically convert text in files from other operating systems" is unchecked.

Thanks, Jeffrey.  I tried this and it didn't work for me (that option was unchecked anyway).  Luckily, the only file I'm still getting these Chinese characters is an earlier version of a file which I stumbled upon.  The later version is fine.

Thanks.

I have the same issue as above with several old files using Gill Sans in text blocs. Opening them in Finale 26 shows the text with chinese characters but it seems that Finale still thinks it is Gill. No chance that I can change the characters to something I understand (I do not know exactly what is written there).

Any solutions?

Thomas Solak,

It would be nice to know which steps you've already taken (to solve the problem), so that we can rule out things.

Ideas (may not work, but could not hurt to try):

1) Copy the text to the Clipboard, and paste it into a word processing document.

2) Select All, and change the font.

Hi Peter,

Thomas,

Finale no longer supports Postscript fonts.  I'm guessing your problem is with a PS font.  A few messages earlier, I post a link to the thread where I documented this.  Here's the jist of my solution:

In the left we have v2011. In the right V25

The main problem is that the {script} tool is missing in V25.

Can I solve this?

From the fixed palettes, you appear to be running Windows — Mac palettes always float.

The other posts in this thread refer to the Mac and font paths are different in the two operating systems. Your document is not finding the fonts it needs. Either they are not installed or the paths to the font files and FAN are corrupted.

Thanks. Yes  I am running win 10. I may not have understood well, but my problem is noted in red. That  is missing in V25. Thanks again.