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This issue affects 1 person(s).
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IDProjectCategoryView StatusDate SubmittedLast Update
20480Bug reportsImport/Exportpublic2026-04-08 10:582026-04-13 12:51
ReporterFreda Assigned Tomohabmes  
PrioritynoneSeverityminor 
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Summary20480: Arabic characters appear as ????? when exporting responses to PDF.
Description

When exporting survey responses to PDF, answers containing Arabic characters are displayed as ????? instead of the correct text.
The issue occurs when the survey language is primarily English but respondents enter non-Latin text such as Arabic in free text fields.

I have attached screenshots and .lsa file

Steps To Reproduce

Steps to reproduce

Steps to Reproduce
Import the attached .lsa survey.
Add a response containing Arabic text in a text question.
Export the response as PDF.
Observe the exported PDF.

Expected result

Arabic characters should appear correctly in the exported PDF.

Actual result

Arabic characters appear as: ????????

Findings

Investigation shows the issue is related to the default font used by TCPDF.

By default, TCPDF uses the Helvetica font, which does not support Arabic characters.

Relevant source:
https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/blob/13801a24bbd47003fd3d837f0871c0001d4a2442/vendor/tecnickcom/tcpdf/tcpdf_autoconfig.php#L197

Since Helvetica lacks Arabic glyphs, the characters are replaced with ????? during PDF generation.

Suggested Solutions

Option 1 (Recommended)
Use DejaVu Sans as the default PDF font since it supports Unicode and Arabic.

Option 2
Configure an alternate font for English by modifying the entries in the alternatepdffontfile config setting
in application/config/config-defaults.php

Reference:
https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/blob/13801a24bbd47003fd3d837f0871c0001d4a2442/application/config/config-defaults.php#L368

TagsNo tags attached.
Attached Files
survey_archive_991737.lsa (4,152 bytes)
Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 11.57.07.png (23,684 bytes)   
Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 11.57.07.png (23,684 bytes)   
Bug heat4
Complete LimeSurvey version number (& build).
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Activities

c_schmitz

c_schmitz

2026-04-08 14:09

administrator   ~84594

Don't change the default font, as it will affect all existing surveys.
Rather use option 2.
mohabmes

mohabmes

2026-04-13 12:51

developer   ~84607

Fix committed to master branch: http://bugs.limesurvey.org/plugin.php?page=Source/view&id=39521

Related Changesets

LimeSurvey: master dea176c5

2026-04-13 12:51

mohabmes

Committer: GitHub


Details Diff		 Fixed issue 20480: Proper font support for non-latin chars in PDF export (04857) Affected Issues
20480
mod - application/config/config-defaults.php Diff File
mod - application/config/tcpdf.php Diff File

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
2026-04-08 10:58 Freda New Issue
2026-04-08 10:58 Freda File Added: survey_archive_991737.lsa
2026-04-08 10:58 Freda File Added: Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 11.57.07.png
2026-04-08 10:58 Freda File Added: Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 11.57.36.png
2026-04-08 10:58 Freda Assigned To => mohabmes
2026-04-08 10:58 Freda Status new => assigned
2026-04-08 14:08 c_schmitz Steps to Reproduce Updated
2026-04-08 14:09 c_schmitz Note Added: 84594
2026-04-08 14:09 c_schmitz Bug heat 0 => 2
2026-04-08 14:13 Freda File Deleted: Screenshot 2026-04-08 at 11.57.36.png
2026-04-13 12:51 mohabmes Changeset attached => LimeSurvey master dea176c5
2026-04-13 12:51 mohabmes Note Added: 84607
2026-04-13 12:51 mohabmes Status assigned => resolved
2026-04-13 12:51 mohabmes Resolution open => fixed
2026-04-13 12:51 mohabmes Bug heat 2 => 4