---
title: Render non-English Characters in PDF Forms
product: PDF Generator
description: Use custom fonts in your PDF forms to correctly render special characters, such as punctuation marks and symbols, or change the form language to a non-Latin based language or script, e.g. Japanese, Chinese, Korean etc. Learn how to apply custom Base64-encoded .ttf fonts to your PDF form. A free demo for JavaScript.
framework: Vue 3
source: https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/examples/special-characters-in-pdf-form/vue3js
index: https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/examples/overview.md
---

# Render non-English Characters in PDF Forms (Vue 3)

When you export your SurveyJS forms to PDF, you may notice that characters from non-English languages, such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Greek, Hebrew, or accented Latin letters appear as blank spaces, garbled text, or symbols. This happens because the [standard 14 PDF fonts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF#Text) supported in the SurveyJS PDF Generator by default don't include glyphs for certain special characters used in non-Latin languages. To ensure all characters render correctly in your PDF, register a custom font that includes the required characters. This demo shows how to register the [Noto Sans Korean](https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Sans+KR) font to generate a PDF form with Korean characters.

Call the `DocController.addFont(fontName, base64, fontStyle)` method to add a custom font to PDF Generator. This method accepts the following parameters:

- `fontName`: `string`\
A custom name that you will use to apply the custom font.
- `base64`: `string`\
The custom font as a Base64-encoded string. To encode your font to Base64, obtain it as a TTF file and use any TTF-to-Base64 online converter.
- `fontStyle`: `"normal"` | `"bold"` | `"italic"` | `"bolditalic"`\
The style of the custom font.

To apply a custom font to a PDF document, assign its name to the [`fontName`](https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/documentation/api-reference/idocoptions#fontName) property in the [`IDocOptions`](https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/documentation/api-reference/idocoptions) object.

## Files

### `public/index.html`

```html
<div style="display: flex;">
    <div id="app" style="flex: 1 1 0%; height: 100%; min-width: 0;"></div>
    <div id="pdf-preview" style="flex: 0.7 0.7 0%; display: none">
        <embed id="pdf-preview-frame" type="application/pdf" style="width:100%; height:100%;" />
    </div>
</div>
```

### `src/App.vue`

```html
<template>
    <SurveyComponent :model="survey" />
</template>
<script setup lang="ts">
    import { Model } from "survey-core";
    import { SurveyComponent } from "survey-vue3-ui";
    import "survey-core/survey-core.min.css";
    import { SurveyPDF } from "survey-pdf";
    import { DocController } from "survey-pdf";
    import "./index.css";
    import { json } from "./json";

    function createSurveyPdfModel (surveyModel) {
        if (fontIsLoading) {
            alert("Custom fonts are still loading. Please try again later.");
            return;
        }
        const options = {
            fontName: 'notoSansKorean',
        };
        const surveyPDF = new SurveyPDF(json, options);
        if (surveyModel) {
            surveyPDF.data = surveyModel.data;
            surveyPDF.locale = surveyModel.locale;
            
            
        }
        
        return surveyPDF;
    }
    function saveSurveyToPdf (filename, surveyModel) {
        const pdfDoc = createSurveyPdfModel(surveyModel);
        if (!pdfDoc) return;
    
        pdfDoc.save(filename);
    }
    
    const previewDiv = document.getElementById("pdf-preview");
    const previewEmbed = document.getElementById("pdf-preview-frame");
    let pdfBlobUrl;
    
    function showPdfPreview(surveyModel) {
        if (!previewDiv || !previewEmbed) return;
    
        const pdfDoc = createSurveyPdfModel(surveyModel);
        if (!pdfDoc) return;
    
        pdfDoc.raw("blob").then((blob) => {
            if (pdfBlobUrl) {
                URL.revokeObjectURL(pdfBlobUrl);
            }
            pdfBlobUrl = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
            previewEmbed.setAttribute("src", pdfBlobUrl);
            previewDiv.style.display = "block";
        });
    }
    
    function previewPdf(surveyModel) {
        if (!previewDiv) return;
    
        if (previewDiv.style.display !== "none") {
            previewDiv.style.display = "none";
            return;
        }
    
        showPdfPreview(surveyModel);
    }
    
    let fontIsLoading = true;
    let serverHost = window.location.origin;
    if (serverHost.indexOf("localhost") < 0 && serverHost.indexOf("surveyjs") < 0)
        serverHost = "https://surveyjs.io";
    const fontUrl = serverHost + "/api/fontbase64_notosanskorean";
    fetch(fontUrl)
        .then(response => {
            if (!response.ok) {
                throw new Error(`HTTP error: ${response.status}`);
            }
            return response.text();
        })
        .then(base64Font => {
            DocController.addFont("notoSansKorean", base64Font, "normal");
            DocController.addFont("notoSansKorean", base64Font, "bold");
            fontIsLoading = false;
        });
    
    const survey = new Model(json);
    survey.showCompleteButton = false;
    survey.navigationButtonsLocation = "topBottom";
    survey.addNavigationItem({
        id: "survey_save_as_file",
        title: "Download PDF",
        action: () => {
            saveSurveyToPdf("surveyResult.pdf", survey);
        }
    });
    survey.addNavigationItem({
        id: "survey_pdf_preview",
        title: "Preview PDF",
        visible: window.navigator.pdfViewerEnabled,
        action: () => {
            previewPdf(survey);
        }
    });
</script>
```

### `src/index.css`

```css
/* You can add your custom CSS here. */
```

### `src/json.ts`

```ts
export const json = {
  "elements": [
    {
      "type": "text",
      "name": "login",
      "title": "로그인",
      "defaultValue": "존 도우"
    },
    {
      "name": "password",
      "type": "text",
      "title": "비밀번호",
      "description": "8자 이상 입력해주세요",
      "inputType": "password",
      "isRequired": true,
      "autocomplete": "current-password",
      "validators": [
        {
          "type": "text",
          "minLength": 8,
          "text": "비밀번호는 8자 이상이어야 합니다."
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
};
```

### `src/main.ts`

```ts
import { createApp } from "vue";
import App from "./App.vue";

const app = createApp(App);
app.mount("#app");
```

### `src/shims-vue.d.ts`

```ts
/* eslint-disable */
declare module "*.vue" {
    import type { DefineComponent } from "vue"
    const component: DefineComponent<{}, {}, any>
    export default component
}
```

### `src/theme.ts`

```ts
export const themeJson = {};
```

### `.eslintrc.js`

```js
module.exports = {
    root: true,
    env: {
        node: true
    },
    extends: [
        "plugin:vue/vue3-essential",
        "eslint:recommended",
        "@vue/typescript/recommended",
        "@vue/prettier",
        "@vue/prettier/@typescript-eslint"
    ],
    parserOptions: {
        ecmaVersion: 2020
    },
    rules: {
        "no-console": process.env.NODE_ENV === "production" ? "warn" : "off",
        "no-debugger": process.env.NODE_ENV === "production" ? "warn" : "off"
    },
    overrides: [
        {
            files: [
                "**/__tests__/*.{j,t}s?(x)",
                "**/tests/unit/**/*.spec.{j,t}s?(x)"
            ],
            env: {
                jest: true
            }
        }
    ]
};
```

### `babel.config.js`

```js
module.exports = {
  presets: ["@vue/cli-plugin-babel/preset"]
};
```

### `package.json`

```json
{
  "name": "surveyjs-library-vue3",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "scripts": {
    "serve": "vue-cli-service serve",
    "build": "vue-cli-service build",
    "lint": "vue-cli-service lint"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "core-js": "^3.6.5",
    "tslib": "2.6.1",
    "vue": "^3.4.1",
    "survey-core": "latest",
    "survey-pdf": "latest",
    "survey-vue3-ui": "latest",
    "vue-router": "^4.0.0-0",
    "vuex": "^4.0.0-0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@typescript-eslint/eslint-plugin": "^2.33.0",
    "@typescript-eslint/parser": "^2.33.0",
    "@vue/cli-plugin-babel": "~4.5.0",
    "@vue/cli-plugin-eslint": "~4.5.0",
    "@vue/cli-plugin-pwa": "~4.5.0",
    "@vue/cli-plugin-router": "~4.5.0",
    "@vue/cli-plugin-typescript": "~4.5.0",
    "@vue/cli-plugin-vuex": "~4.5.0",
    "@vue/cli-service": "~4.5.0",
    "@vue/compiler-sfc": "^3.0.0",
    "@vue/eslint-config-prettier": "^6.0.0",
    "@vue/eslint-config-typescript": "^5.0.2",
    "@vue/test-utils": "^2.0.0-0",
    "eslint": "^6.7.2",
    "eslint-plugin-prettier": "^3.1.3",
    "eslint-plugin-vue": "^7.0.0-0",
    "node-sass": "^4.12.0",
    "prettier": "^1.19.1",
    "sass-loader": "^8.0.2",
    "typescript": "~3.9.3"
  }
}
```

### `tsconfig.json`

```json
{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "esnext",
    "module": "esnext",
    "strict": true,
    "jsx": "preserve",
    "importHelpers": true,
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "allowSyntheticDefaultImports": true,
    "sourceMap": true,
    "baseUrl": ".",
    "types": [
      "webpack-env",
      "jest"
    ],
    "paths": {
      "@/*": [
        "src/*"
      ]
    },
    "lib": [
      "esnext",
      "dom",
      "dom.iterable",
      "scripthost"
    ]
  },
  "include": [
    "src/**/*.ts",
    "src/**/*.tsx",
    "src/**/*.vue",
    "tests/**/*.ts",
    "tests/**/*.tsx"
  ],
  "exclude": [
    "node_modules"
  ]
}
```

## Other Frameworks

- [Angular](https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/examples/special-characters-in-pdf-form/angular.md)
- [React](https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/examples/special-characters-in-pdf-form/reactjs.md)
- [jQuery](https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/examples/special-characters-in-pdf-form/jquery.md)
- [Vanilla JS](https://surveyjs.io/pdf-generator/examples/special-characters-in-pdf-form/vanillajs.md)