Consular lost passport replacement packet prints scrambled — fix unreadable DS-11/DS-64 forms

Joe B.

Reviewed for technical accuracy

Specialities: Windows/macOS printing, PDF forms, Drivers, CUPS/IPP, PostScript/PCL

Embassy/consulate packet prints garbled — DS-11/DS-64 PDF fonts missing, mojibake, boxes instead of letters

Technician

Hey! We’ll fix your consular lost passport replacement packet prints scrambled issue so the DS-11 application and DS-64 “Statement Regarding Lost or Stolen Passport” print cleanly. A few quick questions to target the fix:
• Are you opening the packet/attachments in Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview on macOS, or a browser (Chrome/Edge/Firefox)?
• Do you see garbled text, random symbols, or empty boxes only when printing, or on screen too?
• Printer model & connection (USB, Wi-Fi, IPP/AirPrint, PostScript/PCL)? Any error like “Filter failed” on macOS or “prints as hieroglyphs” on Windows?

Customer

The embassy emailed a lost passport replacement packet. In the browser it looks fine, but when I print the DS-11 and checklist, the text is scrambled — boxes and weird characters. HP laser via Wi-Fi (AirPrint). Deadline for the consulate appointment is this week.

Technician

Got it. What you’re seeing is classic font embedding / renderer mismatch with fillable PDF forms. Browsers and AirPrint sometimes substitute fonts (not embedding Arial/Helvetica/Calibri) and the printer/CUPS converts glyphs into mojibake (scrambled output). We’ll:
1) Open the packet in Adobe Acrobat Reader (not the browser/Preview).
2) Force a clean render (Print as Image at 300 dpi) and lock to the correct paper size (US Letter vs A4).
3) If needed, switch from AirPrint/IPP Everywhere to a proper PostScript/PCL driver on Windows, or a vendor PPD on macOS.
4) Flatten the form and embed fonts so the consular forms print crisp and readable for the embassy intake.

Customer

I have Acrobat. What exact settings should I use so DS-11/DS-64 don’t print garbled?

Technician

Step 1 — Use Adobe Acrobat Reader (not the browser)
1) Save each PDF locally: right-click the email attachment → Save As…
2) Open in Adobe Acrobat Reader → File → Properties → Fonts. Ideally shows “Embedded” or “Embedded Subset”.
3) Go to File → Print → click Advanced… → enable Print as Image (300 dpi). This bypasses broken font substitution that causes prints scrambled output.
4) Page Sizing & Handling: select Actual size (100%). Paper size: US Letter 8.5×11″ unless your packet says A4. Uncheck “Fit to page” and borderless. Set Monochrome if the consulate requests black ink.

Customer

That helped on one page, but the checklist is still weirdly spaced. I’m on a MacBook; printer uses AirPrint.

Technician

Step 2 — macOS specific (CUPS/AirPrint vs vendor PPD)
• In System Settings → Printers, add the printer again but choose Use: Generic PostScript or the vendor PPD if available. AirPrint can mis-handle PDF forms, leading to boxes instead of letters.
• From Acrobat: File → Print → Printer… (open macOS system dialog) → set Paper Size: US Letter, Scale: 100%, disable Two-sided and any “borderless/fit to page”.
• If you saw Filter failed earlier, removing/re-adding the printer with a PostScript driver typically fixes the garbled DS-11 output.

Customer

We also tried on Windows over Wi-Fi. In Edge it still prints random symbols. Any Windows-specific steps?

Technician

Step 3 — Windows (driver choice & system dialog)
• Don’t print PDFs from the browser. Open in Acrobat and click Print → Advanced → Print as Image (300 dpi).
• If still scrambled: switch the queue to a PostScript or PCL 6 driver (avoid “Class Driver”/IPP Everywhere for forms). In Printer Properties → Advanced, pick the vendor PS/PCL driver.
• Use the system dialog (Ctrl+Shift+P in Acrobat) → Letter, Actual size, disable “fit”/“shrink”. This eliminates spacing issues on the consular packet checklist.

Customer

The embassy warned not to staple or scale. Do I need to “flatten” the forms before printing?

Technician

Step 4 — Flatten and embed fonts (optional but robust)
• In Acrobat: File → Save As Other → Archivable PDF (PDF/A) or Preflight → Flatten transparency. This embeds fonts and removes live fields that can scramble on print.
• Print the flattened copy at 100% on US Letter with Print as Image enabled. This produces crisp embassy printouts that pass intake checks.
• Keep the original fillable DS-11/DS-64 for edits; submit the flattened print to the consulate.

Customer

What about fonts? The packet mentions Arial/Helvetica. Do I need to install anything?

Technician

Usually no. But to avoid font substitution:
• In Acrobat: Edit → Preferences → Page Display → enable Use local fonts and in Advanced → Printing prefer Send as Image for problematic pages.
• On Windows, install/update vendor drivers; on macOS, ensure fonts aren’t disabled in Font Book. If a line still prints as random symbols, printing as image or using a PostScript queue resolves it.

Customer

The forms now look correct. Anything else the embassy/consulate might reject?

Technician

Final checks for consular lost passport replacement packet:
• Paper: US Letter, single-sided, Actual size (no scaling).
• Output: dark, legible, no clipped margins; avoid borderless modes.
• If the consulate provided barcodes or QR on the checklist, verify they’re sharp (printing as image at 300 dpi keeps them crisp).
• Bring an extra set — some posts request duplicates. If anything looks off, we can remote in and re-render the PDF for you.

Customer

Perfect — no more scrambled text. I’ll print the full lost passport replacement packet now. Thanks!

Technician

Summary: If your consular lost passport replacement packet prints scrambled, open the DS-11/DS-64 PDF in Acrobat (not browser), set Print as Image at 300 dpi, choose US Letter at 100%, and use a PostScript/PCL (or vendor PPD) queue instead of AirPrint/IPP. Flatten to PDF/A if needed. Need a hand? Open the chat.

Quick answer: the accepted fix

Accepted fix when a consular lost passport replacement packet prints scrambled: download the packet, open in Adobe Acrobat Reader, enable Print as Image (300 dpi), lock paper to US Letter at 100%, and print via a PostScript/PCL (or vendor PPD) queue. If text is still garbled, flatten to PDF/A to embed fonts and reprint.

FAQ

Step-by-step (Windows)

1. Save packet locally. Open in Adobe Acrobat Reader (not the browser).
2. Print → Advanced → enable Print as Image (300 dpi).
3. Switch the queue to PostScript or PCL 6 (avoid IPP Class/AirPrint for forms).
4. Paper: US Letter; Scaling: Actual size; single-sided.
5. If still garbled, Save as PDF/A and reprint.

Step-by-step (macOS)

1. Open in Acrobat, not Preview. File → Print → Advanced → Print as Image.
2. Re-add printer using vendor PPD or Generic PostScript (avoid pure AirPrint for forms).
3. System dialog: US Letter, Scale 100%, duplex off.
4. Flatten to PDF/A if any page still shows random symbols.

Sources

• Adobe — Print PDF as image (fixes garbled text)
• U.S. Department of State — Lost or Stolen Passports (DS-64)
• U.S. Department of State — Passport Forms (DS-11)

Matt ● replies in < 1 min

Technician Expert

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Trusted by 27,000+ customers

Alex · Expert's Assistant

Start Chat

5 Tech Support Specialists are online right now.