diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/extend/TextRenderer.java b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/extend/TextRenderer.java
index 9fd9fed76..e86abf9fa 100755
--- a/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/extend/TextRenderer.java
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/extend/TextRenderer.java
@@ -24,26 +24,48 @@
 import com.openhtmltopdf.render.FSFont;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.render.FSFontMetrics;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.render.JustificationInfo;
+import com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil;
+
+import static com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil.areAllCharactersPrintable;
 
 public interface TextRenderer {
-    public void setup(FontContext context);
 
-    public void drawString(OutputDevice outputDevice, String string, float x, float y);
-    public void drawString(
+    /**
+     * Returns a string containing printable characters only.
+     *
+     * @param input The string can be null
+     * @return The cleaned string or <code>null</code> if the input is null
+     * @see com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil#isCodePointPrintable(int)
+     */
+    static String getEffectivePrintableString(String input) {
+        if (input == null || input.isEmpty() || areAllCharactersPrintable(input)) {
+            return input;
+        }
+
+        StringBuilder effective = new StringBuilder(input.length());
+        input.codePoints().filter(OpenUtil::isCodePointPrintable).forEach(effective::appendCodePoint);
+
+        return effective.toString();
+    }
+
+    void setup(FontContext context);
+
+    void drawString(OutputDevice outputDevice, String string, float x, float y);
+    void drawString(
             OutputDevice outputDevice, String string, float x, float y, JustificationInfo info);
 
-    public FSFontMetrics getFSFontMetrics(
+    FSFontMetrics getFSFontMetrics(
             FontContext context, FSFont font, String string );
 
     /**
      * Rarely need to use this method directly.
      * Instead favor {@link Breaker} static method instead.
      */
-    public int getWidth(FontContext context, FSFont font, String string);
+    int getWidth(FontContext context, FSFont font, String string);
 
-    public void setFontScale(float scale);
+    void setFontScale(float scale);
 
-    public float getFontScale();
+    float getFontScale();
 
     /**
      * Set the smoothing threashold. This is a font size above which
@@ -53,15 +75,15 @@ public FSFontMetrics getFSFontMetrics(
      * Else, set to the threshold font size. does not take font scaling
      * into account.
      */
-    public void setSmoothingThreshold(float fontsize);
+    void setSmoothingThreshold(float fontsize);
 
-    public int getSmoothingLevel();
+    int getSmoothingLevel();
 
     /**
      * @deprecated no-op, will be removed in a future release. Anti-aliasing is now controlled via the smoothing
      * threshhold.
      * @param level no-op
      */
-    public void setSmoothingLevel(int level);
+    void setSmoothingLevel(int level);
 }
 
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/util/OpenUtil.java b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/util/OpenUtil.java
index 78f049962..46c4d3f97 100644
--- a/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/util/OpenUtil.java
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/util/OpenUtil.java
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 package com.openhtmltopdf.util;
 
+import java.util.Objects;
+
 public class OpenUtil {
 
 	private OpenUtil() {}
@@ -23,7 +25,17 @@ public static boolean isCodePointPrintable(int codePoint) {
 				 category == Character.PRIVATE_USE ||
 				 category == Character.SURROGATE);
 	}
-	
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns <code>true</code>, when all characters of the given string are printable.
+	 * @param str a non-null string to test
+	 * @return whether all characters are printable
+	 */
+	public static boolean areAllCharactersPrintable(String str) {
+		Objects.requireNonNull(str, "str");
+		return str.codePoints().allMatch(OpenUtil::isCodePointPrintable);
+	}
+
 	public static Integer parseIntegerOrNull(String possibleInteger) {
 	        try {
 	            return Integer.parseInt(possibleInteger);
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-core/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/extend/TextRendererTest.java b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/extend/TextRendererTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4221d1856
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/extend/TextRendererTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package com.openhtmltopdf.extend;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.nullValue;
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+
+
+public class TextRendererTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void getEffectivePrintableString() {
+        assertThat(TextRenderer.getEffectivePrintableString(null), nullValue());
+        assertThat(TextRenderer.getEffectivePrintableString(""), is(""));
+
+        assertThat(TextRenderer.getEffectivePrintableString("abc"), is("abc"));
+
+        assertThat(TextRenderer.getEffectivePrintableString("ab\u00adc"), is("abc"));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-core/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/util/OpenUtilTest.java b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/util/OpenUtilTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..dec064128
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-core/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/util/OpenUtilTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package com.openhtmltopdf.util;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+/**
+ * @author schrader
+ */
+public class OpenUtilTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void areAllCharactersPrintable() {
+        String text = "abc 123 \uD844\uDCC1";
+        boolean printable = OpenUtil.areAllCharactersPrintable(text);
+        assertThat(printable, is(true));
+    }
+
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/pom.xml b/openhtmltopdf-examples/pom.xml
index e18d37da6..2d43605be 100644
--- a/openhtmltopdf-examples/pom.xml
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-examples/pom.xml
@@ -23,6 +23,11 @@
     </license>
   </licenses>
 
+  <properties>
+    <jmh.version>1.25.2</jmh.version>
+    <uberjar.name>benchmarks</uberjar.name>
+  </properties>
+
   <dependencies>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>com.openhtmltopdf</groupId>
@@ -115,6 +120,18 @@
         <version>1.13.1</version>
     </dependency>
 
+    <!-- JMH Benchmarks -->
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jmh-core</artifactId>
+      <version>${jmh.version}</version>
+    </dependency>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.openjdk.jmh</groupId>
+      <artifactId>jmh-generator-annprocess</artifactId>
+      <version>${jmh.version}</version>
+    </dependency>
+
     <dependency>
       <groupId>junit</groupId>
       <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
@@ -154,6 +171,51 @@
           </systemProperties>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
+      <!-- workaround for: 'java.lang.IllegalStateException: endPosTable already set'.
+           see: https://bugs.java.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=8067747
+           Thrown while compiling JMH classes
+           -->
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>3.8.1</version>
+      </plugin>
+      <!-- Create an all-in JAR for running JMH benchmarks -->
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-shade-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>2.2</version>
+        <executions>
+          <execution>
+            <phase>package</phase>
+            <goals>
+              <goal>shade</goal>
+            </goals>
+            <configuration>
+              <finalName>${uberjar.name}</finalName>
+              <transformers>
+                <transformer implementation="org.apache.maven.plugins.shade.resource.ManifestResourceTransformer">
+                  <mainClass>org.openjdk.jmh.Main</mainClass>
+                </transformer>
+              </transformers>
+              <filters>
+                <filter>
+                  <!--
+                      Shading signed JARs will fail without this.
+                      http://stackoverflow.com/questions/999489/invalid-signature-file-when-attempting-to-run-a-jar
+                  -->
+                  <artifact>*:*</artifact>
+                  <excludes>
+                    <exclude>META-INF/*.SF</exclude>
+                    <exclude>META-INF/*.DSA</exclude>
+                    <exclude>META-INF/*.RSA</exclude>
+                  </excludes>
+                </filter>
+              </filters>
+            </configuration>
+          </execution>
+        </executions>
+      </plugin>
     </plugins>
     <resources>
       <resource>
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/benchmark/NoopLogger.java b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/benchmark/NoopLogger.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a3612d80d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/benchmark/NoopLogger.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+package com.openhtmltopdf.benchmark;
+
+import com.openhtmltopdf.util.Diagnostic;
+import com.openhtmltopdf.util.XRLogger;
+
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+
+/**
+ * @author schrader
+ */
+class NoopLogger implements XRLogger {
+    @Override
+    public void log(String where, Level level, String msg) {
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void log(String where, Level level, String msg, Throwable th) {
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void setLevel(String logger, Level level) {
+
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isLogLevelEnabled(Diagnostic diagnostic) {
+        return false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/benchmark/RenderTextBenchmark.java b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/benchmark/RenderTextBenchmark.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c86ad89ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/benchmark/RenderTextBenchmark.java
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+package com.openhtmltopdf.benchmark;
+
+import com.openhtmltopdf.pdfboxout.PdfRendererBuilder;
+import com.openhtmltopdf.util.XRLog;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.io.IOUtils;
+import org.apache.pdfbox.util.Charsets;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Benchmark;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.BenchmarkMode;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Mode;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.OutputTimeUnit;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Scope;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.Setup;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.annotations.State;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.runner.Runner;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.runner.options.Options;
+import org.openjdk.jmh.runner.options.OptionsBuilder;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+/**
+ * @author schrader
+ */
+@BenchmarkMode(Mode.AverageTime)
+@OutputTimeUnit(TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
+@State(Scope.Thread)
+public class RenderTextBenchmark {
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+        Options opt = new OptionsBuilder()
+                .include(RenderTextBenchmark.class.getSimpleName())
+                .forks(1)
+                .build();
+
+        new Runner(opt).run();
+    }
+
+    private Map<String, String> contents = new HashMap<>();
+
+    @Setup
+    public void setUp() {
+        XRLog.setLoggerImpl(new NoopLogger());
+
+        Arrays.asList(
+                "/benchmark/render-text-plain.html",
+                "/benchmark/render-text-soft-hyphens.html"
+        ).forEach(path -> contents.put(path, readContent(path)));
+    }
+
+    @Benchmark
+    public void renderText_Plain() throws Exception {
+        runRenderer(contents.get("/benchmark/render-text-plain.html"));
+    }
+
+    @Benchmark
+    public void renderText_SoftHyphens() throws Exception {
+        runRenderer(contents.get("/benchmark/render-text-soft-hyphens.html"));
+    }
+
+    private void runRenderer(String html) throws IOException {
+        ByteArrayOutputStream actual = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+
+        PdfRendererBuilder builder = new PdfRendererBuilder();
+        builder.withHtmlContent(html, null);
+        builder.toStream(actual);
+        builder.useFastMode();
+        builder.testMode(true);
+
+        builder.run();
+    }
+
+    private String readContent(String path) {
+        try (InputStream htmlIs = RenderTextBenchmark.class.getResourceAsStream(path)) {
+            byte[] htmlBytes = IOUtils.toByteArray(htmlIs);
+            return new String(htmlBytes, Charsets.UTF_8);
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/benchmark/render-text-plain.html b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/benchmark/render-text-plain.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b415083a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/benchmark/render-text-plain.html
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC
+        "-//OPENHTMLTOPDF//DOC XHTML Character Entities Only 1.0//EN" "">
+<html>
+<head>
+    <style>
+    </style>
+</head>
+<body>
+    <p>Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc, litot Europa usa li sam vocabular.</p>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/benchmark/render-text-soft-hyphens.html b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/benchmark/render-text-soft-hyphens.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a8628b78d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/benchmark/render-text-soft-hyphens.html
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC
+        "-//OPENHTMLTOPDF//DOC XHTML Character Entities Only 1.0//EN" "">
+<html>
+<head>
+    <style>
+    </style>
+</head>
+<body>
+    <p>Li Eu­ro­pan lin­gues es mem­bres del sam fa­mi­lie. Lor se­pa­rat exi­sten­tie es un myth. Por sci­en­tie, mu­si­ca, spo­rt etc.</p>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/issue-482-infinite-loop-table.pdf b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/issue-482-infinite-loop-table.pdf
index 664c98497..cb34896e2 100644
Binary files a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/issue-482-infinite-loop-table.pdf and b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/issue-482-infinite-loop-table.pdf differ
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/text/soft-hyphens.pdf b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/text/soft-hyphens.pdf
index 100cf11ae..d42dc0db9 100644
Binary files a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/text/soft-hyphens.pdf and b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/expected/text/soft-hyphens.pdf differ
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/html/text/soft-hyphens.html b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/html/text/soft-hyphens.html
index 116faf7f9..482380855 100644
--- a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/html/text/soft-hyphens.html
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/main/resources/visualtest/html/text/soft-hyphens.html
@@ -114,5 +114,11 @@
     </tbody>
 </table>
 
+<div style="font-family: 'ExtraFont'; border: 1px solid black">
+    <h2>No Hyphen Signs visible</h2>
+    <p style="border: 1px solid gray">Haft&shy;pflicht&shy;ver&shy;si&shy;che&shy;rung</p>
+    <p style="border: 1px solid gray">Hähn­chen­mast</p>
+</div>
+
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/visualregressiontests/TextVisualRegressionTest.java b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/visualregressiontests/TextVisualRegressionTest.java
index 4238893d1..237345a7f 100644
--- a/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/visualregressiontests/TextVisualRegressionTest.java
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-examples/src/test/java/com/openhtmltopdf/visualregressiontests/TextVisualRegressionTest.java
@@ -553,7 +553,10 @@ public void testJustifySpaceAtEnd() throws IOException {
      */
     @Test
     public void testSoftHyphens() throws IOException {
-        assertTrue(vtester.runTest("soft-hyphens", TestSupport.WITH_COLLAPSED_LINE_BREAKER));
+        assertTrue(vtester.runTest("soft-hyphens", builder -> {
+            TestSupport.WITH_COLLAPSED_LINE_BREAKER.configure(builder);
+            builder.useFont(new File("target/test/visual-tests/SourceSansPro-Regular.ttf"), "ExtraFont");
+        }));
     }
     
     /**
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxFastOutputDevice.java b/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxFastOutputDevice.java
index 3df87cdb5..39fe81543 100644
--- a/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxFastOutputDevice.java
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxFastOutputDevice.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 import com.openhtmltopdf.extend.OutputDevice;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.extend.OutputDeviceGraphicsDrawer;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.extend.StructureType;
+import com.openhtmltopdf.extend.TextRenderer;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.layout.SharedContext;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.outputdevice.helper.FontResolverHelper;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.pdfboxout.PdfBoxFontResolver.FontDescription;
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@
 import com.openhtmltopdf.simple.extend.ReplacedElementScaleHelper;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.ArrayUtil;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.LogMessageId;
+import com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.XRLog;
 import de.rototor.pdfbox.graphics2d.PdfBoxGraphics2D;
 import de.rototor.pdfbox.graphics2d.PdfBoxGraphics2DFontTextDrawer;
@@ -72,6 +74,10 @@
 import java.util.Map.Entry;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
 import java.util.regex.Pattern;
+import java.util.stream.IntStream;
+import java.util.stream.StreamSupport;
+
+import static com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil.areAllCharactersPrintable;
 
 public class PdfBoxFastOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements OutputDevice, PdfBoxOutputDevice {
     //
@@ -390,19 +396,22 @@ private AffineTransform normalizeMatrix(AffineTransform current) {
 
     public void drawString(String s, float x, float y, JustificationInfo info) {
         PDFont firstFont = _font.getFontDescription().get(0).getFont();
-        
-        // First check if the string will print with the current font entirely.
+
+        String effectiveString = TextRenderer.getEffectivePrintableString(s);
+
+        // First check if the string contains printable characters only and
+        // will print with the current font entirely.
         try {
-            firstFont.getStringWidth(s);
+            firstFont.getStringWidth(effectiveString);
             // We got here, so all is good.
-            drawStringFast(s, x, y, info, _font.getFontDescription().get(0), _font.getSize2D());
+            drawStringFast(effectiveString, x, y, info, _font.getFontDescription().get(0), _font.getSize2D());
             return;
-        } 
+        }
         catch (Exception e) {
             // Fallthrough, we'll have to process the string into font runs.
         }
         
-        List<FontRun> fontRuns = PdfBoxTextRenderer.divideIntoFontRuns(_font, s, _reorderer);
+        List<FontRun> fontRuns = PdfBoxTextRenderer.divideIntoFontRuns(_font, effectiveString, _reorderer);
         
         float xOffset = 0f;
         for (FontRun run : fontRuns) {
@@ -420,7 +429,7 @@ public void drawString(String s, float x, float y, JustificationInfo info) {
             }
         }
     }
-    
+
     public void drawStringFast(String s, float x, float y, JustificationInfo info, FontDescription desc, float fontSize) {
         if (s.length() == 0)
             return;
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice.java b/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice.java
index c01e25691..56a74bbf9 100644
--- a/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice.java
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.ArrayUtil;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.Configuration;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.LogMessageId;
+import com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.XRLog;
 import de.rototor.pdfbox.graphics2d.PdfBoxGraphics2D;
 import de.rototor.pdfbox.graphics2d.PdfBoxGraphics2DFontTextDrawer;
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
     //   Dividing by _dotsPerPoint will convert OpenHTMLtoPDF dots to PDF points.
     //   Theoretically, this is all configurable, but not tested at all with other values.
     //
-    
+
     private static final int FILL = 1;
     private static final int STROKE = 2;
     private static final int CLIP = 3;
@@ -98,11 +99,11 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
 
     // The current PDF page.
     private PDPage _page;
-    
+
     // A wrapper around the IOException throwing content stream methods which only throws runtime exceptions.
     // Created for every page.
     private PdfContentStreamAdapter _cp;
-    
+
     // We need the page height because the project uses top down units which PDFs use bottom up units.
     // This is in PDF points unit (1/72 inch).
     private float _pageHeight;
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
     // It scales from internal dots to PDF points.
     // It translates positions to implement page margins.
     private AffineTransform _transform = new AffineTransform();
-    
+
     // A stack of currently in force transforms on the PDF graphics state.
     // NOTE: Transforms are cumulative and order is important.
     // After the graphics state is restored in setClip we must appropriately reapply the transforms
@@ -125,11 +126,11 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
     // An index into the transformStack. When we save state we set this to the length of transformStack
     // then we know we have to reapply those transforms set after saving state upon restoring state.
     private int clipTransformIndex;
-    
+
     // We use these to keep track of where the current transform-origin is in absolute internal dots units.
     private float _absoluteTransformOriginX = 0;
     private float _absoluteTransformOriginY = 0;
-    
+
     // The desired color as set by setColor.
     // To make sure this color is set on the PDF graphics stream call ensureFillColor or ensureStrokeColor.
     private FSColor _color = FSRGBColor.BLACK;
@@ -143,10 +144,10 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
     // This is already transformed to PDF points units.
     // Call setStrokeDiff to set this on the PDF graphics stream.
     private Stroke _stroke = null;
-    
+
     // Same as _stroke, but not transformed. That is, it is in internal dots units.
     private Stroke _originalStroke = null;
-    
+
     // The currently set stroke on the PDF graphics stream. When we call setStokeDiff
     // this is compared with _stroke and only the differences are output to the graphics stream.
     private Stroke _oldStroke = null;
@@ -156,7 +157,7 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
 
     // Essentially per-run global variables.
     private SharedContext _sharedContext;
-    
+
     // The project internal dots per PDF point unit. See discussion of units above.
     private float _dotsPerPoint;
 
@@ -175,7 +176,7 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
 
     // Contains all the state needed to manage form controls
     private final PdfBoxPerDocumentFormState _formState = new PdfBoxPerDocumentFormState();
-    
+
     // The root box in the document. We keep this so we can search for specific boxes below it
     // such as links or form controls which we need to position.
     private Box _root;
@@ -184,24 +185,24 @@ public class PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice extends AbstractOutputDevice implements Outp
     // so we can use it to offset when we need to know the PDF page number.
     // NOTE: Not tested recently, this feature may be broken.
     private int _startPageNo;
-    
+
     // Whether we are in test mode, currently not used here, but keep around in case we need it down the track.
     @SuppressWarnings("unused")
     private final boolean _testMode;
-    
+
     // Link manage handles a links. We add the link in paintBackground and then output links when the document is finished.
     private PdfBoxLinkManager _linkManager;
-    
+
     // Not used currently.
     private RenderingContext _renderingContext;
-    
-    // The bidi reorderer is responsible for shaping Arabic text, deshaping and 
+
+    // The bidi reorderer is responsible for shaping Arabic text, deshaping and
     // converting RTL text into its visual order.
     private BidiReorderer _reorderer = new SimpleBidiReorderer();
 
     // Font Mapping for the Graphics2D output
     private PdfBoxGraphics2DFontTextDrawer _fontTextDrawer;
-    
+
     public PdfBoxSlowOutputDevice(float dotsPerPoint, boolean testMode) {
         _dotsPerPoint = dotsPerPoint;
         _testMode = testMode;
@@ -216,7 +217,7 @@ public PDDocument getWriter() {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Start a page. A new PDF page starts a new content stream so all graphics state has to be 
+     * Start a page. A new PDF page starts a new content stream so all graphics state has to be
      * set back to default.
      */
     public void initializePage(PDPageContentStream currentPage, PDPage page, float height) {
@@ -229,7 +230,7 @@ public void initializePage(PDPageContentStream currentPage, PDPage page, float h
             // restoreGraphics is only used by setClip and page finish (unless the fast renderer is in use).
             _cp.saveGraphics();
         }
-        
+
         _transform = new AffineTransform();
         _transform.scale(1.0d / _dotsPerPoint, 1.0d / _dotsPerPoint);
 
@@ -253,7 +254,7 @@ public void finishPage() {
         if (!isFastRenderer()) {
             _cp.restoreGraphics();
         }
-        
+
         _cp.closeContent();
     }
 
@@ -271,7 +272,7 @@ public void paintBackground(RenderingContext c, Box box) {
 
         // processLinkLater will take care of making sure it is actually a link.
         _linkManager.processLinkLater(c, box, _page, _pageHeight, _transform);
-       
+
         if (box.getElement() != null && box.getElement().getNodeName().equals("form")) {
             _formState.addFormIfRequired(box, this);
         } else if (box.getElement() != null &&
@@ -285,7 +286,7 @@ public void paintBackground(RenderingContext c, Box box) {
     private void processControls() {
         _formState.processControls(_sharedContext, _writer, _root);
     }
-    
+
 
 
     /**
@@ -375,7 +376,7 @@ private AffineTransform normalizeMatrix(AffineTransform current) {
 
     public void drawString(String s, float x, float y, JustificationInfo info) {
         PDFont firstFont = _font.getFontDescription().get(0).getFont();
-        
+
         // First check if the string will print with the current font entirely.
         try {
             firstFont.getStringWidth(s);
diff --git a/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxTextRenderer.java b/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxTextRenderer.java
index 2e7405640..6e109db50 100644
--- a/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxTextRenderer.java
+++ b/openhtmltopdf-pdfbox/src/main/java/com/openhtmltopdf/pdfboxout/PdfBoxTextRenderer.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.stream.IntStream;
 
 import com.openhtmltopdf.bidi.BidiReorderer;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.extend.FontContext;
@@ -34,13 +35,14 @@
 import com.openhtmltopdf.render.FSFontMetrics;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.render.JustificationInfo;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.LogMessageId;
-import com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.ThreadCtx;
 import com.openhtmltopdf.util.XRLog;
 
+import static com.openhtmltopdf.util.OpenUtil.isCodePointPrintable;
+
 public class PdfBoxTextRenderer implements TextRenderer {
     private static float TEXT_MEASURING_DELTA = 0.01f;
-    
+
     private BidiReorderer _reorderer;
     
     public void setup(FontContext context, BidiReorderer reorderer) {
@@ -191,6 +193,11 @@ public static List<FontRun> divideIntoFontRuns(FSFont font, String str, BidiReor
             int unicode = str.codePointAt(i);
             i += Character.charCount(unicode);
             String ch = String.valueOf(Character.toChars(unicode));
+
+            if (!isCodePointPrintable(unicode)) {
+                continue;
+            }
+
             boolean gotChar = false;
             
             FONT_LOOP:
@@ -277,9 +284,6 @@ else if (replace.fontDescription != current.des) {
                     current.spaceCharacterCount++;
                     sb.append(' ');
                 }
-                else if (!OpenUtil.isCodePointPrintable(unicode)) {
-                    // Do nothing
-                }
                 else {
                     current.otherCharacterCount++;
                     sb.append(replace.replacement);
@@ -314,6 +318,8 @@ private float getStringWidthSlow(FSFont bf, String str) {
     public int getWidth(FontContext context, FSFont font, String string) {
         float result = 0f;
 
+        String effectiveString = TextRenderer.getEffectivePrintableString(string);
+
         try {
             if (((PdfBoxFSFont) font).getFontDescription() == null 
                     || ((PdfBoxFSFont) font).getFontDescription().isEmpty()) {
@@ -322,7 +328,7 @@ public int getWidth(FontContext context, FSFont font, String string) {
               // Go through the list of font descriptions
               for (FontDescription fd : ((PdfBoxFSFont) font).getFontDescription()) {
                  if (fd.getFont() != null) {
-                   result = fd.getFont().getStringWidth(string) / 1000f * font.getSize2D();
+                   result = fd.getFont().getStringWidth(effectiveString) / 1000f * font.getSize2D();
                    break;
                  } else {
                      XRLog.log(Level.WARNING, LogMessageId.LogMessageId0Param.RENDER_FONT_IS_NULL);
@@ -332,7 +338,7 @@ public int getWidth(FontContext context, FSFont font, String string) {
         } catch (IllegalArgumentException e2) {
             // PDFont::getStringWidth throws an IllegalArgumentException if the character doesn't exist in the font.
             // So we do it one character by character instead.
-            result = getStringWidthSlow(font, string) / 1000f * font.getSize2D();
+            result = getStringWidthSlow(font, effectiveString) / 1000f * font.getSize2D();
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new PdfContentStreamAdapter.PdfException("getWidth", e);
         }