atw: Re: PDF - is it just me?
- From: Michael Edward Granat <megranat@xxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 10:56:28 +1000
That isn't such an unusual one as you might think, Alan (Charlton).
It would help to know what version(s) of Adobe Acrobat you are using on the
various computers from which you tried to print this file and what version
of Acrobat was used to create the file.
In Acrobat 5, File > Document Properties > Summary (or Ctr+D) will display
the information, under the heading "Producer:", about what version of
Acrobat was used to create the problematic file in question.
Here are some possibilities that I suggest might explain your problem:
1. The file was created using a later version of Acrobat than you have,
without having been made backward compatible with earlier versions of
Acrobat for distribution.
2. Some security settings made with that later version are interfering
with how it is functioning (for example, Australian Standards come with a
print only once feature - the trick being to print first to a PostScript
file, then make a new PDF from that - but you never heard this from me, right).
3. Whoever created the file failed to embed all of the fonts in the
document, causing problems when you print.
4. A PC or network, print spooler or printing device resources shortage
when printing a graphically rich, large or complex document (the ability of
a directly connected Epson gives a clue to the network printing issue,
where your print job might be waiting in a queue with other documents
fighting over spooler resources and the networked printer might have
insufficient RAM to handle it all at once).
Workarounds / tips:
1. Close all other applications before opening this file, so as to free up
PC resources, preferably after a PC shut down and restart, which will clear
those resources, seemingly available but really still tied up by the system.
2. Print the document in small chunks, of a few pages at a time.
3. Print after hours or when others are on breaks - whenever there is
nothing else in the printer queue.
4. Upgrade your working version of the Acrobat creator / reader.
5. "Print" the file to Distiller or to the PDFwriter driver and make your
own version of the file, from which you can print.
6. Contact the file authors and (in the nicest possible way) tell them
that what they've sent you is unusable in that (highly compressed and
version incompatible, with missing fonts) form and to get their act
together to learn how to use Acrobat before they send you stuff.
The file size of that document, especially if the author has used extensive
JPEG compression to get the file size down (very common for those who want
the file to be screen readable only) will bear little or no resemblance to
the true size of the file heading to the printing device (look at the file
size in the print queue for a proper indication) and the very use of
massive compression in the creation of that file might mean that the
printed output will be woeful in any case.
That aside, if you are going to sacrifice a chook, use a frozen one, which
are much handier for the longer, defrosting style with lots of flames and
stuff, Satanic rituals.
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Michael Granat
Write Ideas
At 22:03 3/4/2004, you wrote:
>Most PDF documents seem to work OK, but occasionally I get one that drives
>me nuts. Perhaps some PDF-lovers can see an error I'm making and explain it
>for me.
>
>All I want to do is print the document.
>Today's example came from a NSW State Government web site, but that
>shouldn't make any difference. It has a coloured cover and 12 pages of text
>to follow. It isn't big, at only 667 kilobytes, but I realise that it's
>compressed and it will be expanded somewhat as it prints or displays.
>
>I tried to print the document in the office on a large networked Canon laser
>photocopier-cum-printer, but I couldn't even get page 1. I e-mailed it to
>myself at home and my Samsung ML7000 printed the cover and first four pages.
>It's an improvement on the big Canon, but not enough. My Epson inkjet
>printed the whole document - almost.
>
>What the Epson didn't print was a large note on page 2, which announces that
>the effective date for this document has been postponed from 1 July 2003 to
>1 July 2004. The rest of page 2 is correctly printed. Has any other
>material been selectively not printed? To find out, I'll have to carefully
>compare the whole 13 pages against the displayed version. I'm not pleased.
>
>My questions to the PDF gurus:
>Why was some text selectively left unprinted? What assurance do I have that
>other PDFs have printed correctly? What assurance do I have that the next
>PDF I print will print correctly?
>
>Have I made some dreadful mistake by opening the document, clicking the
>print icon, and expecting a faithful reproduction in hard copy? Is there
>something else I'm supposed to do - short of sacrificing a chook?
>
>Thanks
>Allan
>allancharlton@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Michael Granat -- Write Ideas*
Plain English Technical Communication.
Advertising Copywriting.
Business Writing.
E-mail: writeideas@xxxxxxxx
Web Site: <http://home.pacific.net.au/~megranat/>
*Trading As business #0828673K
Registered (1987) Corporate Affairs Victoria, Australia.
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
E & OE
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