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Participant
October 25, 2017
Answered

2015 - Warning box says: distiller will not open ".tps" file when trying to create a PDF.

  • October 25, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 530 views

If I open a new, blank FM document to create a test file, it saves a PDF. But if I open a specific, previously created doc and make changes, I get the warning box. If I look in the folder where the ".tps" file is supposed to be, it is not there. (I assume the ".tps" file is a Temperary PostScript file that distiller uses to make the PDF?) This sounds like a corrupt file, so I got a new copy from the archives and tried again; no luck. I have tried "print to PDF" using the Adobe printer, no luck (same warning box).

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    Correct answer CW6er

    Thanks for the responses!

    I believe I have it figured out. The warning box gives the entire path name for the ".tps" file it is looking for and says to make sure the path and file name are correct. Well, I checked and the warning box matched the actual path name on the computer. The enclosing folder for the ".tps" file location had a file description in the name and our IT guy noticed that it had a comma in it and suggested I remove it. I replace the comma/space with an underscore and FM happily started saving PDF's again!

    3 replies

    CW6erAuthorCorrect answer
    Participant
    October 25, 2017

    Thanks for the responses!

    I believe I have it figured out. The warning box gives the entire path name for the ".tps" file it is looking for and says to make sure the path and file name are correct. Well, I checked and the warning box matched the actual path name on the computer. The enclosing folder for the ".tps" file location had a file description in the name and our IT guy noticed that it had a comma in it and suggested I remove it. I replace the comma/space with an underscore and FM happily started saving PDF's again!

    Matt-Tech Comm Tools
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 25, 2017

    So to paraphrase, you found a nonstandard character in a directory name that seems to have been causing the issue?

    I knew this was an issue for other formats like EPUB, HTML5, but hadn't seen an issue with PDF. Thx for reporting back!

    -Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant
    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 25, 2017

    Theoretically, there should be no .tps hanging around for old documents. They are created on-the fly during render, then deleted.

    Some things that can cause a .tps not found error probably include but are not limited to:
    - .tps directory write-protected

    - insufficient file system (or user quota) space for .tps file
    - .tps file size exceeded 2GB, 4GB or some other limit (OS & FM version dependent)

    - error during .tps writing that you aren't seeing

    - .tps file exists but is hidden

    You can try Print-to-file deliberately to a .ps file and see what happens.

    Matt-Tech Comm Tools
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    October 25, 2017

    See FrameMaker PDF Tips and Tricks - Tech Comm Tools  for the settings that resolved all my PDF creation issues.

    -Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant