Problems Creating PDFs

Installing Distiller Printer in Windows 2000

These steps describe setting up the Distiller Printer *correctly* in Windows 2000. Use this printer (as the default or selected via File|Print) to make PDFs in Windows 2000. Thanks to Arnis for the lion's share of this info!

****Apply this technique and settings to your workflow.****

1) Uninstall the Distiller printer you have installed.

2) Insert your FrameMaker 6 CD. Cancel out of any autostart stuff.

3) Open a browser, go to and download the Adobe PostScript Printer universal installer 1.0.2.

3) After you download it, run the universal installer.

4) When prompted for a PPD, ***DON'T*** select the generic driver for which you are prompted. ****Instead****, browse the FrameMaker CD in \Extras\Ppds and use the Adist4.ppd.

5) When prompted, choose "File" as your printer port (not LPT1, for example).

6) After you've installed the Distiller printer instance, go to the Pinters Control panel and right-click on the Distiller printer. Coose Printer Settings.

7) Click the General tab and choose Printing Preferences.

8) Click the Advanced... Button.

9) In the Advanced Options Window, set "TrueType Font:" to "Download as Softfont".

NOTE: You can right-click the printer name at the top of the dialog and select the About menu option to see what PPD you are using. You should be using only the Distiller PPD.

10) Then click on the "+" beside the "Postscript Options" to expand thelist.

11) For "Postscript Output Option, select "Optimize for Speed."

12) For TrueType Font Download Option, select "Native TrueType."

13) For "Postscript Language Level, select "3."

14) For the error handler, set to "Yes" and the mirrored output to "No".

15) Also make sure that ICM (Image Color Management) is disabled under the "Graphic" options.

16) Now go to the "Properties" window by right clicking on the Distiller printer in the Printer Control Panel and selecting the option at the bottom of the list.

17) Click on the "Device Settings" tab and make sure that "Output Protocol" is set to "binary" and set the "Ctrl-D" options to "No."

PDF for Beginners

Read this first!

To create a PDF from FrameMaker make sure that you have installed the Acrobat Distiller printer instance.

This is NOT done by using the Add Printer option found in Start > Settings > Printers.

Instead:

1. Download the latest Adobe Universal Printer Driver Installer from Adobe.

2. Make sure you have the latest PPD file available. You will be asked to find it during printer installation.

3. Double-click the .exe file to install the driver you downloaded.

4. When you are asked for the PPD file, browse to find it on your system.

Now you will have a printer instance called Acrobat Distiller. Use this printer when you create PDF files or when you create PostScript files from FrameMaker.

Do not use Save As PDF! This seems handy, but doesn't let you control Distiller job options.

Instead:

1. From your Frame file or Frame book file, Print.

2. Make sure to select Print to File.

3. Make sure that Acrobat Distiller is the printer selected.

It is good practice to make sure Acrobat Distiller is the default printer for your system before you go from Frame to Acrobat.

4. Distill the resulting postscript file.

Using watched folders can make your Frame-to-Acrobat tasks nearly automatic. See the Acrobat Guide for more information.

Thanks to Jeanie Shoemaker for the clarification and tip!!

PDF-ing: Printing to PDF

1. 
   
2. You need not set up anything beforehand.
3. 
   
4. Choose File|Print.
5. 
   
6. Click Setup and choose the Distiller Printer instance.
7. 
   
8. Turn on Generate Acrobat Data.
9. 
   
10. Click PDF setup and manage your Acrobat settings.
11. 
    
12. Turn on Print to File, if needed, and set the filename.
13. 
    
14. Click Print.
15. 
    
16. If prompted, set a filename for the printfile.
17. 
    
18. After the print file is created, launch Adobe Distiller. If you are using Watched Folders, Distiller might automatically open and distill the printfile.
19. 
    
20. Set up distiller, including compression and other job options.
21. 
    
22. Open the print file (*.prn or *.ps) you created. Distiller creates your PDF from the printfile.

PDF-ing: Save as PDF

1. 
   
2. Set up Adobe Distiller, including compression and other job options.
3. 
   
4. Set the default printer for your system to the Distiller printer instance.
5. 
   
6. In FrameMaker, Use File|Save as|PDF.
7. 
   
8. Make sure you turn on Generate PDF Bookmarks if you want your TOC converted to bookmarks in the PDF.
9. 
   
10. Off you go . . ..

PDF-ing: Save as Versus Printing PDFs

If you are having difficulty using FrameMaker's Save as PDF feature, try the printing method first. If the printing method works, then you are not setting a default up correctly for Save as.

Save as PDF works well but you must have your defaults set up before you run it. For example, the Distiller printer must be set as your default printer and Adobe Distiller must be pre-configured correctly.

Installing the Distiller Printer from Scratch:

You should use the Distiller printer instance to create your PDFs. Ti install the Distiller printer (bearing in mind, I am writing this from a Windows perspective):

1. 
   
2. Get the distiller PPD and put it into a known location.
3. 
   
   
4. For FrameMaker 6, see step 6.
   
5. For FrameMaker 5.5.x and/or Adobe Acrobat version 3, go to http://www.adobe.com. Follow the links to support, downloads, printer drivers area for your operating system ( http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html).
   
6. Download the Adobe PPD. (PPD means PostScript Printer Description.) For Windows, this file is called Adobe.exe, because it is a self-extracting compressed file.
7. 
   
8. Uncompress/unzip the archived file to get the adistill.ppd file.
9. 
   
   
10. For FrameMaker 6 and Distiller 4, the ppd is on the FrameMaker CD-ROM, so insert the CD-ROM into your ROM drive. The Distiller file you need is adist4.ppd. On the FrameMaker Windows CD, this is in \Extras\Ppds\.
    
    
11. After you know where the ppd you need is (adistill.ppd for Acrobat 3 and adist4.ppd for Acrobat 4), install the latest Adobe PostScript driver for your OS.
12. 
    
13. Go to http://www.adobe.com. Follow the links to support, downloads, printer drivers area for your operating system ( http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/main.html).
14. 
    
15. Download the latest Adobe PostScript printer driver for your operating system.
16. 
    
17. After you download it, install the Adobe PostScript printer driver.
18. 
    
19. When prompted, select the PPD you found earlier (adist4.ppd or adistill.ppd).
20. 
    
21. When prompted set the printer you are installing as a local printer that prints to a file.
22. 
    
23. After you install the Distiller printer, you should be able to create PDFs from FrameMaker.
    

One final note. Trust me, if your PDFs are not color, and graphics in FrameMaker document were, and you want them to be color, you are probably using the wrong printer to create your PDF. Otherwise, Spot as Black in the Frame print dialog.