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J
jkozzWork
Inspiring
November 4, 2015
Question

PDF Printer error: invalidfont; offending command: cshow

  • November 4, 2015
  • 2 replies
  • 31661 views

I'm having an odd problem here at work. I'm creating PDFs from FrameMaker 12. I have Acrobat vXI. When I create PDFs I can print them to any printer in the building. However, my co-workers (and likely our customers) cannot print them to our Dell printer. (Dell Laser Printer 5310n PS3. Can anyone tell me how to create or change my PDFs so anyone can print them anywhere?

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2 replies

kathyb70193623
kathyb70193623
Participant
June 10, 2016

I've been having this problem with a job application my son was trying to download.  This is the URL of the document in question:

http://www.brigantine.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Employee-Application-2014-New-Logos-Brig.pdf

The first page would print but when it got to the second page, I got the error message:

ERROR: invalidfont
OFFENDING COMMAND: cshow

followed by a stack dump.

Checking or unchecking the "Rely on System Fonts Only" checkbox had no effect at all when printing to PDF, but I went into Advanced Settings, PostScript Options and changed "Print Method" from Language Level 3 to Language Level 2.  The PDF file generated from changing the PostScript language level to 2 prints fine.

BTW I'm using Acrobat DC and printing to a Lexmark C520, an older printer.

Karl Heinz Kremer
Community Expert
Karl Heinz KremerCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 11, 2016

Switching from Level 3 to Level 2 is actually what I would have recommended, so you've already done the right thing to get this document to print. Here is the problem with PostScript and old printers (or old printer drivers):  In my experience (and I've worked for a number of printer manufacturers, so I had a front row seat for that), over the years, Acrobat's PostScript generator has been getting more and more picky about how well a PostScript printer needs to interpret the PostScript specification. Oftentimes a new version of Acrobat would break printing to a certain printer, and it was not because of a bug in Acrobat, but would require a new driver from the printer manufacturer to deal with the new "flavor" of PostScript. Now keep in mind that the PostScript specification has not changed in many years (I think we can almost say "decades" - the PostScript 3 specification was published in 1999), so your old printer/printer driver should be able to deal with anything that Acrobat throws at it.

You also may want to check to see if there is an updated printer driver available for your printer from the manufacturer. That may also fix the problem.

You also have the choice of printing in PCL to your printer (which may require that you install a PCL driver) - that will also very likely avoid this problem.

As to why exactly it's happening, that would require to dig into the exact stack dump, and the actual PostScript file sent to the printer.

Dov Isaacs
Dov Isaacs
Legend
June 12, 2016

See my response!

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
Dov Isaacs
Dov Isaacs
Legend
November 5, 2015

If the PDF files print correctly from Acrobat / Reader to some printers, but not to a particular brand, it is possibly not a problem with the PDF file, but rather, with the printer driver, printer driver configuration, printer configuration, or printer firmware.

If you can post a sample of such a PDF file, we can examine it here at Adobe to ascertain whether there is anything wrong with the PDF file itself.

          - Dov

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
    J
    jkozzWorkAuthor
    Inspiring
    November 5, 2015

    Thank you for your response. I think that would have solved the problem but our IT guy wouldn't do that. (Go figure.) However, I deselected the "Rely on system fonts only..." setting AND changed the printer to Adobe PDF. (FM defaults to my default printer so I had to change that too.) I'm not sure which did the trick but now everyone can print to that printer. Oddly, it only affected some people in the office. A few could print the PDF to that Dell printer but others couldn't. Our concern was that a customer might have a problem printing it so I pursued it. I now have a few more steps to my end-of-cycle checklist but it shouldn't happen again.

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