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Why does acrobat create a prn file instead of printing my document?

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Why does the acrobat reader create a prn file instead of printing my document?

AbamboCorrect answer

Community Expert

I right-clicked on my file and "open as" and opened in Foxit instead of Adobe, and it worked perfectly with Foxit.

I right-clicked on my file and "open as" and opened in Foxit instead of Adobe, and it worked perfectly with Foxit.

By @jane37041665f3mn

This is a Windows configuration feature. Acrobat can only do what you told Acrobat to do. Check the Microsoft fora. You can (in addition to Dov's answer) also create a file port and print to that port.

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer

S

sdf_6284

Participant

hi, unfortunately nothing of the above mentioned helped in my case. i found by chance the option connections in the printer settings. and for some reason FILE was Ticked. so i moved it to HP040 and it works fine since.

best regards thanks for alle the input

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thanh_away

Participant

In my case, I found it in Print dialog - Advanced - Prin to File

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jane-e

Community Expert

Dov was correct, as he always was. I was sorry to see him retire from Adobe.

"A PRN file simply contains printing instructions. You can think of a PRN as a file that translates the appearance of other types of files or pages into a language that a specific printer can understand. The PRN file language corresponds to the printer model rather than to any specific application."

https://www.adobe.com/acrobat/hub/how-to-convert-prn-to-pdf.html

Before the days of Acrobat, we would send a PostScript file to the printer. Then eventually Acrobat was released and this became our workflow:

File > Print > Print to File to create a .prn file
Rename the .prn extension to .ps
Launch Distiller
In Distiller, first choose the .joboptions and then open the .ps file to create the .pdf

This is old technology and is no longer used. Some dialog boxes have even removed the option to Print to File, which is probably a good idea.

Jane

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R

Rajesh25697780msqc

Participant

Super quick and effective. Took a minute to figure out the dialogue box under Advanced. However , unchecking that fixed the issue.

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1

1to1design

Participant

I was having this exact same issue. I found the setting at Ctrl+P>Advanced. Here there was a checkbox marked "print to file"... thank you all so much!!!

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K

Karen27279606v79b

Participant

I do not have the "print to file" checked and it's still printing a prn file. If I try to print the prn file to adobe, it opens a onenote file.

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Test Screen Name

Legend

Karen, please show your Print dialog and Advanced Print Settings dialog. Perhaps there is a clue there for us.

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B

Bobbi6C1B

Participant

I don't have print to file selected and it still tries to save as prn it worked fine until 2 days ago I've even unistalled and reinstalled Adobe same thing happens now I can't print anything

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Test Screen Name

Legend

Please show a screen shot of your Print dialog, and the Advanced box from the Print dialog. Perhaps there is another clue there.

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Dov Isaacs

Legend

The only reason why a .prn file would be produced would be if you have selected the option to print to file.

Go through all the options available from the print dialog and you will likely find a dialog in which there is a print to file option that unintentionally got enabled (with a check mark). Uncheck the option and this problem should go away.

- Dov

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- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)

M

mrrooferatl

Participant

Just want to thank you for this answer! So simple, yet has eluded me for months! Gracias!

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