Creating PDF from Web Page = Distorted Output, Extremely Slow

[Bradley T]

On Acrobat Pro DC 2019.012

Trying to Create PDF from Web Page, and capture entire site.  File >> Create >> PDF from Web Page

The output doesn't look anything like the webpage displays in the browser, is missing graphic elements, not showing headers, etc.  It's also extremely slow, taking up to 5 minutes per webpage.  On a 25,000 page site that'll take 2 - 3 months to capture.  Connection is 50mbps so it's not bandwidth; the Download Status bar shows less than 50 MB downloaded in over 30 minutes of saving pages.  System is i7-8700, 16gb ram.

Adobe chat tech support response:  "I would suggest you to use In design for this purpose because We cant change the format of the file."

Please help, thank you.

[gary_sc · Accepted solution]

HI Bradley,

I think it's safe to say that creating PDFs of web pages are probably the biggest headache I've witnessed in these forums. The reason is that html is not absolute like a page is. In addition, if the website is composed of a bunch of different things all put together by algorithms, there's no way for any PDF creation program to know what goes where.

You speak of 25,000 page site. Are you trying to capture the entire site? Ain't going to happen. There's no way for any PDF application can wind its way through all the links to capture everything.

As far as one page at a time, see if the site has a icon of a printer implying that you can click on that and be able to "print" that page. If you get that then instead of printing, select "Print to PDF" or better yet "Print to Adobe PDF." Another alternative is to go to the website "Print Friendly." Print Friendly & PDF  I've found their service does an excellent job of converting what you see on a website into a viable PDF. It's free.

And why an Adobe tech support suggested InDesign is, well, strange. While you can do some web page creation in InDesign, there's no way to open a website within ID to reformat for printing (to PDF). I have no idea where or how that miscommunication came from. 

But please be aware that a number of web programmers do not make the website compatible for converting to a PDF page. This can either be because of intent or by ambivalence. There's no way to know. FWIW, when it really really mattered to me to get a specific web page into a PDF and I was really really intent on it, I'd manually copy and pates the component pieces within InDesign to create the page from scratch. In other words, I do feel your pain. But 25,000 pages? Be prepared for a lot of pain.

Sorry

[Bradley T]

Thanks for the detail, Gary. We need to maintain the original formatting / structure of the pages as displayed in a web browser, so unfortunately using a print-format output wouldn't work. We are trying to capture the entire site, PDF is the preferred format because it allows a table of contents for and easy access to all pages - and it appeared to have an automated way to capture all site pages - but there's no requirement we have PDF. We've had good output results with screen capture tools / browser plugins that generate image outputs but they require manually saving each webpage and can't capture an entire site on their own.

Sounds like it might be a case of the marketing for Acrobat overselling its capabilities here, and there just not being any quick/easy options.

[Test Screen Name]

I suggest you use HTML capture - just get the site and have something that makes the link work locally. Why convert what you can keep unchanged?

Wouldn't be the first time Acrobat has been oversold, but really this is an inherent mismatch between what PDF can do and what HTML can do. PDF is a fixed page layout, HTML is dynamic and can be interactive. Both have JavaScript but they work differently.

[Bradley T]

Thanks for the suggestion.  We had considered getting the HTML but were trying to capture the browser-view of the site.  We'd thought Acrobat's capture entire site option would get the job done, but it sounds like it isn't the right tool for the job and we'll have to look to another solution.

[alexisg73308127]

Hello I am curious where can I download HTML capture tool?

[gary_sc]

Hi Bradley,

Just out of curiosity, are you affiliated with the owner of the website? And if so, can you contact the web designer who put the whole thing together. Perhaps they have the material and tools to put this together. If you are wish to replicate the various links and all I do recommend using InDesign (perhaps that's where ID came into the conversation with the Adobe tech?). But that would mean that you'd have to replicate the entire site within ID.

BTW, if you are not affiliated with the owner of the website, and you do not get permission to replicate the site, you may be facing some legal issues. Just saying...

Good luck!

[Bradley T]

Yes - am affiliated with the site in question. We're not very concerned about maintaining links, it's really just the static image of the page display that we're trying to capture.

Contacting the development team is a good idea - I'd hoped it could be done using Acrobat, but it looks like we'll need another approach and the developers will likely have a way to automate it all.

Thanks for the advice.

[alexisg73308127]

I simply have to say thank you for the recommended tool "Print Friendly & PDF " Adobe you need to give this man some money and if you ever read some of these comments i suggest to add this tool Print Friendly & PDF too your arsenal!