intermittent / fake header characters

[FieryPantone]

I use a third-party application that outputs PostScript files, which I then convert to pdf for printing ‒ all this in a Linux Mint box. Rarely any problems, but every now and then when I print a file the output page starts with  what looks like a solid heart overprinting an upper-case S, then an upper-case W. These characters are not visible when I view the .pdf files; I've checked with various applications / platforms, even Acrobat Pro on a Mac.

It's vague, I know: but does anyone have any idea where these characters come from? I'm asking because a commercial printer has told me some of my multi-page .pdfs ‒ which display perfectly in Acrobat on screen ‒ stop printing after a few pages. I'm wondering/speculating whether the printer is choking on these mysterious header characters.

[try67]

It's nearly impossible to help without seeing what you're referring to, or better yet, having a sample file...

[FieryPantone]

It feels likely to be the intersection of so many factors that I'm far from convinced a sample file would help: I was more wondering whether anyone else might just have happened to hit the same problem. I'm not even sure I'll get the same problem printing the same file two days running … If I manage to find a reproducible issue with a specific .ps file, I'll post it.

[ls_rbls]

++Adding to the discussion,

What postscript application are you using and which version of Linux Mint?

In any case, it seems like it could be a bug in the CUPS printing driver as described in this thread: 

• https://www.openprinting.org/driver/Postscript/

Even though the discussion above identifies a bug in the CUPS printing driver for Windows it could also be manifesting in Mac based on the PPD files that are used with  your printing device driver(s).

[FieryPantone]

More confusion I need to check … if I start from a PostScript file, I use XReader 2.8.3; if I've taken the process a bit farther, I'll using ps2pdf and then Master PDF Editor 5.7

60. Always on Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa, though :-}

[ls_rbls]

As mentioned by Try67, sharing an example of the resulting PDF would help us analyze the XML structre of that PDF.

However, In your initial inquiry you outlined that you can open the resulting PDF with Adobe Acrobat on a macOS computer, but you've also indicated that a commercial printer vendor told you that the multi-page PDF seems to stop printing after a few pages.

I assume that you're referring to printing the file on screen stops after scrolling through a few pages? or are you referring to the file being sent to the commercial printing device  from Acrobat Pro on a macOS computer?

The link that I posted above for you explains in detail the issue.

Did you also checked the additional support links on that page?

• https://www.openprinting.org/driver/Postscript/ppd-doc.html

• http://www.openprinting.org/kpfeifle/LinuxKongress2002/Tutorial/III.PostScript-and-PPDs/III.PostScri...

Besides, this support forum is for Acrobat Pro.

You won't get too much support here if the issues that you're observing are produced by 3rd party programs and are not directly related to a fault of Adobe Acrobat on its own.

To be more objective, I think you'll need to also test by opening the resulting PDF with Adobe Acrobat Pro from a Windows computer and see if the problem persists.

If the same symptom occurs in a windows environment, then you can narrow down the issue to other programs that you confirmed that you're using, but like I said, that would be on your own since it is not related to Acrobat at all.