Cannot print PDF files on Mac OS X

Report · Sep 16, 2008

Hi,

since some update from Reader 8.1 to 8.1.2 I cannot print PDF files anymore. Meanwhile I installed Reader 9, but with no luck.

If I crank up the preferences I get the error "Failed to load an application resource (internal error)." ... maybe there is something wrong with the installation, but even an reinstall doesnt fix it.

If I try to print I get only the message "The document could not be printed" and then "There were no pages selected to print." ... no matter what PDF I try to print.

The Apple Preview works without any problems, so the PDFs should be good.

Can anyone help me on this ... its really frustrating.

Best Regards

--Michael

Report · Jan 09, 2009

I am having the same exact problem. When I try to print pdf files I get an error message "No pages found!" Selecting the option "Print as image" allows me to print. Printing works from all other applications, just not Adobe Reader. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Readersoftware, deleting and adding printers, etc. Nothing seems to work. Adobe is not the default as post #24 suggested might fix the problem. Anyone solved this?

Report · Jan 09, 2009

Hello,

This was a very frustrating problem for me as well. I use older software (Abobe Reader 7.0.8 on Mac OS 10.3.9)--same problem as all above; i.e, one goes to a site to retrieve a form or documentation of some sort--the (pdf.) doc opens w/Adobe Reader but the user cannot print it within that program. Why can't Adobe fix this?

A remedy is to open the downloaded file in Preview (or Acrobat if you have it) and then print.

Hope this is helpful.

Report · Jan 09, 2009

Are they printing, by choosing Print from the File menu or they using
the printer icon on the toolbar from within Safari.

Mike

Report · Jan 10, 2009

Mike,

I've tried printing from the application's File->Print menu and by using the print icon from within Safari/Firefox. Neither of them work.

-Saurabh

Report · Jan 10, 2009

Only the icon is meant to work. Firefox does not work in Mac OS X to
view PDF files using Adobe technology, so if you are having a problem
there, it is clear that your problem is not Acrobat related. Perhaps you
should reset your printing subsystem.

Mike

Report · Jan 12, 2009

I called Adobe today and spoke with their technical support. The tech said they are aware of the problem of not being able to print pdfs from the Mac OSX platform and are developing a fix. When it's ready the fix will be available as an update on their website, so keep checking back. They had "no information" as to when the fix would be ready. In the meantime, use the workaround of printing as an image.

Report · Jan 12, 2009

Kate,

Thanks for the update.

Mike

Report · Jan 12, 2009

I'm having this trouble with Adobe 9.x on Windows XP. The problem is NOT a printer issue - printing from ALL other apps works fine. Printing as image does not work for me, saving a copy does not work either. Error is: document cannot be printed. Followed by: There were no pages selected to print. "Current View" and "All" are the only print rage choices available but neither selection successfully prints the document. Nothing is selected for default range in the document properties.

Adobe - you've built in a bug
PDF writers - Learn from this content and make sure you can print your documents before you publish them.
Users - upgrade to an older (likely vulnerable) version of Adobe.

Not being able to print this document is costing me $20.00!

Report · Jan 12, 2009

PO-ed,

I'm sorry you are having difficulty, but this thread concerns Mac OS X
related issues. If you want help, try posting to a new thread.

Mike

Report · Jan 13, 2009

I had this same problem. I did a clean install of OS X 10.5.6 to an USB hard drive, installed Adobe Reader 9, and tried printing. It worked fine. Then I cloned the external drive back onto the internal drive and it failed with the same no pages selected problem.

It turns out that my filesystem on my internal hard drive is case sensitive, but the external hard drive had the default case-insensitive file system.

To fix, do this:

Go get yourself an external firewire or usb hard drive at least as big as your internal drive. Plug it in and use Disk Utility.app (under /Applications/Utilities) to Erase it and format it as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)". The download CarbonCopyCloaner, a free utility that can copy an entire drive. Use CCC to clone your Macintosh HD to the external drive.

Now that you have a backup drive, go to System Preferences and choose Startup Disk. Pick the external drive as the the startup drive. Reboot and check that your printing works properly now.

If that fixed your problem, while you are booted from the external drive, use Disk Utility to erase Macintosh HD and format it as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" not "Mac OS Extended (Journaled) case-sensitive". Then use CCC to copy everything back. Reboot.

Report · Jan 14, 2009

The file systems on my Macs are also case-sensitive. I think this might be the problem. But I need my file systems to be case sensitive because of the development environment constraints. It is not an option to reformat the file system as Mac OS Journaled. I'll wait for Adobe to fix this problem.

Report · Jan 14, 2009

Adobe will not fix the problem. Adobe software doesn't support the
case-sensitive file system. This has been true since it was made
available for Apple servers. Adobe has not announced a change in policy.
Do not expect a fix for this in the current version. If you want to
suggest support for a future version:

...Mike

Report · Jan 15, 2009

But Adobe does support the case-sensitive ext3 filesystem in Linux. I use the Adobe Reader software in Linux and it works (prints) fine. It's not like Adobe doesn't know how to do it. I hope they fix it in the new version.

Report · Jan 15, 2009

But they don't with the Mac---end of story. File a wish for future
support. Adobe does listen, but it needs to be a priority for more than
a few users before it will become a priority.

Mike

Report · Jan 23, 2009

I've created a work around. As default use MAC OS X PREVIEW to view and print your PDF files. When you want to work on a PDF use Acrobat. It's not a fix, but it'll get you working again.

Report · Jan 23, 2009

As a follow up, I feel compelled to warn others about ADOBE's customer service/technical service which is garbage. I just purchased ADOBE 8.0 Pro for my company a few months ago. 9.0 came out a week later but I wasn't aware of it, to get a free upgrade I had to find a receipt, scan it, and email it in but given work and the holidays it wasn't the first thing on my mind. The free upgrade was available up until JAN 9th, but I forgot to look into it since I thought 8.0 was doing fine. It turns out, even though I just bought 8.0, they won't support it, instead of the standard year of support, they stopped offering support after 90 days from 9.0 coming out. WHO KNEW?? So, now in order to get support on this software I just bought, they expect $50.00 for tech support, or I have to buy 9.0 which was being offered for free, but now I'm a week late from an offer I never knew about. In addition to this rip off, my only option for support is to talk to people in India who have been nothing but rude and uncaring about how wrong this situation is. I bought this software at full price with the understanding that it had support behind it, not just 90 days. On top of that, I'm a registered ADOBE user, but never got any notices about a limited window for upgrading this software that I registered with ADOBE. Adobe's customer service should be named, customer disservice. They've just lost my business due to their lack of common sense, rude customer service supervisors, broken products, and greed. I'll be taking a much closer look at other alternatives to their products and canceling our planned CS4 upgrades. I hope the work-around I posted above helps others in the mean time, and my warning helps others know what they're buying into. Had I known, I would have walked away. Cheers.

Report · Feb 05, 2009

I had the same problem. I changed the default printer in System Preferences to my HP2200. Then it printed. Not sure why, but it worked. Good luck!

Report · Feb 09, 2009

This problem with Adobe Reader 9
occurs also in Windows XP (SP3),
so has nothing to do with Mac OS.
Same symptoms as other report here.
Did not occur with Adobe Reader 8.
Perhaps the fix is to delete printer and remove Reader 9
then re-install in a particular order -- I would guess
Reader, then printer, but who knows?

Workaround to print as image (Advanced printing options)
does NOT work for us.

Report · Feb 24, 2009

I just found this thread. I am also having the issue and thanks to the thread am now using the workaround of printing as an image. However this does not fix the issue. How frustrating that Adobe still has not fixed the problem. It has been ongoing for months. When is this going to be fixed?

Report · Mar 04, 2009

I was having the same problem of not being able to print from Adobe Reader. I have two printers on my network. One is a networked HP laserjet printer. Printing from Adobe Reader to the HP laserjet printer works just fine. I also have a USB Epson inkjet printer, which is shared on the network through one of my desktop Macs. Trying to print to the Epson printer from Adobe Reader did not work. I monitored the communications between the origination print queue (on the computer where the PDF file resides) and the destination queue (on the computer that is sharing the Epson printer to others on the network). I noticed what appeared to be proper communications between the origination and destination queue and the PDF file appeared to be successfully transferred to the destination queue. However, the PDF file was never sent to the printer from the destination queue...the destination queue would just empty without any notification that the PDF file never got sent to the Epson printer.

After investigating the printer configuration settings within the Adobe Reader Print... dialog box, I was able to come up with a workaround that allowed me to print from Adobe Reader to the USB Epson printer. Within the Print... dialog box for the selected printer, select the following:

Print...->Advanced... button->Print as image check box

After doing this, I was able to print PDF files from Adobe Reader to the USB Epson inkjet printer from two Mac computers that previously were unable to do so.

Let me know if this works for anyone else.

Robert Bohannon

Report · Mar 22, 2009

Hello,

Same problem printing PDF files from Adobe Reader in latest versions of Mac OS 10.5x. Tried uninstalling/reinstalling latest version and other standard troubleshooting methods without success. Same files can be accessed via Apple's Preview and printed fine. So, WTF does anyone need Adobe Reader or any line of their similar products for? Tried to appeal to their tech support and should have saved time and frustration by just pounding a nail into my eye.

Poor product compatibility for Mac, poor technical support, poor pricing structure for upgraded product line. The business is just too competitive for me to waste any more time with Adobe. Do yourself a a favor and simply bypass Adobe Reader all together. There are other FREE and lower cost options out there.

Technological change is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal. (Albert Einstein, 1941),
Dr. Z.

Report · Mar 23, 2009

Greetings,

I was having the same problem, running Mac 10.5.6, Adobe Reader 8.1.4, and the Canon Mac drivers V1.81. I tried the Print as image check box, and that worked well, though slowly. I tried the resolution issue, and that did nothing. Finally, on the verge of yanking the software out and throttling it like a rent-delinquent roommate, I tried a reset of the Printing system:

System Preferences --> Print and Fax --> Right click the printer and select Reset Printing System. Bang, I was back in business. Root cause? Underlying jam up in the CUPS process, or bogus commands to from the software, or the printer she is...unwell. Who knows.

Report · Mar 23, 2009

Sorry, forgot to mention that resetting isn't a figure of speech. You have to add back the printer, and point it at the driver, just like you were installing the printer.

Report · Apr 01, 2009

I spoke with tech support at HP. They told me to print as image, and that worked. The other part to look at was most current drivers for the printer being used and firmware updates on the printer. I don't like the idea of print as image all the time. The tech also said it can be cause by a corrupt file or font. Check out those. I can open back down to an earlier vs. of Adobe and it works, but is a pain. Good luck.

Report · May 26, 2009

It's some strange font issue. I was having the same problem with a file I created in Illustrator. I converted all fonts to outlines and now it prints fine. Hopefully Adobe will fix this issue.