Document could not be printed

Report · Jul 16, 2009

Unable to print numerous different PDFs from a corporate website. Each file has similar header, images, length, appearance. Opening the files online I receive the message "Insufficient data for an image" but the images do appear after I scroll down a bit. They disappear if I scroll up again. Try to print and this message appears " Document could not be printed". I have tried saving and reopening in Reader 9.1, also printing to file and printing as an image. Nothing works. I think the two issues are connected. I have seen similar discussions on this and other forums but they seem to lead nowhere. Can anyone help please?

Report · Jan 12, 2011

Hi all,

I too am having the same problem - on only one computer in my office of 20 or so computers.

When I attempt to print a document, I get the now infamous error "Document could not be printed" error in reader. Can still print from any other program, but need to use Adobe Reader. I tried it on both versions 9 and now Adobe Reader X, with the same results.

I am running XP Pro completely updated. I have attempted the following:

1.) In the print option, click "advanced" then select to print as image. Still can't print

2.) Save the document onto the computer, open and tried to print. Doesn't work.

3.) Uninstall completely everything with Adobe on it, and reinstalled. Still no go.

The computer prints through another PC that has the printer shared. This setup is the same throughout my office, with no problems for other computers.

Any help would be much appreciated, and I will update if I find anything out.

Thanks,

Richard

Report · Jan 26, 2011

Nullifidian,First check the printer and then try ,otherwise you can either copy to a new file and try it or else you could have install latest version of adobe reader and try it.Still,if the problem rise,you can contact a Adobe professional,for a solution.

Report · Jan 26, 2011

Here is my latest workaround. Since I use Google for my email, I view the document in

Google email. When I have the full page viewing, I right click on the page and print it as a picture. The pain in the A about it is, I have t

o do this for each individual page. Wish Adobe would fix the issue. I even had the problem with a PDF I created from scratch in Adobe Professional.

Report · Jan 26, 2011

Well, I just opened a ticket with Adobe and sent them the file I've been having trouble with. Yet another workaround was, in Acrobat Pro, to "Print to PDF" (!!), then open that document and print. It worked. So the problem for my document is back to multi-layers which are eliminated in both Print as Image and Print to PDF. The same sounds true for the Google fix above.

I had also changed the suspect fonts to Times New Roman, and that didn't fix it.

More later.

George

Report · Jan 27, 2011

Well, this is not getting any easier. Adobe responded:

Thank you for contacting Adobe Technical Support. My Name is Amit. This is in regards to your query posted on the Adobe web support portal regarding an issue with Adobe Acrobat.

We regret to inform you that we would be unable to suppoer your request as ArcGIS mapping software is not in the list of our supported softwares. I would request you to please contact ArcGIS about the problem <(>&<)> they might hwlp you.

We regret the inconvenience caused.

I don't think they really regret the inconvenience. They didn't even investigate to determine if the file I sent them was caused by a problem with the ArcGIS PDF engine or with Acrobat.

But I did make some progress in another workaround and some clues, though not sure how many people it might help.

ArcGIS offers the option to Export to PDF and then converts the map layers to a PDF layered document. When I tell it to export multiple pages to a single file, I get the error on print discussed here. However, if I choose to print each page as a single file, I do not get the print error in Acrobat 10 nor do I get it when I highlight all the individual PDF files and choose "combine into one file" -- the newly combined file also prints fine.

And, when I choose the same map set in ArcGIS and instead of using the Export function choose FILE ==> PRINT ==> PDF (instead of a printer), it again will print fine on opening in Acrobat Pro 10.

When you open Properties in each set and look at Advanced: PDF Producer, you get different producers for each. I don't know what this means, but it seems to be relevant. The maps that don't print show the PDF Producer as Adobe PDF Library 9.0 -- this is apparently the engine within ArcGIS.

When, within ArcGIS, I choose Print to individual files (which is ultimately error free and prints) there is nothing shown in the PDF Producer space.

When, within ArcGIS, I choos Print ==> Adobe PDF (which is also error free and prints) it shows as Acrobat Distiller 10.0.0 (windows).

So I guess it would be useful for people having this problem to find out what the PDF Producer is and whether there's a relationship there.

Workarounds to try, then, are to print to PDF from the original software creating the PDF and see if that helps. Probably not too many programs have a specific Export to PDF such as ArcGIS does, but if so, export as individual files then recombine them as a single document.

I was able to contact a programmer at ESRI (makers of ArcGIS) and she's going to explore the problem from their side further.

George

Report · Jan 31, 2011

I was having this problem. I downloaded a freeware pdf unlocker and used it and resolved my issue. http://dailyfreeware.net/2007/05/15/freeware-pdf-unlocker-v104-2/

Report · Mar 17, 2011

I had the exact same issue printing an Adobe PDF Form we had created using Acrobat X. However it was only for this form, other PDF printed fine.

Symptom when trying to print this PDF:

"The document could not be printed."

and then

"There were no pages selected to print."

Resolution: As I said this is our own software and we created the PDF with Acrobat X. The developer was asked to make an ammendment to an existing PDF Form. He copied and pasted from Word on to the document. Apparently this also copied some hidden characters with it, the PDF looked fine in Reader and looked fine in his version of Acrobat X. However when I opened the PDF in my copy of Acrobat, there were obvious "gobbledy gook" characters (techincal term there) I had him delete the two blocks or text he had altered, copy the text from word to notepad and then paste the block of text into the PDF. Now it generates fine.

I know this doesn't directly help any of you who are using software that is using Adobe PDFs, however if you don't get the above symptoms on ALL pdf's, only on some, then the issue lies with the 3rd Party Software company. You could possibly point them to the above resolutoin that worked for my company.

Thanks,

Tim Cunningham

Adobe Community Champion

Report · Mar 18, 2011

Ok, Now my ire is up...As an end user, I hate when the end user

is made into a football and punted between in this case Adobe and a "3rd Party Vendor."

Sorry, that doesn't play with me. I created a document with Adobe and immediately after saving the document with

Adobe which CREATED the document, I got the error. So to blame this on a 3rd party vendor, I say bull sh*

t"

Report · Mar 18, 2011

You can say whatever you like, Dr Phil, it doesn't change the fact that I *AM* a 3rd party vendor and in the case I mentioned above, this issue *WAS* caused by me. My company however cleans up it's own mess rather than passing the buck to Adobe. Your case may be different, I was just sharing my experience and how I resolved the issue.

Did you create the PDF in question with Acrobat X?

Did you convert it from another document using the Adobe Print Driver?

If you can share the PDF with me I would be glad to take a look at it.

Thanks,

Tim Cunningham

Adobe Community Champion

Report · Mar 18, 2011

Hi Tim, thanks for responding.

I fail to see how this could be anything other than an Adobe problem. I have intermittent issues to this day with the "could not be printed" error, and it is NOT "all" documents, and there are NO 3rd party softwares in play, unless you count the OS that my CS5/Acrobat 9 install is using to access the hardware it is running on.

But then, the OS isn't exactly "3rd party" is it?

One specific example I remember from last year involved a PDF that was created by InDesign, using no fonts at all, only "outline" text, and a handful of PSD files on each page.

Acrobat 9 refused to print it, and Apple's Preview printed it (although it obviously rasterized it at some point on the way to the printer, because the vector shapes of the "font" were slightly softer than they would have been otherwise.)

I would much rather you guys say "Bugger. We don't know." than "3rd party software problem, go away."

Report · Mar 18, 2011

I agree with Ben here. This is obviously a fairly common problem. While it's true that third party software may be the source, for the average user to try to troubleshoot the problem after being dismissed by Adobe is monumentally irritating. There seems to be some sort of common link with strange and hidden font characters -- perhaps created by 3rd party software of many types -- getting into a PDF then glitching. But that's what Adobe reader & Pro are! They're suupposed to take and print PDF files as well as be able to edit and comment etc. A huge percent of the documents those programs use are created OUTSIDE of the Adobe program and Adobe needs to make it so the user can understand and fix the problem -- preferably from within Adobe, not some murky and unhelpful error message. At the very least, Adobe should examine the problem and know enough to suggest a solution to the end user. "Yes, we've seen that problem before. It is most likely caused by your 3rd party software creating the PDF and if you do this (or look for this) it should clear up the problem. Thank you for contacting Adobe."

The 3rd party people don't know much about PDF and can't really help. They just put whatever the PDF engine in (an Adobe product). How is this really their problem?? Especially if it's something about the PDF engine they're using??

A followup on my earlier post of our workgroup's problem: Memory is hazy, but we did trace it to some gibberish characters in a pre-conversion font command, I think.Had to go into the script that set the font.

George

Report · Mar 18, 2011

Ben,

To be clear, although I have the honorary title "Adobe Community Champion" I am not an Adobe employee.. just a user like you guys.. admittedly I am an Adobe fanboy, as I make my living via Adobe ColdFusion Programming.

My issue sounds very different from yours Ben. I have never had this issue till my developer corrupted the PDF. I read through all the posts on this thread. The post by acroxfor30days987 rang a bell with me, so I investigated there and it paid off.

It sounds to me that the symptoms may have multiple root causes. I have logged a Bug Report Form to Adobe and referenced this thread. I agree that Acrobat should not let me as a 3rd Party break the printing function of a PDF, but 3rd Party vendors like my company also need to be aware of this issue too, so we don't aggravate our customers.

Thanks,

Tim Cunningham

Adobe Community Champion

Report · Jun 20, 2011

In Adobe Reader 9 there is an option in the Help menu called "Repair Adobe Reader installation".

I had the same issue and this fixed it.

Report · Jun 20, 2011

These pdfs must be corrupt files. Try downloading from a different source if possible.

Report · Jun 20, 2011

Most of the problem experiences referenced in this thread are with files created on the afflicted computer using another Adobe product, such as InDesign or Illustrator. You can't download a corrupt file if you aren't downloading a file in the first place.

Report · Jul 25, 2011

I cannot believe that this thread lasted for 2 years without a solution:

Three options:

If you're using Windows 7 (and possibly a Canon printer) you need to open Adobe and select "Help" > then "Repair Adobe Reader Installation". Make sure you printers are connected when you carry out this process. Carry out this process each time your Adobe Reader updates.

This should fix your woes.

Alternatively, (does not work all the time) select "Help" > then click on "Check Updates" (if any).

As a last resort, right click on your Adobe shortcut > select "Properties" > then "Compatibility" and specify your Windows/Mac version. Go back to "Help" and check updates.

However, the first option should work if you're using Windows 7.

Report · Jul 26, 2011

PDFGenius wrote:
I cannot believe that this thread lasted for 2 years without a solution:
Three options:
If you're using Windows 7 (and possibly a Canon printer) you need to open Adobe and select "Help" > then "Repair Adobe Reader Installation". Make sure you printers are connected when you carry out this process. Carry out this process each time your Adobe Reader updates.
This should fix your woes.
Alternatively, (does not work all the time) select "Help" > then click on "Check Updates" (if any).
As a last resort, right click on your Adobe shortcut > select "Properties" > then "Compatibility" and specify your Windows/Mac version. Go back to "Help" and check updates.
However, the first option should work if you're using Windows 7.

Thnak you very much, this was solving my problem! (The same as discussed below) !

Costa

Fahrradteile & Bike Parts

Report · Jul 29, 2011

Dear PDF Genius,

As someone with very limited computer skills, I was happy to try this simple solution and even happier when it worked!

My problem was different from many of the others in that I never received any error messages when trying to print the forms. I could see the completed form, however, it printed a blank page. When I tried to save as an .xps file, it too was blank.

I did the "Help" > then "Repair Adobe Reader Installation".

Also checked for updates (there were some) so after they installed, I did the repair again.

I went to the online .pdf forms I've been trying to print (the kind with fill-in fields that can't be saved) and it printed the actual document, not just a blank page.

This was really bugging me - thanks for the help!

Report · Aug 05, 2011

I was able to resolve this on my Win 7 64-bit system. Here are the details:

1. I use a network printer which is attached to another Windows 7 PC.

2. I connected to the remote Windows 7 PC using Explorer. This required me to authenticate on the remote PC. Basically, I browsed the shares (without connecting to them) on the remote PC.

3. I opened the PDF using Adobe and was able to print.

It appears that the "No pages were selected to print" message is a generic error message that is displayed for multiple error conditions. In other words, it's a catch-all error message. What makes it so problematic is it misleads people into thinking there is a document or application error when there is an underlying network error which has nothing to do with the Adobe or the PDF.

Report · Aug 05, 2011

Could you speculate on what" there is an underlying network error" kind of network error?

Report · Nov 02, 2011

What worked for me is removing the printers through Windows and then re-adding them. The Adobe Acrobat print message was mis-leading. Our network printers had been renamed and Windows didn't get the info. Removing and re-adding the network printers was the solution, as was mentioned in other comments here. Thanks!

Report · Nov 12, 2011

I updated to Adobe Reader 10 and now my PDFs won't print - any of them - so I feel comfortable that they are not corrupt. I have a couple of questions....

When I installed Adobe 10, why didn't Adobe 8 "go away"? I still have the Adobe Reader 8 file and my PDF properties says it is using the 8. Shouldn't all of that have changed to the 10?

I lwas ooking into the Adobe 10 folder to see if I could find something to direct my files to open with and couldn't find anything that looked like it would do the job.

It seems as though there are a lot of "solutions" in this thread but I don't want to do these until I know what the deal is with the 8 vs 10 folders being on my computer. I also don't want to add an extra program that forces it to work unless I've no other option.

Thanks in advance for any direction on this....

Report · Nov 12, 2011

This is not at all abig deal !

First, check the problematic objects not dispalayed correctly in the adobe reader then go to Illustrator and expand them before printing. Effects like gradient can be the cause. Inspect each and every object or text until you get the PDF correctly.

Report · Nov 12, 2011

no offense, but you should read the thread before you make blanket statements like that. if it was a "problematic object" then people wouldn't be having trouble printing documents that had always printed in the past when they upgrade Acrobat, or they wouldn't be able to print them on another machine (which they often can), or it wouldn't print without issue using 3rd party software (which it often does).

The problem is the acrobat engine, because people with both Reader and Acrobat Pro of versions ranging from 8 to X have reported this same problem in a variety of scenarios with all manner of files, many times files generated with PDF-X compliance that will rip to a sensitive press, but won't print on a local machine. Mac and PC. Reader and Pro. v. 8, 9, and X. PDFs from Photoshop, Illustrator, MS Word, and InDesign. The only constant is Acrobat.

Report · Aug 19, 2011

All of these answers are complete hogwash. I've tried every single one of them. This whole problem for me began last week when another person in the office couldn't print a particular PDF. I ended up having the same problem.

I don't have any network problems and no problems printing any other kind of document to my printer. The problem is Adobe, and a bug in their program. This is infuriating. Makes me never want to use an Adobe product again.