Inspiring

Answered

Latest Acrobat Reader 24.002.21005 prints BARCODES BLURRED BLURRY!?!

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
August 14, 2024
6 replies
6830 views

Does anybody else experience this issue? I'm using the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 24.002.21005) to open and print shipping labels generated by Canada Post as PDFs which include a shipping BARCODE. On every printer I have (HP laserjet and Brother lasers) the BARCODE prints BLURRED (BLURRY)! I downloaded PDF24, and it prints the barcode just fine -- crystal clear! I discovered this when my local post-office said they can't scan my shipping labels any more because the BARCODE is BLURRY! So it's not my Windows 11 PC or Windows fonts (nothing has changed recently on those that I'm aware of), and it's not my printers, because they print the barcode crystal clear from the PDF24 application.

Do I need to download and install some barcode font file from Adobe?

I hope somebody from Adobe can help, because it's useless trying to contact Adobe support!

Correct answer KMSDatasystemsInc

Well! It looks like Adobe has FINALLY FIXED the BARCODE PRINTING ISSUE! I updated my Acrobat to the latest version: 2025.001.20623, and low and behold: it prints the barcodes correctly. Whew!

No thanks to Adobe for TAKING MORE THAN a WHOLE YEAR to FIX THIS BUG. SHEESH!!!

But it's now TOO LATE FOR ADOBE, as I've switched to using PDF24 for EVERYTHING to do with PDFs : reading and creating and merging PDFs. Bye Bye Adobe!!! Good Riddance!!!

S

Sijia36516820w5tt

Participant

Just adding a datapoint - using Adobe Acrobat Pro 2024.003.20180 64-bit / Brother laser printer and experiencing the same issue with Canada Post shipping label. They re-routed my package because they couldn't scan. Printing as image gives a temporary fix but please prioritize this because I think it's affecting a lot of people.

K

KMSDatasystemsIncAuthor

Inspiring

Adobe has to be one of the WORST software companies on the PLANET!!! I reported this BUG way back mid-August, and even with two Adobe employees (mere minions) responding and acknowledging by reproducing the BUG. NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE! And this BUG existed at least a MONTH or MORE before I reported it! So 4+ months later and NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE. This BUG affects ALL of CANADA POST and the USPS for barcode label printing, and them NOT being ABLE TO SCAN the BLURRY BARCODES! SHEESH!!!

With my 40+ years in the software and IT business, until Adobe wakes up and fixes this BUG, I highly recommend using ANY PDF Reader other than Acrobat!!!

C

christian_4152

Participant

Hi,

In case you still don't have a solution to your problem, the only way that works for me is to select "Print as image", in the "Advanced" section of the Print prompt. I included screenshots.

Hope this helps!

K

KMSDatasystemsIncAuthor

Inspiring

OK, yes, the Advanced->Print as Image works! BUT -- I shouldn't have to do that! I've NEVER had to "Print as Image"., and I think the majority of Acrobat users won't know to do that either. Adobe development needs to FIX and RESOLVE this BLURRY BARCODE PRINTING ISSUE PRONTO!!! SHEESH!!! 😞

In the meantime, I'm very happy using PDF24, which is FREE, and PRINTS BARCODES CLEARLY AND CORRECTLY - and is FASTER than Acrobat TOO!

A

abhisi

Adobe Employee

Hi KMSDatasystemsInc,

Sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.

I tried the workflow on the same version of Adobe Acrobat Reader with the help of the file shared by you and
issue is not reproducible at my end.

Could you please provide the following information:

1. Did you try on any other Windows machine. If not, then could you please try it with any other machine and share the observation here.

2. Could you please reinstall Acrobat Reader and check again.
3. Is the issue happening every time, or is it happening intermittently.
4. Is it happening with any specific file or with every PDF file having the barcode.

Thanks,
Abhishek Ranjan Singh

K

KMSDatasystemsIncAuthor

Inspiring

That's strange, because other people are having the same problem from completely different machines/companies.

Answers to your questions:

1. Did you try on any other Windows machine? If not, then could you please try it with any other machine and share the observation here. YES, I get the same results from EVERY Windows machine in our company, printing to ANY laser printer.
2. Could you please check the quantity of the ink in the printer. LOTS of Ink in the toner cartridges on ALL printers.
3. Could you please reinstall Acrobat Reader and check again. I shouldn't have to do that. But I did, and I get the same result: BLURRY BARCODES. I even tried the latest 64-bit version as downloaded from get.adobe.com, but get the same results as the 32-bit version. I also tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Acrobat Reader app from another Windows machine. Same result.
4. Has the problem started happening recently, or has it been going on for a while. Yes, this problem started perhaps within the last few weeks or a month.
5. Is the issue happening every time, or is it happening intermittently. This happens with EVERY PDF containing a BARCODE. I generate PDFs as shipping labels with BARCODES from Canada Post's website. As I mentioned, the exact same PDFs will print barcodes crystal-clear from the FREE PDF24 program (and other competing PDF reader programs).
6. It will be great if the customer provides a video of the bug that’s happening at their end. N/A.
7. Is it happening with any specific file or with every PDF file having the barcode. PDFs without barcodes print clearly for me. It's only the barcodes themselves within the PDFs that print blurry.

Thanks.

A

angela_9865

Participant

The new version of Adobe has also caused a font issue at my company. Fonts are overlapping for Solidworks drawings that were converted to PDFs. These drawings will open on all older versions of Adobe, but when the new version installs it only works on a few computers. Most users have the overlapping text. We have checked Windows versions and there is no coorelation with which ones have the overlapping text and which do not. Some of the PCs are Windows 11, most are Windows 10.

JR Boulay

Community Expert

[MOVED TO THE ACROBAT READER DISCUSSIONS]

Acrobate du PDF, InDesigner et Photoshopographe

K

KMSDatasystemsIncAuthor

Inspiring

What was JR Boulay's post as a reply to my original post? It says "moved to the Acrobat Reader Discussions".

S

shaktikeshri

Adobe Employee

It's just the discussion has been moved to the right channel in community. It is an Adobe Acrobat Reader issues hence moved to the acrobat reader discussions. Thanks, for the testfiles. Will get it investigated at my end and update you with next steps.

S

shaktikeshri

Adobe Employee

Hi @KMSDatasystemsInc

Sorry for the incovnience caused to you.

Is it recent problem with Adobe Acrobat Reader you are encountering? Like when was last time it worked fine from Adobe Acrobat Reader as well?
Please share a sample document in which issue is being reproducible.

Thanks,

Shakti K

K

KMSDatasystemsIncAuthor

Inspiring

Yes, when I spoke with my local Canada Post office yesterday, they said they're getting blurry barcodes from other customers too -- for the past 2-3 weeks! So it's not just my version of Adobe Acrobat Reader! See the example files here in my secure OneDrive folder at this link (NOT a virus link!): Adobe_Reader_Prints_Blurry_Barcodes

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