"A drawing error occurred" Error

[ekangal]

Hi,

When we open with Adobe Acrobat Reader DC the pdf file, we get "A drawing error occurred" error.  But in Adobe Acrobat Reader XL we do not get this error. Our client is having trouble updating all its software. What should we do in this case? Is there an option other than going back to the old slingshot? Why does not the old pdf format support the new version?

Thank you, Good Works ...

[geoffreyh101]

We're also seeing the same thing at an enterprise level.  Running newest version of reader, but seeing Memory error and drawing error.  Machines impacted are all Windows 10 1803. We have 1703's and 1709's that are functioning perfectly.  Error happens with extreme frequency across multiple machines.

Please advise.

[AlexUrbRad]

Good Day

I've recently had a similar problem, black box instead of a mouse cursor and unable to open any pdf files due to "A drawing error occured".

What helped me is deleting the DC folder in C:\Users\*yourusername*\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat and letting adobe reader rebuild it.

I did try just deleting  IconCacheRdr.dat

but that didnt work.

Just posting this in case someone else comes across this issue.

Windows 10 build 17134

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC File Version : 18.011.20058.33888

[Beto G.]

I am experiencing this issue after the lastest Acrobat DC release.  Deleting the DC folder in AppData solved the issue for me!

[XML1979]

I'm experiencing this issue with Acrobat 2020 but there is no DC folder in that path (proboably because not a DC version)

[Ilias239141851cpz]

Worked for me. Thanks!

[llburt]

I am having the same issue with the drawing error and unable to open pdf's in acrobat reader dc 18.011.20063.

I have checked for updates, but do not need them.  I downloaded the patch from your website to no avail.

The pdf's are created on Corel Draw X8. Other pdf viewers open the files without any problem.

I had no problems prior to the latest version of acrobat reader.

How can this be solved as I am trying to send out Church newsletters to many people who cannot use adobe for this.

[AlexUrbRad]

Have you tried deleting the folder :C:\Users\*yourusername*\AppData\Local\Adobe\Acrobat ?

[geoffreyh101]

Here are some observations and potential work-arounds (I say 'potential' because while our initial results have been good, who knows if the error will come back later).

Observations:

1) this problem seems to primarily impact PDFs with larger images (scanned or otherwise)

2) this problem seems to occur more frequently in the Adobe Internet Explorer Add-in

3) this problem seems to occur more frequently in the 32 bit version of Internet Explorer

4) this problem seems to occur more frequently if the user account is a Standard User (not administrative)

We ran Procmon against the Adobe Reader IE Add-on and saw the following:

-An Adobe based executable called RdrCEF.exe ("C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\AcroCEF\RdrCEF.exe") attempts to write files to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat Reader DC\Reader\WebResources\Resource0" and seems unable to do so when user is Standard User. These RdrCEF.exe write errors disappear when running as administrator.

Potential Workarounds:

-We think that we are seeing a decrease in the "low memory" and "drawing" errors when running the 64bit version in Internet Explorer.

-Although this is not viable for our environment, we suspect that running Internet Explorer as administrator would yield positive results

-Disabling the Adobe IE Add-in also seems to showing positive results in our test group (this solution has had the best impact so far)

[andrewa70076159]

These drawing error messages are generated due to the document representing an image. A work around for these pdf's is to select the print icon. Select "Advanced" to the right of the "Printer" and "Properties", and then select the "Print As Image" option, then choose "OK". Document will then print without the "A drawing error occurred" message.

[XML1979]

Having ther same error but when go to "Advanced" to print the "Print As Image" option cannot be selected.  It is grayed out.   Working with Acrobat 2020 under Win 11. 

[calmuhl]

I am getting this exact thing happening since last Thrusday, 1.21.21.  I have checked for updates, but found none, tried the work around and it does work partially.  Is there any fixes that I cannot find?

[richard5E40]

I am also getting this as of the past few days (today is 9 August 2021).  Message 'a drawing error occurred', in Adobe Acrobat Pro (not DC, i bought the single-download version).  I do not have many PDFs open and have a powerful (new) laptop - intel i7 with plenty of RAM. So this must be a glitch in the software. Please produce an Update to sort it Adobe. (suprising this is still happening 3 years after first reports earlier in this thread!)

[XML1979]

Still happening now in Dec. 2022 and purchased the full and very expensive single download version in July 2022.   I have no work around as Acrobat does not let me select teh "Print As Image" option.

[defaultb7ltw8ur05ce]

I've been using Adobe acrobat DC (which I pay $15.00/month) for over a year now and all of a sudden I can't use it.  Any pdf I try to open (from other sources and PDFs I have created) just crashes the whole program.  I get a drawing error and then it shuts down.  I spent 5 hours yesterday going through troubleshooting I found online and NOTHING works.  I've uninstalled and reinstalled.  Im not tech savvy but I can read and follow directions.  Since I can't spend another 5 hours wasted on this issue I guess I'm just going to have to cxl my subscription and figure out something else.  This is ridiculous.  I have a simple windows computer that is maybe 2-3 yrs old and I don't do much on it except create and access word, excel, and pdf documents.  

[defaultb2p8sexwf1kl]

Hi - I am having the same problem as of 23rd Septebmer 2021.  It just appeared out of nowhere.  I am not too sure what to do or how to fix this either. 

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out and sorry for the trouble.

Could you please share more details about the issue? What is the workflow that result in the error message?

It would be helpful if you can share a video and the screenshot of the error message.

Share the application and OS version on the machine.

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[defaultsnx614m206m8]

Not sure how many screens you are using, but I unpluged my 3rd screen and noticed issues that you mention have gone away... for now.   Some basic laptops can only handle so much graphics at one time, unless you have a computer/laptop that has a gaming style graphics card.  I'm not a computer expert, but figured my laptop was having issues processing all graphics at once.  I thinking you could also try closing other programs that might be running in concert.

[Erik25884589g1d1]

This error is still occurring in 2022 with Adobe Reader DC 22.002.20191.

The only fix that works for us is to restart Adobe Reader (which suggests that the problem is not with a given file, but with the application), and then one will get a day or two of correct operation before the problem recurs with a random file.

This issue seems to be associated with printing errors where Adobe will report it is unable to print the file, yet it sends the correct number of blank pages to the printer.

Another fix is to use a non-Adobe application to open the pdf. This solves both the rendering and printing issue.

[JOHN22499981b4y2]

THis is also happening for multiple users on Adobe Acrobat Reader DC 2022.002.20191 | 64bit

[Keith27021801kq6s]

Yep - this is still happening (and has been for a while) for ours as well (Adobe Acrobat Pro 22.003.20263.0). We have all updates but restarting seems to be the only fix. Very inconvenient and shouldn't still be happening for a paid service - please fix.

[MeenakshiNegi]

Hi Keith27021801kq6s,

Thank you for reaching out.

This seems to be a weird behavior. Would you mind sharing more details on what happens on your end?

Share the complete workflow you do that results in the error message.

Did this start appearing after the recent update?

What is the OS version on the machine?

Thanks,

Meenakshi

[XML1979]

Hi MeenakshiNegi

I'm having the same issue but with the single-download Acrobat 2020 version running on Win 11.

It doesn't seem so much like a weird problem but a perennial one as this thread goes back to 2018.

I can quickly recap here but started a seperate thread, just not sure how to link to it.

In short any pdf I create with Acrobat 2020, even if just a resave of another pdf or a blank page gives this error.  But other pdfs print fine, for example if downloaded or the ones created with Acrobat XI on my Win 8.1 computer. 

Willing to try deleting a file in the AppData path as discussed above, but would like more official guidance as my paths don't line up with the DC users, that is I have no DC folder.

Restarting does not fix, and the "Print As Image" option is not selectable.