Why do some laser printers print black blobs in my PDFs?

Report · Jun 10, 2016

I'm suddenly seeing that some laser printers are printing black blobs in PDFs that I create. It seems to be a font issue as the blobs are only in text and look like mutations in the font.

My commercial printer doesn't seem to have problems with the files, and the files print with no problems on ink jet printers. The files also print OK when I use "print as image". That's OK for me, but I need to create files that my clients can print without worries. Is there a setting I'm missing?

Report · Aug 12, 2016

We're having the same issue with one model HP laser printer and DC Reader. We can print the same pdf file with Microsoft Edge to the same printer without any problems. We were using DC Reader version 15.017.20053. I also tried the classic version which did the same thing. We're running Windows 10.

The "Print as image" option as mentioned here seemed to fix the problem. Troubleshoot PDF printing in Adobe Acrobat and Reader

Report · Jan 10, 2017

Hi all,

Adobe Reader official update containing the complete fix for "black streaks while printing" issue is now available. Please update to the latest release by opening the application and going to Help > Check for Updates.

Release notes for today's release are here: http://www.adobe.com/devnet-docs/acrobatetk/tools/ReleaseNotes/DC/dccontinuousjanuary2017. html

Please try it out and let us know your feedback.

Thanks!

-ashu

Report · Jan 24, 2017

What do you mean by black blobs? That sounds a lot like a mechanical problem with the drums or image transfer belts within the machine.

If using "Print as image" is fixing it, there may be a transparency issue or something similar that the printer cannot handle. You may need to flatten the file or change the artwork before generating a pdf.