FM 2022 does not install the "headless" Distiller?

[Be.eM]

Hi all,

I've just installed FM 2022 (currently using the test version) on a new PC (without any other Adobe SW). When trying to set up the publishing options, there are no PDF options to set, and there's no Distiller/Adobe printer installed in the system. Trying to publish any file to PDF leads to an error message about the "Distiller printer instance is not found"

Has this changed from previous versions, or is this an installer error? How to add the usual FM headless Distiller, if the installer doesn't even offer this option? Do I have to manually unzip and install it from the installer files?

Bernd

[Winfried Reng]

Hi Bernd,

OK. I have installed FrameMaker on a PC with Acrobat and FrameMaker 2020. Therefore I do not know what happens, when I install on a new PC without any of the other software.

FM 2022 does not need the headless Distiller, as it has its own PDF engine.

Still I think that FM 2022 needs the Adobe PDF printer. When this is not installed, I would try to get it added. Here are some threads about this:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/framemaker-discussions/adobe-pdf-printer-not-being-installed/m-p/1472...

https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/kb/add-pdf-printer-manually.html

https://community.adobe.com/t5/framemaker-discussions/adobe-pdf-printer-lost-after-uninstalling-fm20...

Best regards, Winfried

[Be.eM]

Hi Winfried,

thanks for your response. Yes, I'd need the PDF Printer for getting the PDF options required for any PDF *.sts file.

However, the link for manually installing the PDF printer is obviously outdated. It refers to a 32-bit version of the PDF printer instance, which is definitely not installed on my PC. So the referenced files including the printer port "Document\*.pdf" don't exist on my PC.

Next, I tried to install the PDF printer from the installer files ("distiller.zip"), but I get the error message that the 64-bit version of Adobe Distiller is already installed. Huh? It obviously isn't, althouth there are several files in the "Programme/Acrobat DC" (program files) folder. But I'm not sure if this has been installed from the Adobe Reader installation.

Installing the full Acrobat version from the cloud is not an option, because it's not included in a FrameMaker license.

I simply need FrameMaker to create PDFs, but it doesn't.

Any other suggestions?

Bernd

[Winfried Reng]

You could install a test version of Acrobat. And then de-install it. (I would guess that the PDF printer will not be removed.)

[Be.eM · Accepted solution]

I got it solved.

I found it confusing that the FrameMaker Distiller installer insisted in an already existing 64-bit Acrobat version. The only 64-bit Acrobat I had was the Reader, which doesn't provide a PDF printer instance. So I uninstalled everything, FrameMaker and the Adobe Reader, and started from scratch. This time I installed FrameMaker first, and surprise, surprise... after installation there was an Adobe PDF printer.

I opened FrameMaker and an *.sts file, and was able to set it up correctly, the standard PDF options (High Quality Print etc.) were available. I was also able to save to PDF now. Afterwards I installed Adobe Reader again, and this time it did not mess with FrameMaker or the PDF printer, everything is still working.

So the solution to the problem in short words: Make sure you don't have any Acrobat app on your PC when installing FrameMaker (except a "real" Acrobat Pro, of course), because the FrameMaker installer mistakes an existing Reader for a full Acrobat 64-bit installation. If you need the Reader, install it after FrameMaker.

Bernd