Imported PDF Graphics do not display in saved PDF

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

I have several books that import PDF graphics just fine and the graphics display in the file Save As PDF and Export to Word. I have a new book that imports the graphics, just fine, but does not display them in Adobe Acrobat file and obviously not in the Word export file, either. What could be missing?

Thanks!

[Jeff_Coatsworth · Accepted solution]

First inclination would be to check how these new non-working PDFs were created vs. the working ones from before.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

They all originate in Word and are coverted to PDF. I use those PDFs to import into the FrameMaker document. I will take a look at this to ensure that the coverted PDFs are still done in Word, but I really don't see any changes in the methodology.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Same version of Word as before? Using the MS PDF creator or printing to Adobe PDF printer instance?

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Thought I had resolved this issue, but still not resolved. I copied the exact same PDF files from the U.S. manual to the new Canadian book and they still do not display in the Canadian book. Cannot figure out why the same exact PDF graphics in one book will not display in the other when converting the FrameMaker file to PDF. One thing I noticed is that when I create the PDF file name and save it for the Canadian book, the PDF file icon does not display in the folder, which leads me to believe that the FrameMaker conversion tool to PDF is not working properly.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Ok, sorry to get you riled up. I discovered that the PDF graphics files created for this particular book (Canadian Manual) were done in Corel WordPerfect. Must have been an aeon ago. I think that dates the files, doesn't it? lol The U.S. Manual was done in Word. Thanks for your help.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

You haven't mentioned what version of FM you're running - newer ones have changed the engine used to create PDFs (in the Publish route). I'm still not 100% sure why you are using PDFs to bring in graphics - PDFs are usually not thought to be graphic files.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

I am running current version of FrameMaker.17.0.0.226. I am using the Save as PDF in the File menu...whatever that engine is. I am using PDF to bring in graphics because these graphics are forms that are generated online in PDF format. I have never had an issue importing these PDF files into a FrameMaker book as an image before. It has always worked. In fact, it works fine in one book but not the other. They import fine into a chapter file and display in the PDF and Word doc outputs, but will not display when generating an entire book.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Correction. No new PDF conversions of the forms have been done on the US Manual I have since the last update of FrameMaker. This issue didn't start occuring until FrameMaker was updated to 17.0.0.226. When I install the new forms, update the manual, and publish to PDF, FrameMaker crashes almost every time. I am leaning more towards reinstallation of FrameMaker to update the Adobe Acrobat engine, OR, you offer additional information as to why this conversion would crash FrameMaker. I used to be on the beta team in 2017, so I was privy to all of the bugs, but I don't have access to that information anymore. Perhaps you do.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Ok, slightly confused as to what's working and what's not working. Is everything showing in the FM docs (new PDFs and old ones you sucked in before)? If so, then is it only in the PDF output that the old ones work & the new ones don't? If that's the case, have you tried the other methods of creating PDFs out of FM? Like Publish to PDF (uses new engine), Print to Adobe PDF printer instance (old engine), Save as .ps file & Distill outside of FM (old engine).

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Ok, I have two books. One U.S. and the other Canadian, with slight differences in content. Everything is showing in both FM books. All U.S. images convert to PDF and subsequently to Word, just fine. When I opened the Canadian, all PDF images display. When converted through the old Save as PDF, the PDF images display in each chapter file, but when saving as PDF for the entire book, they PDF images in the book do not display after the book PDF conversion. I tried Publish to PDF from the File > Publish menu yesterday, and that did not work. I used the Save as PDF (old engine) and it did not work. Did not try save as .ps and Distill outside of FM. This entire issue did not appear to start until FM was updated to 17.0.0.226. I have not tried to update one of the PDF forms in the U.S. manual, yet, to see if the old engines are not working correctly. As, I said, I have not updated any PDF images in the U.S. manual. Therefore it totally works and was created with the last verion of FM. I will do a couple of additiona tests to see if it is the engine or the FM book. Upon book conversion to PDF, the Canadian manual crashes 80% of the time. The odd thing is that the newly converted file does not appear in it's stored loaction when saved and FM crashes, obviously. I am concerned why FM would even crash during the Save As PDF function (old engine). It appears to be opening the chapters during that conversion, like it should, but during the conversion, FM crashes. I checked to ensure Track Text Editos was not enabled and that no chapter files were locked, then I saved the chapters, and did a File > Save As PDF and crash.

[mk-will]

When trying to make the book PDF did you first open all book components and starting then the saving as PDF? If not please try.

Maybe there is a problem with one chapter file and you get an error message.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Yes, all book components (chapters) were open and the book and chatpers were saved. I just tested again, and found one issue that may be causing the FM crashes. I found that the PDF files were fillable forms (download only) and not for print. Wrong again. I converted the fillable PDF files to print files and FM still crashes. I will check to see if there are any other chapters that have missing PDF images. You may be right. Could be one chapter, only.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Sounds like it's the PDFs at the heart of the problem. If WordPerfect is still available, you might have to reproduce the PDFs, hopefully with an Adobe-provided solution.

PDFs from 3rd party applications might introduce all manner of problems, since their adherence to the PDF ISO standard can vary wildly.

-Matt

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

I am using PDFs generated by TechComm Suite. These PDF images were fine a week or two ago and now they don't display. I am thinkig this may be more of a configuration issue with the FM files themselves. I can import PDFs into another book and produce the book from Save As PDF in the File menu, just fine. There has to be an issue with the FM file itself, as it keeps crashing with this particular book, itself, and not others.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Time to give them a MIF-washing then.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Even more odd is the fact that I can publish individual chapters with File > Save As PDF and the images publish in the PDF output file with no problem. When publishing the entire book, the same images do not display in the book. However, they are only specific PDF images. In the case where they do not display, I only get the border with no image.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

You mentioned that the placed images (those causing the issue) were PDF produced by WordPerfect. 

Use Acrobat prepress tools to look into those PDFs to see what the common factor is (things like color, embedded fonts, other prepress issues) and you should be able to narrow down the problem.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

No, Matt. These files were created in MS Word and converted to PDF...the same manner all of our forms are done. We had some older PDF forms that were done in Corel, but the files discussed here are not Corel. I have done some further research, and it appears the the book file is corrupt. PDF conversion are perfect in another book I have...call it Book A. As Jeff stated, I probably need to do a MIFWash. To test Book B, I copied known good PDF images from Book A. Book A publishes the book PDF and embedded PDF images at 100%. I copied the PDF image files from Book A into Book B (which is crashing), and the PDF images in Book B still don't publish in the book PDF output. NOTE: When publishing individual chapter files from Book B, the PDF images publish and display 100%. When publishing Book B as a book, the PDF images do not display in the book. I will have admin do a MIF Wash and see whether the book file is corrupt.  My bet is that it will be.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Awesome! Then it's probably faster to add the files to a new book than to hunt down "the reason" for the corruption.

Glad you're close to resolving it!

-Matt

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Thanks, Matt! I assume after adding the current chapters back to a new book then I still have to reformat and recreate the generated files. Dang, it's been a while since I did that! lol

Thanks to you and Jeff for the input. I was kind of surprised that the book file got corrupted that bad. Usually, after a crash, I can recover a book (and have dozens of times), but not this time.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

You never know...I'm just happy that Fm is basically crash-free for me. A few years ago, things like PDF on a book file could take hours, and sometimes didn't finish successfully. Speed and stability are really solid in the last few versions.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

One more question to you and.or Jeff. Wouldn't it be easier to recall a known, good book file from our servers? I mean our IT department does backups of files daily, so I would think I could ask them to restore the book file. I maintain copies of the book PDF files, so I should be able to see when the last good publication of the manual occured. Right?

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Perhaps, but I would imagine it only takes a few minutes to create a fresh book. Getting IT to pull archives might be tedious, and will likely take more time than you like.

Recreating any generated files might take a few minutes more, but creating a working book file that PDFs properly should be less than 5 minutes, right?

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Defininately more reliable to create the new book, for sure. Time wise, it is probably quicker to recover the book file. However, I went back three months and the PDF images weren't even displaying then and somehow I missed it...probably because no one asked for the book PDF in several months. Creating the book PDF takes no time, right. I'll just have to spend a fair amount of time redoing the master pages for the generated files and the output formats for Front and Back Matter. Importing formats never seems to work completely for me, but I think you're right. Build the book from scratch and add the chapters back in.