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!

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Hmm, I'm always able to import reference and master pages, along with para, character, and other styles into my generated files.

Heck, that's even how "we" used to teach new Fm users to do it.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Yeah, I have done it the same way, too, but always seem to have something missing or maybe a Reference Pages issue that conflicts with something. Since you and I got together the last time, though, we went through the reference pages and I think they should be in great order. Shouldn't take long to import formats.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Well, Matt, after all that, I created a brand new book and the PDF forms are still not working in the book PDF file. Work find the individual sections, though. I have to throw my hands up on this one.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Ok, well at least you can rule out the corrupt book theory.

I'm still leaning toward PDF that isn't up to par (via non-Adobe PDF tools)

But remind me...what version of Fm, and what steps to create the PDF?

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

I have FrameMaker 17.00.226, which is the latest version. I open the book file and do File > Save as PDF from the book file. I do the same thing for section file PDF creation, and the section files display the forms just fine. It is just the book PDF file that doesn't display some of the imported PDF forms. I haven't even figured out why these particular files. I tried moving the files to a higher level folder, thinking it might be server path length related, typically limited to 256 characters for all levels, total.. Nope.

I have also tried creation from File > Publish > PDF. I have tried File > Import > File rather than Import > Image. I have converted the PDF files back to Word and back to PDF, again, thinking it might be a former CorelPerfect creation issue. I have gone through everything I can think of.. I am using Adobe Acrobat Pro that comes with the  TechComm Suite.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Can you do a screen capture of the Publish > PDF Settings in FrameMaker? Thought I would check that too.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Feel free to post your PDF settings, but given the specificity of your issue, my settings won't help much.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

@Matt-Tech Comm Tools - isn't the issue more about where these imported "image PDFs" are coming from & how they are created? I've lost track on any conclusions we reached about them.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Yes, that's where I'm leaning, given the multiple PDF conversions. But anything we can do to narrow down the possible issues might shed light on the actual cause.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

The only thing left I can think of is the book mapping is not working correctly. I assume when FrameMaker maps during the book PDF generation, it has to map everything, including images, PDFs, Bookmarks, etc. Mapping a section works and mapping a book appears not to work. The only other conclusion is to see if there are issues within the section files themselves, but again they convert perfectly by themselves. Just the book file does not convert to PDF with embedded PDFs. May be time to call in the big guns, but I am going to recreate a defective section before I do.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Normally that would be correct, Jeff, but in this case, we have ruled out how the PDFs were created (Word to PDF) and where they are coming from (Documents folder). In general, the PDFs are exactly the same ones created in a known, working book. The PDF files were copied from the Documents folder over to another Documents folder for another book and imported to the new FrameMaker book.

[Winfried Reng]

I do not know, if you had told us, how exactly your missing graphics look like. Is there just empty space? Or are there grey rectangles? Are your graphics pixel graphics or vector?

Very strange.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

The missing graphics are not graphcs, per se. They are forms generated to PDF from Word. In FrameMaker, they are completely in tact. When PDF is generated of the book, the images are nothing but the border and white space. 

 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I'd be really tempted to open up one of those "image PDFs" in Acrobat and create a PNG image file out of it & then import that into a FM doc and see how well it ends up in your output.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Jeff, I have already converted the PDF to .png, and the png images still do not display in the book PDF output.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Ok, that's good to know - the issue must be in the book PDF creation/generation process. If you create a brand new dummy test book with brand new FM files with some random lorsum ipsum text and some plain old png or jpg images in them, does it create PDF ok?

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Jeff, my plan it to recreate one of the smaller sections/chapters from scratch and see if that has any impact. I get a feeling that somewhere in the creation of this book, I may have copied text from another book and pasted into this one. All the formats would, reference pages, master pages, etc. are all exactly the same. Note: I did not copy over any images or PDFs that I am aware of. I am going to take the conquer and divide approach. I am going to recreate the first section with the PDF import issue from scratch, and see if I still have the issue. In other words, I am going to remove all sections and just add one at a time. That might tell me if a section (one or more) is/are causing potential issues with the book file. Again, I think it very odd that every section converts to a PDF file perfectly.

[LinSims]

Let me see if I understand correctly. You're using Word to create forms that you then save to PDF. The PDF generated from Word is correct in that all the forms display.

You then import each PDF into FrameMaker files that are part of a book, and you save the book as a PDF, and when you open this second PDF, all the images that are from PDFs created in Word are blank.

These are perhaps stupid questions, but is there a reason you're importing these forms as PDF images instead of creating them in Frame? (And why are you exporting the resulting PDF book to Word? This sounds like a very convoluted process that could be simplified.)

Are the forms in individual Word files or all in one? If they're all in one, do you print to separate PDFs for each image? Do the forms take up only one page?

Have you tried to import one of these forms from the "creates a blank space in the PDF" files to the "forms show up in the PDF" file to see if the same issue happens? If so, I'd suspect that Word is barfing on the PDF creation, but I don't know why that would happen.

Have you tried doing the divide and conquer routine in case it's only one or two files causing the issue? That's when you save the FrameMaker book into halves to see if one works and one doesn't. And then you keep dividing the files that don't work into halves in the hopes of narrowing down where the problem is happening.

Lastly, do you have to use PDF as the import format? Could screenshot the form in Word or in PDF and save it as a PNG and use that instead? Or export images from the Word-created PDF file to individual JPGs or PNGs before importing those into Frame instead of the PDF images?

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

Let me see if I understand correctly. You're using Word to create forms that you then save to PDF. The PDF generated from Word is correct in that all the forms display. Yes in one book (Book A) all of the Word-convered PDFs display in the Book PDF, and most of these PDFs in the second PDF book (Book B) display, but some don't. The Word docs are converted to PDF by our company store and PDFs are the only output files I receive...and these PDFs have worked 100% in the FM book PDF output for years. This is nothing new.

You then import each PDF into FrameMaker files that are part of a book, and you save the book as a PDF, and when you open this second PDF, all the images that are from PDFs created in Word are blank. No, not all of them, just some of them, and none in Book A, just only a few in Book B.

These are perhaps stupid questions, but is there a reason you're importing these forms as PDF images instead of creating them in Frame? (And why are you exporting the resulting PDF book to Word? The FM book PDF is being exported to Word for track changes. This sounds like a very convoluted process that could be simplified.)

Are the forms in individual Word files or all in one? Individual Word files that are created by our company store, and then converted to PDF. If they're all in one, do you print to separate PDFs for each image? 

They are not all in one document. Do the forms take up only one page? Yes.

Have you tried to import one of these forms from the "creates a blank space in the PDF" files to the "forms show up in the PDF" file to see if the same issue happens? Yes and it doesn't. If so, I'd suspect that Word is barfing on the PDF creation, but I don't know why that would happen.

Have you tried doing the divide and conquer routine in case it's only one or two files causing the issue? That's when you save the FrameMaker book into halves to see if one works and one doesn't. And then you keep dividing the files that don't work into halves in the hopes of narrowing down where the problem is happening. I can try adding sections one-by-one and then remove them one by one to see if there is a particular section causing the issue.

Lastly, do you have to use PDF as the import format? Could screenshot the form in Word or in PDF and save it as a PNG and use that instead? As stated before, I have already tried exporting PDF to .png and tried to install both and got the same problem.. Also converted PDF to image and back. Or export images from the Word-created PDF file to individual JPGs or PNGs before importing those into Frame instead of the PDF images? Didn't work.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

I believe I am going to try a simplied approach. I have a book (Book A) that has the exact same section without the missing images. I am going to pull that section into Book B and see whether the images are still missing. Since I have already created a new book for Book B and impported the troubled section files, I know the book itself is probably good. Now I have to look at sections imported into Book B, despite the fact that each section does have a complete PDF with all images visible.

[LinSims]

I see you have responded to another thread about blank/black PNGs and that you say that the individual files print correctly but that the entire book does not.

I suspect the issue is that the book file, collectively, is too large for your system to handle. How much RAM do you have?

I would suggest that you print each file separately to PDF and then use Acrobat to assemble the book, since each file individually generates properly; however, I'm not sure what that would do to your hyperlinks between files. It's not something I've ever tried.

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

I see you have responded to another thread about blank/black PNGs and that you say that the individual files print correctly but that the entire book does not. Correct that section files convert, but book file does not. The PNGs are not black in the book file PDF. They are white with border (attached in another thread).

I suspect the issue is that the book file, collectively, is too large for your system to handle. How much RAM do you have? I have a book file that is exactly the same and works perfectly. In fact, it is virtually the same book but for another country. Have 16GB of RAM.

I would suggest that you print each file separately to PDF and then use Acrobat to assemble the book, since each file individually generates properly; however, I'm not sure what that would do to your hyperlinks between files. It's not something I've ever tried. It destroys the hyperlinks. Already thought of that as a worksround.

[LinSims]

Hrm. Well, sugar. 

1. Most of the PDFs created for Book B work in either Book A or Book B.

2. Some of the PDFs created for Book B work in Book A but NOT in Book B.

I wonder if Word is introducing something weird in the document structure so that when Word creates those particular PDFs,  something is introduced that disagrees with Adobe's PDF print engine. I don't have anything like the knowledge needed to figure that out. 😞 It's too bad you don't get the Word files instead of the PDFs.

Has anyone worked with Shlomo's TimeSavers plugin? I know it can do something with links, but I don't know if that something would fix cross-file references in an assembled PDF. 

My only other idea I mentioned before: open the form delivered from your company store in Acrobat, then take a screenshot of that and use the saved screenshot instead of the PDF. 

Drat. If and when you find a solution, let us know, please? I hate not knowing the answer to puzzles like this.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

@LinSims - a Fox, a Chicken, and a Bag of Grain are trying to get across a river...🤣

[defaultcbj1p6qywajq]

The Chicken puts the Fox on her back, and the Fox dangles a Grain Feeding Tube in front of the chicken, so all of them get across. lol