Selected PDF Job Option doesn't exist...

[Ooops! Clicked Yes to Was this helpful? for my own original post. Not intentional.]

OK, I think everything is resolved. I can now generate a .ps file and distill it without any problems. Things that worked for me were:

1. Uninstalled both Framemaker 11 and Acrobat 11.

2. Searched for and removed any lingering Job Options (my own custom ones in various locations).

3. Reinstalled Acrobat 11, then Framemaker 11.

4. Installed Frame patches/updates.

5. Opened the Standard Job Options with Distiller, did a Save As to create a new one, accepted the default location, then edited those options to match my old ones from Frame/Acrobat 7.

6. Made sure to disable the "Rely on system fonts only; do not use document fonts" setting in my Print Setup for Adobe PDF printer.

Now I see my custom Job Options listed in the various drop-downs in Frame and Acrobat, and can "print" and distill using them.

Noted that the default location that Acrobat/Distiller saves custom files in on Windows 7 is:

     C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\AdobePDF\Settings

I have not tried just putting a Job Option file in that location again since resinstalling. Doing so before didn't work for me but maybe it would now. Saving a custom Job Option there via Distiller did work now.

Thank you for all of the great tips and endurance! Glad to be up and running for now.

This is an appropriate forum. The message derives from FM11 and I have had many examples of it.

An additional note: If you installed the PDF Creation Add-on that comes with FrameMaker AND Acrobat, you probably have a damaged PDF creation capability. The two are not compatible. If that is the case, you will have to uninstall FM, its PDF Creation Add-on, and Acrobat. Then reinstall Acrobat and FM without the add-on to fix things.

I had this same dilemma a while back. Storage locations of .joboptions files vary by Acrobat version and OS. Even then, there are multiple locations. The location you quoted in your original message seems to be a location that Acrobat stores master copies of default .joboptions, but doesn't actually read from. Anyway, every time I set up a new computer, it seemed like I had to research where to put my old .joboptions files. So I took notes! Here they are, largely quoted from various parts of Adobe help files:

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New PDF presets (.joboptions files) that you create are stored in the Settings folder in the following locations:

Windows XP:

Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Adobe\[Version]\Adobe PDF

    Use "All Users" to make presets available to everyone. Try to keep only Adobe presets with RAH attribute (unchangeable) in this folder. Keep custom presets in individual user folders.

Windows Vista:

Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\InDesign\[Version]\Adobe PDF

    Use "Public" to make presets available to everyone. Try to keep only Adobe presets with RAH attribute (unchangeable) in this folder. Keep custom presets in individual user folders.

Windows 7:

C:\Users\All Users\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings  (program default settings)

C:\Users\All Users\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Extras  (additional settings available, if moved to Settings)

C:\Users\Mike\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings  (custom user settings)

Mac OS:

[username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF

These presets automatically appear in the Adobe PDF Presets menu.

NOTE: PDFX4 presets do not show in Distiller because they contain features not supported in PostScript. These presets are useable, however, by Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. You can also use Acrobat Preflight to convert files to PDFX4 compliance.

Supplementary InDesign PDF presets are installed in the Adobe PDF\Extras folder. Use your system search utility to locate additional .joboptions files. You may also receive custom PDF presets from service providers and colleagues. For these presets to be listed in the Adobe PDF Presets menu, they must be moved to the Settings folder either manually or by using the Load command.

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Adobe PDF presets

A PDF preset is a group of settings that affect the process of creating a PDF. These settings are designed to balance file size with quality, depending on how the PDF are used. Most predefined presets are shared across Adobe Creative Suite applications, including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Acrobat. You can also create and share custom presets for your unique output requirements. A saved PDF preset file has the suffix .joboptions.

A few of the following presets are not available until you move them from the Extras folder (where they installed by default) to the Settings folder for custom settings.

Typically, the Extras and Settings folders for default settings are found in (Windows) Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/Adobe/Adobe PDF, (Vista) ProgramData/Adobe/Adobe PDF, or (Mac OS) Library/Application Support/Adobe PDF. The default settings files installed with Distiller are Read Only and Hidden.

The custom settings are found in (Windows) Documents and Settings/[username]/Application Data/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings, (Vista) Users/[username]/AppData/Roaming/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings, or (Mac OS) Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe PDF/Settings.

==

Some presets are not available in some Creative Suite applications.

Review your PDF settings periodically. The settings do not automatically revert to the default settings. Applications and utilities that create PDFs use the last set of PDF settings defined or selected.

High Quality Print

    Creates PDFs for quality printing on desktop printers and proofing devices. This preset uses PDF 1.4, downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi. It also embeds subsets of all fonts, leaves color unchanged, and does not flatten transparency (for file types capable of transparency). These PDFs can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.

Oversized Pages

    Creates PDFs suitable for viewing and printing of engineering drawings larger than 200 x 200 in. (508 x 508 cm). These PDFs can be opened in Acrobat and Reader 7.0 and later.

PDF/A-1b: 2005 (CMYK and RGB)

    Used for long-term preservation (archival) of electronic documents. PDF/A-1b uses PDF 1.4 and converts all colors to either CMYK or RGB, depending on which standard you choose. These PDFs can be opened in Acrobat and Reader versions 5.0 and later.

PDF/X-1a (2001 and 2003)

    PDF/X-1a requires all fonts to be embedded, the appropriate PDF bounding boxes to be specified, and color to appear as CMYK, spot colors, or both. Compliant files must contain information describing the printing condition for which they are prepared. PDF files created with PDF/X-1a compliance can be opened in Acrobat 4.0 and Acrobat Reader 4.0 and later.

PDF/X-1a uses PDF 1.3, downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi. It embeds subsets of all fonts, creates untagged PDFs, and flattens transparency using the High Resolution setting.

Note: The PDF/X1-a:2003 and PDF/X-3 (2003) presets are placed on your computer during installation. However, they aren’t available until you move them from the Extras folder to the Settings folder.

PDF/X-4 (2007)

    This preset is based on PDF 1.4, which includes support for live transparency. PDF/X-4 has the same color-management and International Color Consortium (ICC) color specifications as PDF/X-3. You can create PDF/X-4-compliant files directly with Creative Suite 3 applications (Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop). In Acrobat 9, use the Preflight feature to convert PDFs to PDF/X-4 DRAFT.

PDF files created with PDF/X-4 compliance can be opened in Acrobat 7.0 and Reader 7.0 and later.

Press Quality

    Creates PDF files for high-quality print production (for example, for digital printing or for color separations to an imagesetter or platesetter). However, it does not create files that are PDF/X compliant. In this case, the quality of the content is the highest consideration. The objective is to maintain all the information in a PDF file that a commercial printer or print service provider requires to print the document correctly. This set of options uses PDF 1.4, converts colors to CMYK, and downsamples color and grayscale images to 300 ppi and monochrome images to 1200 ppi. It embeds subsets of all fonts and preserves transparency (for file types capable of transparency).

These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat 5.0 and Acrobat Reader 5.0 and later.

Note: Before creating a PDF file to send to a commercial printer or print service provider, find out what output resolution and other settings are required. Or, ask for a .joboptions file with the recommended settings. You sometimes must customize the Adobe PDF settings for a particular provider and then provide a .joboptions file of your own.

Rich Content PDF

    Creates accessible PDF files that include tags, hypertext links, bookmarks, interactive elements, and layers. This set of options uses PDF 1.6 and embeds subsets of all fonts. It also optimizes files for byte serving. These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat and Reader 7.0 and later. (The Rich Content PDF preset is in the Extras folder.)

Note: This preset was called eBook in earlier versions of some applications.

Smallest File Size

    Creates PDF files for displaying on the web or an intranet, or for distribution through an email system. This set of options uses compression, downsampling, and a relatively low image resolution. It converts all colors to sRGB, and (for Adobe Acrobat Distiller-based conversions) does not embed fonts. It also optimizes files for byte serving.

These PDF files can be opened in Acrobat and Reader 6.0 and later.

Standard

    Creates PDF files to be printed to desktop printers or digital copiers, published on a CD, or sent to a client as a publishing proof. This set of options uses compression and downsampling to keep the file size down. However, it also embeds subsets of all (allowed) fonts used in the file, converts all colors to sRGB, and prints to a medium resolution. Windows font subsets are not embedded by default. PDF files created with this settings file can be opened in Acrobat and Reader 6.0 and later.

April,

Try C:\Users\All Users\Adobe\Adobe PDF\Settings for placing your custom joboptions.

FM stores the joboptions for each document as part of the Document Properties which may be different from what is stored in the book.

As with maker.ini, there may be multiple copies of the job options file (system and per-user), and a pecking order for priority.

There's a further concern that newer Distillers may support some options which would not be in a legacy file, and even a chance that some legacy opts have changed or been deleted. Any of these could cause unobvious error messages.

The simplest solution might be just to use the new Acrobat product to re-create the old Job definition(s). That's bound to store the file where it can be found.