I can't get PDF generation to work in RoboHelp 2020

[danielw51108069]

When I try to generate a PDF, it never finishes. The little progress window doesn't get past the message 'Transforming into PDF Pages...' I can't stop the generation process by clicking the cancel button in the Output Presets panel either, I have to restart RoboHelp to stop it.

Has anyone else had this problem, and how did you solve it?

I'm using RoboHelp 2020.3.32. I installed OpenJDK 11 from AdoptOpenJDK and rebooted.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

That usually means something's not right in your environment - give Support a buzz - see https://helpx.adobe.com/contact/enterprise-support.other.html#robohelp for your support contact options.

[Peter Grainge]

Please see the About RoboHelp sample project and the PDF output topic.

I believe the process is looking for Oracle's Java.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

[danielw51108069]

I don't think I have an 'About RoboHelp' sample project (I can't find it), but I have read the system requirements for PDF generation and that didn't mention Oracle, just JRE 8. That would be a shame if only Oracle's JRE works, I don't know at this point whether my company would pay for it.

[Peter Grainge]

The project is in Documents > My RoboHelp Projects. It should also be on your Starter Page when you open RoboHelp. You can also read it here. PDF Output (grainge.org)

The Oracle version is free. Be careful of any conflict with what you have already set up.

I can't be sure that is the issue as there could be other reasons. Perhaps try to generate a PDF from the sample project as that works with the correct JDK.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

[danielw51108069]

I think my project must have become corrupted somehow, as the Word Document output preset also fails to generate. I just created a new test project with a few topics and both the PDF and Word outputs generated.

Looks like I'll have to create a new project and transfer the content across from the original.

Thanks again for your help, Peter.

[IanB838]

I am having the same issue. Small PDFs will generate without problems. After a certain size, the "Transforming into PDF pages..." message appears and won't go away. It does not generate any output.

I've taken one TOC and split it into two. Each half will generate cleanly. Together, it fails.

I suspect it might be related to a number of large images, so my next step is to resample them all and try again.

I've tried using RoboHelp 2020.2.29 and 2020.3.32.

[Peter Grainge]

There isn't a limit I am aware of. How many pages/images roughly? 

I saw an issue like this many versions back and the issue then was RAM. Could that be an issue here?

Can you share the project? If you can, then see the Contact page on my site and send the project as instructed there. Do make sure you include a link to this thread and please do not email the project direct. I will see what happens when I generate. 

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information

[Sundorne]

Thanks, Peter. I've uploaded a sample project for you. It has 4 topics, 2 images per topic. Big images, though.

It doesn't seem to be a RAM problem. The sample uses between 2-3 GB, then drops to around 1GB and just keeps running with no output.

[Sundorne]

Here's another update. Resizing all the large images solved my problem.

[Peter Grainge]

After asking for the project the image size occurred to me. I see the same even tweaking some settings.

Generally I limit image width to 8 inches / 20 cm to ensure they fit an A4 page without being shrunk further. That way I can use SnagIt to ensure the best size reduction. If that gives an unacceptable result in online outputs I will use two images and tag them for online or print.

________________________________________________________
See www.grainge.org for free Authoring and RoboHelp Information