ARCHIVED: About printing PDF files
On this page:
Creating print-friendly PDF files
Some Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files print more reliably than others. Ironically, the versatility and flexibility of the PDF can make it more difficult, not less, to create a document suitable for general use. The PDF format continues to evolve, and the many different options make it easy to create a PDF file that displays properly on your monitor, but causes problems when you try to print it.
Some PDF files generate corrupt print files that fail to print because the print server rejects them. Others may generate excessively large print files that print very slowly. Still others may print partially, leading to a printer timeout. Sometimes these files cause the printer to continually attempt to reprint the same few pages, which can lead to the printer becoming disabled.
To avoid printing problems, use these guidelines when creating a PDF file:
- Set the page size to Letter (8.5" x 11"): If the page size is set to something other than Letter, your PDF may not print as intended.
- Create PDF files compatible with Acrobat 5: Using
an older version of the PDF format ensures that documents can be
opened and printed reliability on a variety of personal computers, not
only those in the STCs.
Many Adobe software products are available free via IUware for IU students, faculty, and staff under the IU/Adobe License Agreement.
- Keep the resolution below 600 dpi: Using a resolution higher than 300 dots per inch (dpi) produces large file sizes without improving the appearance of graphics on your monitor (typically less than 96 dpi) or when printed (typically 600 dpi).
- Use common fonts when drafting the source document: Fonts such as Times New Roman, Arial, and Helvetica are compatible with most operating systems and printer firmware.
- Embed fonts in the PDF: This is especially
important when using discipline-specific or application-specific
fonts. If you use a custom or uncommon font in your source file,
but do not embed it in the PDF file, another computer or printer may
not be able to find a suitable alternative to the original font.
Note: Some fonts are restricted from document embedding by copyright protection.
- Test the PDF: After creating your PDF file, try printing it before sharing it with its intended recipients.
For more, see ARCHIVED: In the IU STCs and RTCs, what are the printing standards and practices?
Printing PDF files
When you encounter problems with printing, try the following:
- Make sure you're dealing with a local copy; in other words, save the file to your desktop or another folder on your computer. Trying to print a PDF while simultaneously downloading it, under perhaps lagging network conditions, can cause the file to time out and fail to print.
- Set the graphics quality to low. From the properties menu for your printer, usually after clicking , in the Graphics area, you should be able to set the print quality to the lowest possible setting. Most graphics images are much higher resolution than a typical black-and-white printer can reproduce. Only in rare circumstances will changing this setting impact the appearance of your output.
- If the document still doesn't print, try rasterizing it, which
treats each page of a document as an image. You can accomplish this in
one of several ways:
- In Adobe Acrobat's print dialog box, under , select . (The Mac version offers an optional dpi choice; select .)
- In the print dialog box, select as the printer and create another PDF document. This sometimes corrects errors in the original document.
- In the print dialog box (Windows only):
- Select as the printer.
- Click or .
- On the tab, select .
- Click to exit, and then click again to print the document.
- Specify a filename and location for the new file, and again click .
The rasterized document should open in the Microsoft Document Imaging application, and you can print it from there.
- Open and print the PDF document using the GSView application (on PCs, from the PostScript and PDF documents. menu, click , and then ). GSView is a third-party, open-source application that rasterizes
With the correct settings, a well-designed PDF file can produce excellent results. While printing documents in their native file format usually produces the best results, converting other document formats (e.g., PowerPoint, Photoshop, Illustrator) to PDF can often solve unanticipated formatting problems, especially when printing to color devices.
This is document axvx in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 15:59:03.