Save as pdf vs save as postscript

hi,
I see a great difference in my screen between: files saved as pdf and files saved as postscript and then converted into pdf.
My question is:
Does this difference applies when printing?
In other words in order to get the best printing quality (besides of the paper, etc), do I need to save as postscript and then convert to pdf?
Thanks in advance.

That's a good point about lossless and lossy compression.
The real question becomes are you trying to convert vector into raster, or not. If you are, you do lose some information in the process, because vectors are always approximated by raster. While raster regions can have inside and outside topology that is converted into vector polygon of different topology inside and outside, you don't have direction. Vector back to raster you lose the direction of drawing of vectors if they go from point A to point B.
If you did a pure postscript print job, you'll likely gain more information than PDF to postscript or vice versa. A software called Ghostscript I've heard has a much better rendering of postscript prepress than just PDF. Though I've never tried it myself.
http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/

Similar Messages

Save as PDF and Save PDF as PostScript options in the Printer dialog are not supported.

I downloaded Indesign CS3 trial and liked everything about it until I attempted to print to postscript and got that message. Nothing I have tried has helped. I have seen in various forums that others are having the same problem, but haven't found any solution offered. I am running Tiger 10.4.10 on a new Intel Imac with 3G ram. This is a procedure I use very often in my workflow, and have never had this problem with CS2 on my PC or other Macs. Is there a solution? I downloaded the .1 update and installed that and it didn't change anything.

PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME.
Its the first time Im using print booklet option to save my file. I have the same problem when trying to save as pdf and get the
"The Save as PDF and Save PDF as PostScript options in the Printer dialog are not supported."
I'm trying to save a .pdf of a booklet of a facing pages document of A4 size each facing page for a whole size A3, then hope to let the pages be correctly arranged by inDesing, then print and staple.
Meaning pages will be like this - Page #60 left side [of the A3] - page #1 right side [of the A3] , page # 2 right side[of the A3] - page #59 left side[of the A3] etc...
I CANT DO IT. I tried to follow Melvin Thompson , but when I choose save .ps and open it in preview all I see is independent a4 pages and just the left ones , .. How can I save my file as .pdf ready to be printed in a3 ?
I really appreciate any help.

Save as PDF or Save Book As (pdf format) Causes Frame 8 to try to quit after creating PDF

I have Framemaker 8p273 and Acrobat distiller 8.1.3.
When trying to creating PDFs from books using either Save as PDF OR Save Books As (PDF) file, the PDF creates FINE but the program then attempts to quit by throwing up weird dialog boxes.
Steps to reproduce bug:
1.Open any book
2.Use File-->Save as PDF or File-->Save Books As and then choose type PDF
3.PDF created fine - no errors reported in Distiller window
4. Framemaker then throws up a small dialog box that says "cannot quit." You cannot close this box, only click OKAY.
The only other issue that arises might be a "cannot print some graphics - will print as gray boxes"
5. Clicking okay brings up sequence of 5 total of the same boxes (the book file has 7 files in it including the TOC).
6. After last of 5 "cannot quit" boxes, a new Framemaker one appears, that says "Unsaved Changes in file (book name) Save before closing?" Options are Yes, No and Cancel. Yes saves file and quite Frame. No quits Frame. Cancel leaves file open.
I have reproduced this error multiple times with different books, using both the Save as PDF and Save Book As (PDF) commands.
File--Print Book using Acrobat printer works fine (making sure to enable the acrobat setting so bookmarks are properly generated).
Just frustrated that the first two options cause such an annoying error. Reported as a bug.

Jaclyn,
I've seen this happen when an API client attempts to close a document that doesn't exist, which defaults to closing the FrameMaker session, but the session cannot close because it's in the middle of some operation. It's normally the result of sloppy code. Do you have any third-party API plugin software running? For that matter, does anyone know if the "Save as PDF" uses an API client? If so, might be a bug in that software, although it seems that there must be something unique going on here to invoke this behavior in your case.
Russ

When i save the PDF it saves it as secured. How do i figure out the password?

When i save the PDF it saves it as secured. How do i figure out the password?

Based on that comment, I would suggest you recreate the PDF from that app. Apparently there is something in the app that set the security. You would have to check with the app if security continues to be set as to the password. You might try a blank password or our OS password (but take care you are not sending your passwords out by way of some JavaScript).

Illustrator CS3 can't print/save as PDF

I installed CS3 and the error message:
"The Save as PDF and Save PDF as PostScript options in the Printer Dialog are not supported"
Does this mean that its not picking up on the Adobe Acrobat/Distiller 8?
How would I activate this? Help!!
Same thing with InDesign CS3, can't print/save as PDF.
(this is on a mac)

It may be looking for your RIP ppd, as well as Acrobat 8. Acrobat should have installed all the necessary files, but you might take a look into that. I don't think Distiller is part of the Save-As procedure. You might take a look into "Add-A-Printer" OSX option and select Acrobat 8 there ( although it should have loaded during the install ). Another option is re-install your printer's software and any RIP software ( if available ). Before you do, get whatever updates you can from the manufacturer. It could also mean, after you've done the previous suggestions, you correct permissions on your HD using Apple's Disk Utility. Leave the machine ON overnight so that the Apple Utilities can clean house while you're sleeping.

Unable to re-save a PDF file in FrameMaker 10

After creating and saving a PDF file, I am unable to resave the file with that name after making changes to it.
The Adobe Acrobat message I get is:
This error does not occur when I try to make comments and resave a .PDF created with Microsoft Word.
I have a workaround which is to save the file using a different name, delete the original file, and rename the new file with the original name. I would prefer not to have to do this with each saved change.
Thank you for any help or suggestions you can offer.
nankinnankin

Actually, I had similar issue, but it was FM. Occasionally, when I did a Save as PDF or Save as with HTML, FM went on for a few moment then stoped saving with an error message along the line: Cannot create <some file name>... It kept doing the same thing for several tries until I deleted the previously generated files, then all would be well for a while, until the next time... I don't know it had anything to do with the generated files (PDF or HTML) being opened on a web-browser at the moment. Yet, as I remembered prior to that and verified afterward, in those times that went without such error, those files were being opened as well. Thanks!
PS: I'm using FrameMaker 11

Advanced "Save as PDF" script that saves 2 PDF presets with 2 different Names

HI Everyone,
I am looking to improve a save as pdf workflow and was hoping to get some direction. Here is the background...
I routinely have to save numerous files as 2 separate PDFs with different settings (a high res printable version and a low res email version). Each file has to be renamed as follows...
Original filename = MikesPDF.ai
High Res PDF Filename = MikesPDF_HR.pdf
Low Res PDF Filename = MikesPDF_LR.pdf
I was able to alter the default "SaveAsPDF" script to save the files to my desired settings and to add the suffix to the name. So with these scripts here is how the workflow operates...
1. Open all files I wish to save as pdfs
2. Select script to save files as high res pdfs
3. Illustrator asks me to choose a destination.
4. Illustrator adds the appropriate suffix and saves each file as a pdf to my desired setting. ("Save As" not "Save a Copy").
5. Now all of the open windows are the new pdfs, not the original ai files.
6. Now I have to close each window. For some reason Illustrator asks me if I want to save each document when I tell it to close window, even though the file was just saved. I tell it to not save and everything seems to be fine.
7. Reopen all the files I just saved as high res pdfs.
8. Repeat the entire process except I run the script specifically designed for the low res pdfs.
What I would like to do is to combine these two processes so that there will be one script that saves both pdfs. From what I understand, the script can't support "Save A Copy" so the workflow would go as follows...
1. Open all files I wish to save as pdfs
2. Select single script to save files as both high res and low res pdfs
3. Illustrator asks me to choose a destination.
4. Illustrator saves each file as a High Res PDF and adds the the "_HR" suffix.
5. Illustrator then re-saves the open windows as a Low Res PDF and replaces the "_HR" suffix with "_LR".
Here is the code for the High Res script, The Low Res script is pretty much the same except for a different preset name and different suffix. Any pointer that anyone could give me would be most appreciated. I am pretty much a noob to this stuff so please keep that in mind.
Thanks!
Mike
---------------------------CODE----------------------------
/** Saves every document open in Illustrator
as a PDF file in a user specified folder.
// Main Code [Execution of script begins here]
try {
// uncomment to suppress Illustrator warning dialogs
// app.userInteractionLevel = UserInteractionLevel.DONTDISPLAYALERTS;
if (app.documents.length > 0 ) {
// Get the folder to save the files into
var destFolder = null;
destFolder = Folder.selectDialog( 'Select folder for PDF files.', '~' );
if (destFolder != null) {
var options, i, sourceDoc, targetFile;
// Get the PDF options to be used
options = this.getOptions();
// You can tune these by changing the code in the getOptions() function.
for ( i = 0; i < app.documents.length; i++ ) {
sourceDoc = app.documents[i]; // returns the document object
// Get the file to save the document as pdf into
targetFile = this.getTargetFile(sourceDoc.name, '.pdf', destFolder);
// Save as pdf
sourceDoc.saveAs( targetFile, options );
alert( 'Documents saved as PDF' );
else{
throw new Error('There are no document open!');
catch(e) {
alert( e.message, "Script Alert", true);
/** Returns the options to be used for the generated files. --------------------CHANGE PDF PRESET BELOW, var NamePreset = ----------------
@return PDFSaveOptions object
function getOptions()
{var NamePreset = 'Proof High Res PDF';
// Create the required options object
var options = new PDFSaveOptions();
     options.pDFPreset="High Res PDF";
// See PDFSaveOptions in the JavaScript Reference for available options
// Set the options you want below:
// For example, uncomment to set the compatibility of the generated pdf to Acrobat 7 (PDF 1.6)
// options.compatibility = PDFCompatibility.ACROBAT7;
// For example, uncomment to view the pdfs in Acrobat after conversion
// options.viewAfterSaving = true;
return options;
/** Returns the file to save or export the document into.----------------CHANGE FILE SUFFIX ON LINE BELOW, var newName = ------------------
@param docName the name of the document
@param ext the extension the file extension to be applied
@param destFolder the output folder
@return File object
function getTargetFile(docName, ext, destFolder) {
var newName = "_HR";
// if name has no dot (and hence no extension),
// just append the extension
if (docName.indexOf('.') < 0) {
newName = docName + ext;
} else {
var dot = docName.lastIndexOf('.');
newName = docName.substring(0, dot)+newName;
newName += ext;
// Create the file object to save to
var myFile = new File( destFolder + '/' + newName );
// Preflight access rights
if (myFile.open("w")) {
myFile.close();
else {
throw new Error('Access is denied');
return myFile;

Thank you for the reply Bob!
Am I correct in assuming that these few lines of code replace all of the lines that I posted above?
Also, When populating the PDFSaveOptions lines, would the end result look like this? FYI, LowRes preset name = "Proof Low Res PDF - CMYK". HighRes preset name = "Proof High Res PDF"
#target illustrator
#targetengine "main"
for (x=0;x<app.documents.length;x++)
     var workingDoc = app.documents[x];
     var workingDocFile = workingDoc.fullName;
// populate these with your settings
     var lowResOpts = new PDFSaveOptions(Proof Low Res PDF - CMYK);
     var highResOpts = new PDFSaveOptions(Proof High Res PDF);
     var lowResFile = new File(workingDocFile.toString().replace(".ai","_LR.pdf"));
     workingDoc.saveAs(lowResFile,lowResOpts);
     var highResFile = new File(workingDocFile.toString().replace(".ai","_HR.pdf"));
     workingDoc.saveAs(highResFile,highResOpts);
     workingDoc.close(SaveOptions.DONOTSAVECHANGES);

Unable to download/save a pdf doc from Adobe Acrobat Reader (in IE8 or IE9)

I can open the pdf doc, but the button that I would normally click to download the doc to my computer is not highlighted. I tried upgrading from IE8 to IE9, but still cannot download. Thanks for any help!

Actually, I had similar issue, but it was FM. Occasionally, when I did a Save as PDF or Save as with HTML, FM went on for a few moment then stoped saving with an error message along the line: Cannot create <some file name>... It kept doing the same thing for several tries until I deleted the previously generated files, then all would be well for a while, until the next time... I don't know it had anything to do with the generated files (PDF or HTML) being opened on a web-browser at the moment. Yet, as I remembered prior to that and verified afterward, in those times that went without such error, those files were being opened as well. Thanks!
PS: I'm using FrameMaker 11

Print - save as pdf with Aplescript

Hello,
I would like to know how to script : "Print" with a "save as pdf" on application.
ie: I would like to print a web page from Safari, and select save as pdf to save the page in a pdf format document.
(I don't want to use Adobe...)
Thanks a lot.

I realized that it still might be a little confusing to figure out how to use that Automator action. So I will give you a step-by-step of mine.
Get Specified URLs->Download URL as PDFs(this is the action I linked before)(Note: I set the where to a temporary folder where no other file will ever be)->Pause for 5 seconds->Move Finder Items(Select a destination folder where you want to have your PDF in permanently)->Run Applescript (A)-> Run Applescript (B) -> Run Applescript (C)
Applescript (A)
--For whatever strange reason when you create the PDF it names it some random name so I rename the PDF after the current date in the YYYYMMDD format so that you can easily find the PDF on a later date.
on run {input}
repeat with i from 1 to (count of items in input)
tell application "Finder"
set thisItem to (item i of input as string)
set thisName to (the name of (file thisItem))
set newName to (do shell script "date '+%Y%m%d'" & ".pdf") as string
set the name of the file thisItem to newName
end tell
end repeat
return input
end run
Applescript (B)
--This script deletes the file from the original downloaded location. You have to do this because the previous applescript renamed the PDF and copied it to a new location.
do shell script "rm /path/to/file/that/was/set/in/the/DownloadURLsasPDF/action/*.pdf"
Applescript (C)
--Prints the PDF
set theLocation to ("path:to:new:location")
set fileName to (do shell script "date '+%Y%m%d'" & ".pdf")
set theFile to theLocation & fileName as text
tell application "Finder"
print file theFile
end tell
I hope this works for you. I use it every day to save a PDF of stock reports. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Printing "save as pdf postscript" yields problem with paper size

when I "save as pdf postscript" my 8.5 by 8.5 pages doc, it shrinks and ends up right justified in the PDFX1A 2001 version...this only happens with this particular file--all I can think is that I used a lot of text wrapping around graphs and that messed it up, please help!

nevermind! I figured out the problem--I needed to click on "view" and check "hide comments", which were being included in the PDF, making it smalled on the left side of the page
thanks anyway AppleFolks

FAQ: Creating PDF Files from FrameMaker v.6 & earlier Documents -- Why you should not use "save as PDF"! -- Windows & MacOS Only!

An issue that has come up over and over again on several FrameMaker and Acrobat/PDF email lists as well on the corresponding Adobe User-to-User forums is that of creation of PDF files. FrameMaker 5.5.6 and 6 have what looks like a convenient feature that is supposed to allow you to create PDF files via simply saving the document as a PDF file. I have gone on record as advising end-users not to use this approach for reliable creation of PDF files from FrameMaker documents under Windows and MacOS with FrameMaker 6 and earlier. Why do I most vociferously offer this advice and why doesn't the problem get fixed? And how SHOULD you create PDF files from FrameMaker?
GOOD NEWS
I will start with the good news. The "next major version" of FrameMaker will indeed have "save as PDF" re-implemented in a manner that it will be as reliable as printing to the "Acrobat Distiller" printer instance under Windows or the "Create Adobe PDF" desktop printer under MacOS. I am personally working with the FrameMaker development organization to make sure this really happens and is fully and properly tested and debugged! Furthermore, this next major revision of FrameMaker, unlike FrameMaker 6, will come with a Distiller installer that will properly install the "Acrobat Distiller" printer instance under Windows and the "Create Adobe PDF" desktop printer on the Macintosh (of course assuring that the latest PostScript driver is also automatically and correctly installed).
DON'T USE "SAVE AS PDF"
But what's wrong with "save as PDF" as currently implemented?
The following are some of the SYMPTOMS reported over the last few years by FrameMaker users that were traced back to use of "save as PDF" under FrameMaker:
(1) No PDF file is produced at all, possibly with a log file showing not-readily apparent PostScript errors during distillation.
(2) The PDF file "loses" color in images. All or some images (raster, bitmap images, NOT vector artwork) appear in the PDF file in grayscale.
(3) The resultant PDF file is on the wrong paper size, i.e., the document's logical page size does not match the output page size as seen in Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.
(4) Some or all text in the resultant PDF file is blotchy looking or overly bold.
(5) Some or all text in the resultant PDF file cannot be searched or indexed.
(6) Some or all text in the resultant PDF file appears in Courier or in some other substitution font.
(7) Interword or intercharacter spacing is a bit irregular in the resultant PDF file.
(8) Content is missing in the margin areas of the page, i.e. you cannot do full-page bleeds.
(9) Some or all page content is missing (other than margin areas).
(10) Relatively inefficient PDF is generated.
If this list by itself isn't enough for you, please note that some of these symptoms are very subtle and may escape attention when the PDF is first viewed or printed. Oftimes, it is when one attempts to manipulate the PDF file in Acrobat or repurpose its content or even view or print on a system other than the one on which the PDF file was created, that some of these symptoms make themselves obnoxiously visible (or invisible in some cases I won't make any bad jokes here about graphic examples!).
It is important to understand that FrameMaker does NOT have its own native ability to create PDF. Any and all PDF created from FrameMaker documents is actually done by creating PostScript via the PostScript driver and having the Acrobat Distiller create PDF from that PostScript. The only exception to this is creation of PDF via the Acrobat PDFWriter driver, which is likewise not recommended (see below).
In order for "save as PDF" to work correctly, FrameMaker must do the equivalent of calling Printer Setup and selecting the "Acrobat Distiller" printer instance under Windows or the "Create Adobe PDF" desktop printer under MacOS followed by setting the driver's options correctly for paper size, page range, etc., followed by sending the proper commands to the driver to create PostScript.
Contrary to popular belief, PostScript as generated by the Windows and MacOS PostScript drivers is VERY device-dependent. The information in the PPD file associated with a printer driver instance provides critical parameters for generation of PostScript including:
Whether the printer supports color (Acrobat Distiller does)
What PostScript language level is supported (Acrobat Distiller 4.x and Acrobat Distiller 5.x are both PostScript language level 3)
Whether native TrueType support is available (Acrobat supports native TrueType as Type 42 fonts)
Available binary communications (Acrobat Distiller supports pure binary and ASCII, but NOT TCP, TBCP, or PJL)
Resident fonts (Acrobat Distiller doesn't really have resident fonts)
Available paper sizes and custom paper size availability (Acrobat Distiller supports a wide range of predefined sizes and continually variable "custom" sizes up to 200" by 200")
Margins / printable areas (for PDF and the Acrobat Distiller, there are no margins in which imaging is not permitted)
Device resolution (Acrobat Distiller can be set to any value from 72 to 4000 dpi; as a convenience, the Acrobat Distiller PPD provides a series of values for use by the driver. Since there is no inherent "resolution" of a PDF file, this parameter is used only for purposes of allowing PostScript programs that query for such a value to be satisfied and for the driver to be able to communicate this value to the operating system and/or application as required.)
Paper handling (totally irrelevant to Acrobat Distiller if input or output tray selection via "setpagedevice" is found in the PostScript stream, it is ignored by Acrobat Distiller)
Thus, if the wrong printer driver instance is selected (i.e., it isn't associated with the Acrobat Distiller PPD file) or that driver instance is improperly configured, improper PostScript will result and one or more of the symptoms described above can occur. As currently implemented, FrameMaker depending upon version will not necessarily choose the correct printer driver instance and/or correctly parameterize the print job via driver setup options. In fact, FrameMaker 5,5,6 might even try to generate PDF via calling a PCL driver, FAX driver, or even a non-PostScript inkjet printer!
DON'T USE PDFWRITER
The Acrobat PDFWriter is a relic of older versions of Acrobat. In fact, it is no longer installed by default in the "easy install" or the "typical install" of Acrobat 5. It hasn't really be updated since Acrobat 3 and only supports PDF 1.2. It is a GDI (Windows) / QuickDraw (MacOS) driver that directly generates PDF without any intermediary PostScript. Since it is not a PostScript printer driver, applications cannot pass through EPS graphics and/or PDFMark information (used for a wide variety of purposes by FrameMaker). For EPS graphics, most applications will send the low resolution TIFF (or PICT) EPS header in lieu of the PostScript text, if they send anything at all, to the driver. Forget about links, structure, or any other PDF "goodies." Expect that PDFWriter will fully "bite the dust" in the next major version of Acrobat.
SO HOW DO I GENERATE PDF FILES FROM FRAMEMAKER 6 & EARLIER?
The ONLY method that is really reliable for producing PDF files with FrameMaker 6 and earlier requires the generation of PostScript via a properly set printer driver instance associated with the Acrobat Distiller PPD and distillation of the resultant PostScript by Acrobat Distiller.
Case 1: FrameMaker and the Full Acrobat 4.05 or Acrobat 5.0x Products
PDF file from a "chapter" -- print directly to the Acrobat Distiller printer instance (Windows) or the Create Adobe PDF desktop printer (MacOS) already installed by Acrobat. If you check the "Acrobat data" option, then make sure to UNcheck the "print to file" option that gets set at the same time. As a result, the driver will automatically send the generated PostScript to the Distiller for you and delete the intermediate PostScript when done.
PDF file from a "book" -- print directly to the Acrobat Distiller printer instance with the "print to file" option checked (Windows) or the Virtual Printer desktop printer (MacOS) associated with the Distiller PPD (see details below under Case 2/MacOS). You will need to manually process the resultant PostScript file through the Distiller (or use a "watched folder" arrangement).
In both the above sub-cases, the default driver options generally will be OK, but check on paper size and communication protocol (Use pure binary, not ASCII, for optimal performance AND no CTRL-D characters under Windows. Make sure to set Level 3 only and Binary under MacOS. Font inclusion "All" for Acrobat 4.05 and "None" for Acrobat 5 under MacOS.). With Acrobat 4.05, make sure you preset the Distiller to use the joboptions you want. With Acrobat 5, you can set this on a job-by-job basis via the driver printer setup interface (or print dialog on MacOS).
Case 2: FrameMaker 6 and the Bundled Acrobat 4.05 Distiller
Windows -- Create a new printer driver instance using the latest version of the Adobe Universal PostScript Driver Installer, downloadable from Adobe's web site AND the Acrobat Distiller PPD file (located in the XTRAS subdirectory of the Distiller directory). This driver instance should be set to print to the local port named "FILE:". Name this driver instance as "Acrobat Distiller". The default driver options generally will be OK, but check on paper size and communication protocol (use pure binary, not ASCII, for optimal performance AND no CTRL-D characters). Make sure you preset the Distiller to use the joboptions you want. Print directly to this Acrobat Distiller printer instance. Make sure that the "print to file" option is checked. You will need to manually process the resultant PostScript file through the Distiller (or use a "watched folder" arrangement).
MacOS -- Install the latest version of AdobePS 8.7.x, downloadable from Adobe's web site. In FrameMaker, go to Page Setup and select the "Virtual Printer" and go to the "Virtual Printer" window pane. Select the Acrobat Distiller PPD file (located in the XTRAS subfolder of the Distiller folder). Print directly to the "Virtual Printer" (Make sure to set Level 3 only, Binary, and font inclusion "All".). Make sure you preset the Distiller to use the joboptions you want. You will need to manually process the resultant PostScript file through the Distiller (or use a "watched folder" arrangement).
Case 3: Acrobat 3
Acrobat 3 is not officially supported for the latest OS versions and I personally would no longer recommend its use for generation of PDF files given that Acrobat 5.0.5 is the current version of Acrobat.
- Dov

You're asking a lot of ancient Acrobat to work with an Office that never existed when it was made. "Just updated my office suite" is a massive change, and Window 8 didn't exist at that time either...

Should I open sent PDF's through PS (flatten then save as .eps) & then save as a PDF thru distiller

Hi, I'm coming from a print background with newspapers where it was necessary to do the above with sent PDF's for print so that the fonts wouldn't bomb at print. I'm now working with a high gloss magazine and am wondering if it is necessary to do the same now. I have been doing it as routine with sent PDF's for print, once I ge the email I open in PS, make sure they are CMYK then flatten the image and save as .eps to open in Distiller and save as a PDF again. Again this was to make sure no fonts would bomb at print as per I was tought. (Used Quark when working with newspaper and thankfully am using InDesign for magazine). Is there any negative to doing this still? Even if the sent PDF's are fine (all True type font)? Could doing this, flatten and resave cause the iamges or fonts on the PDF's to lose quality at print? I'm pretty sure it wouldn't but I could be wrong with this higher quality print.
Appreciate any advice here, as I'm slightly worried it may cause some loss of quality at print (fuzzy border around text - light but there). Thanks.
Programs used are PS CS5, InDesign 5, Adobe Distiller 9. Final proofs are PDF's from InDesign to printer.

The “workflow” you cite is absolutely not recommended for any purpose whatsoever. The only thing that can be said for it is that it produces consistently low quality results with extra steps and overhead. Forget about transparency and color management! The newspapers in question must have been either (1) working with antiquated, buggy RIP software from the previous millennia or (2) had personnel with mindsets and education from the previous millennia!
Adobe strongly recommends use of direct PDF export from InDesign using the PDF/X-4 preset – never create PDF by distillation of PostScript!
Although we strongly encourage use of OpenType fonts for their typographical features and cross-platform compatibility, in terms of output quality and reliability, use of Type 1 versus TrueType versus OpenType is irrelevant.
- Dov

File was view only, won't save to PDF - log: OffendingCommand: text (Framemaker 11)

I have been printing a book successfully for weeks now, and today did an edit to one chapter in the book. Now when I save the book as PDF, I get this in the log:
%%[ Error: undefined; OffendingCommand: Text ]%%
Stack:
/Body
/T
-mark-
%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%
%%[ Warning: PostScript error. No PDF file produced. ] %%
I thought I fixed it because it was originally producing a "view only file" message (for the one chapter that I changed) while generating. I renamed the file, turn the lock on and off, and don't get the view only message, but still no PDF, either save-as-pdf of the individual chapter or the whole book.
Can anyone help? I've never encountered this.
Thanks in advance.
Jim

Thanks, Arnis. This is the entire text from the log file:
%%[ Error: undefined; OffendingCommand: Text ]%%
Stack:
/Body
/T
-mark-
%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%
%%[ Warning: PostScript error. No PDF file produced. ] %%

Quark / PDF Printing Problems (Save as PDF in OS X)

I upgraded from Quark 4.1 to 6.5 about a year ago, and ever since then the files I create and print don't look as good. The primary issue seems to be color -- colors don't come out as deep, there seems to be less color saturation, sometimes colors are just pretty far off. I'm working in Mac OS 10.4.8.
For many years my method has been to design documents and output as PDFs to be professionally printed. These days my PDFs don't print as well. I suspect that the problem has to do with the process of creating the PDF. In Quark 6.5 I create PDFs by selecting "Save as PDF" from Quark's Print menu. Back when I was using 4.1, since Quark didn't have a built-in PDF-creator, I would go into the Chooser, select AdobePS as my printer, and then just choose Print in Quark and it would "print" to a PDF.
One other problem I've had since the upgrade is that the PDFs Quark creates are HUGE files -- tens or hundreds of megs -- often too large to email. When I used to create PDFs from the identical Quark files using 4.1, the resulting PDFs printed much better and were much smaller files (often far less than 1 meg). Solving the color problem is a higher priority for me than solving the file size issue, though.
I've spent a lot of time trying to troubleshoot this with our local printer here in Albany, NY (the same guy who printed my stuff in the old days, when it came out looking a lot better). Things we've tried that haven't seemed to solve the problem:
- Increasing the LPI to 300
- Checking the box for Full Resolution Tiff Output
- Experimenting with OPI active and not
- Experimenting with different PDF options like "Save as PDF," "Compress PDF," "PDF-X," etc. (Compress PDF does result in smaller PDFs, but the quality of the resulting prints is even worse)
Also, if anyone has suggestions about Quark-specific forums I could post this to, let me know. I tried creating an account on the discussion forms on Quark's website, but I don't receive their confirmation email to confirm my account.
Any advice greatly appreciated -- thanks so much!
Marshall
iBook Mac OS X (10.4.8) Quark 6.5

Marshall,
Welcome to Apple Discussions.
colin clarke1’s info is spot on. I will add a bit more. Acrobat Professional includes Distiller in addition to a print driver called Adobe PDF 7.0 (version number matches version of Acrobat). I think the print driver installs automatically, but if not, you should choose to install it and then it will show in your list of printers. This will allow you to make PDFs from Quark XPress much as you did with Quark 4.1.
Distiller comes with some pre-defined Settings (formerly know as Job Options) for different types of printing, i.e., Smallest file (low-resolution like online viewing), Standard, High Quality, Press Quality and others. These Settings are general standards in the industry in terms amount and type of image compression, font embedding, color management, compatibility with previous Acrobat versions and etc.
colin clarke1’s method of saving a Quark doc as a PostScript and then distilling it is one method. (You can set this in your Quark Preferences.) Alternatively, you could do the following within Quark XPress…
(a) Select Print, which brings up the Print window. At the bottom of the window are some buttons. Click on Page Setup and in its window, for Format for: select the Adobe PDF 7/8, the appropriate Paper size and then OK.
(b) Returning to the Quark print window, make all the necessary choices for Layout, Setup, Output, Options, Layers, Bleed, OPI and Profiles.
(c) Next, click on the button Printer (at the bottom) which brings up a Mac OS print window. Click to the right of Printer and select Adobe PDF 7/8. Next, click and hold on Copies & Pages for a drop-down list of options and select PDF Options. Click on the bar to the right of Adobe PDF Settings and a list of Distiller Settings will pop up and select the one that best fit the type of printing you are doing, e.g., Press Quality. If you want to see the PDF version afterwards, then select Acrobat for After PDF Creation. Click Ok.
(d) Returning to the Quark print window, click Print button (lower right). A Save window appears for you to name your document and select where you wish to save in on your computer. (If you choose to see the PDF afterwards, then Acobat will launch and the PDF will then appear in Acrobat.)
You could learn more about the latest version of Acrobat 8.0 (released November 2006) by Adobe’s “tour” at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/productinfo/features/
Hope this helps.
PB Ti 667 (10.3.9), PB G3 Firewire (OS 9.1), PB 12" Mac OS X (10.4.7) Wi-Fi, iPod 3G 15GB

Save as PDF feature creates extra frame around the tables

I am creating a large catalog with black + 1PMS color.
If I use the Save As PDF feature in Frame 9, I get an extra line around the Price portion of MOST (not all) of my tables. If I use the Distiller process, the extra line is not there, but the PDF file does not hold the color separations.
Has anyone else come across these issues or have any ideas what I could be doing wrong?
Thank you,

If you are trying to use the new SaveAsPDF CMYK option, forget it. It is sorely broken in many aspects (just search this forum), especially when dealing with tables and OTFPro fonts.
Go back to an RGB based workflow (i.e. ensure that the "Convert CMYK Colors to RGB" option is checked in the PDF Setup) and use a third-party tool to deal with the results. Some choices would be:
- Acrobat 9 Pro has some even stronger pre-flighting and colour handling features now, but Acrobat 8was no slouch either
- Enfocus' PitStopPro is extremely powerful for fixing up colours: http://www.enfocus.com/product.php?id=855
- Grafikhuset's PubliPDF tool allows you to set up conversions for the RGB by printing to a queue and then post-processing the postscript prior to handing off to Distiller for PDF creation: http://www.grafikhuset.net/PubliPDF/
- Quite Software's Quite a Box of Tricks let's yuou do colour conversions: http://www.quite.com/box/features.htm

Save as pdf vs save as postscript

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