Unable to print to PDF Oversize pages from FrameMaker 9.0 and 7.2

Question

Hi All,
I am trying to print to PDF a publication that is full of oversize wiring diagrams. The pages are all images ranging in size from standard A3 and A4 siz sheets through to a foldout being 1470 mm W X 297 mm H. We have no problem printing A3, A4 and 630 mm W X 297 H. These are all Portrait images. When we set up our custom print size to accomodate the 1470 mm W X 297 mm H we get the pages without the content, and even some of the oversize pages are not the correct size on print.
The page sizes we are using are:
A4
A3
630 x 297 mm
840 x 297 mm
1050 x 297 mm
1260 x 297 mm
1470 x 297 mm
The procedures we are using to set up the printing are:
1.      Print to PDF (Do not Save to PDF, you do not have control over paper sizes)
Under Print Setup make sure you select PDF Driver and select the Paper size as largest that is in your book.  Example: If A4 and A3 pages, print to A3
2.      Select Generate Acrobat Data and select
Note: Back in FM Print dialogue; make sure Print to File is turned OFF, before you click Print
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
AJ Wilkinson

Answer 1

AJ,
I tried to duplicate the scenario and ran into issues when using very wide custom pages. For whatever reason, FM tries to output the 1497x297 as 297x1497, no matter what the controls for Portrait or Landscape are set. Also changing the dimensions in the printer instance Custom Page Size didn't seem to have the desired effect.
I checked the .ps files being produced, and in all cases the page and file Bounding Boxes get defined as:
%%PageBoundingBox: 0 0 842 1786
%%BoundingBox: 0 0 842 1786
Whereas, in the same file the custom page size is defined as:
%%BeginFeature: *CustomPageSize
1786 842 0 0 0
   4 dict begin
   3 1 roll
   2 array astore /PageOffset exch def
   2 mod 0 eq {exch} if
   2 array astore /PageSize exch def
   /ImagingBBox null def
   currentdict end setpagedevice
%%EndFeature
Note: that the H W components are transposed.
Something is definitely screwy here. The content appears to be created off the page in many scenarios.
I tried all permutations of H W, Portrait/Landscape and Paper Feed directions, but could not get output created that had the long dimension horizontal (i.e. landscape orientation). Even with pre-defined page sizes, I wasn't completely able to control the output orientation.
I then changed the defined page size within FM from a portrait aspect ratio, i.e. H > W to a landscape, W > H. I was then able to get the content appearing correctly in the 1497x297 layout. It looks like FM is trying to be "smart" and thinks it knows better as to what you want on output.
First, check that your FM page size has W > H. If printing from a Book, where you have mixed page sizes and orientations, I believe that the first file sets the orientation for the whole lot. So if the first one is a standard portrait page and you have large landscape inserts, and are trying to print to oversize pages in the landscape mode with Generate Acrobat Data on to ensure page sizes are cropped - you're going to have orientation issues with the larger pages.
Try printing these large page sizes separately and use Acrobat to replace the pages from the book output.