Can't print PDF files

[ADKPAT]

I completed my first Scribus project, a 12-page newsletter.  The pdf file looks perfect, but I can't print it using either the latest Adobe reader or my old Acrobat 9.  I managed to meet my deadline by printing each page as an image, pasting them all into a Word document, and printing that to a PDF -- a painful process producing barely usable results.  I have until the next deadline to get this resolved.

After much experimentation, I have a 2 page file with no images that has the problem. Page 2 is a copy of page 1.  I CAN print if I export one page at a time and print one page at a time.  Exporting multiple pages either to separate page files or as a single file produces non-printing results. If I export one page, then export the other, each file is printable, but combining those 2 (with Acrobat 9) produces the same old non printable file.

One of my experiments was to change my fonts from Myriad Pro to Arial.  This generated files that looked awful on screen but printed reliably.  Unfortunately our newsletter is distributed both in print and online, so I need a PDF that works both ways.  Maybe my font is a problem but I don't see why it should be.

It seems unlikely to me that this program can't generate multiple page pdfs, so can someone tell me what is the trick?  I am using Version 1.4.8 with Windows 10.  I can attach my project files, but I'm not sure how to do that.  What is needed besides the sla file?

[mnawij]

Hi ADKKPAT,

The .sla file, any photos used, and the problematic pdf file would help out a lot. One idea to take the font out of the equation, outline the type when you create the pdf file and try those resulting pdf's. Also I would try Scribus 1.5.6, I have been using it reliably on a Mac and Linux OS for quite some time now.

Cheers!

mnawij

[Nermander]

When you say you can't print the file, what does that mean? You are not telling us the symptom here. It's like telling "My car does not work" when the problem may be that you can't unlock the door.

What happens when you try to print? Do you get an error message? Does it look as if the print goes well but nothing comes out from the printer? In that case, does the printer indicate it's printing for a while or is it just silent?

Also you are not telling us what printer you use.

My first guess would be that the printer runs out of RAM, due to the size of fonts used.

[ADKPAT]

This is in response to replies #1 and #2.  Thank you both for your insights.

mnawij:  I have attached the sla and 2 pdf files for my 1.4.8 test project. PDFcantPrint-Page001 prints OK.  PDFcantPrint-Page001_twice doesn't print anything.  As for outlining the font, the choice to embed the font didn't respond, so the only choice was outlining.  I did try Scribus 1.5.6.1 as you suggested.  That did the trick on my test file.  Then I tried it on my original newsletter file – a good news/bad news story.  It was able to print (yippee!) but the design would need to be reworked (ugh).  I didn't study it too closely, but I think it messed up some font styles.

Nermander:  Sorry I didn't give more detail.  Not knowing what would be useful, I left it out figuring someone knowledgeable would ask the right questions.  What I saw when it tried to print was the progress window came up, and it even indicated page 1 and then page 2.  But the progress bar itself never filled in, the printer didn't respond at all, and the printer control window indicated no document pending.  I tried 2 printers, my not very old HP OfficeJet 200 and my husband's somewhat dated HP Deskjet 5650.  I guess that's all moot now, based on the results of the 1.5.6.1 experiment.

So now I have another question.  What is the correct way to copy a project?.  None of the methods I've used went well.  After experimenting in a junk project to learn my way around Scribus, I started a new project from scratch, imported my master pages and styles, and got a ton of "copy of" styles in addition to those I imported, including multiple default styles with the same name.  I wasn't able to delete some of the extras. For the real newsletter I opened its 1.4.8 sla directly from 1.5.6.1 and got even more extra styles than when I imported things.  To make the sla for the 1.5.6.1 experiment, I copied PDFcantPrint.sla from 1.4.8 to a new folder and opened it there with 1.5.6.1.  That didn't pick up any extra stuff but it's much simpler than the others.

I would really prefer to stay with 1.4.8 if possible.  Partly it's because I am not a developer; I just want things to work right without effort, but also because I didn't like some of the changes I saw in 1.5.6.1.  The user interface got dreary looking – missing a lot of the color from 1.4.8.


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[mnawij]

HI ADKPAT,

I had no problems printing any of the files you posted. On an aside, do you have color management turned on in your preferences, if so I would recommend turning it off for this type of print job. Your sla file has 100% black, but the pdf files were all a rich CMYK black. Also, your custom color is set to RGB. I also ran preflight checks with both adobe acrobat professional and enfocus pitstop and both did not flag any errors on the pdf files that would not stop them from printing. I wish I had better news.

I have been using the development version of Scribus without problem for some time now. I also create a backup of the file I am going to work on before starting and save often as well as having the auto save set to every 10 minutes. I think the program has crashed no more than 5 times in the last year but I think 2 of those times was me using to much memory with inkscape, gimp, photoshop, illustrator open at the same time :-)

Cheers!

mnawij

[Nermander]

So now I have another question.  What is the correct way to copy a project?. 

It really depends on how much you want to copy, but Collect for output is usually the preferred way.

Scribus does not include things like images in the document, but rather links to them. If you move the Scribus document, the paths to images will no longer be correct.

Collect for output will copy everything needed by the document into a single folder, then that folder can be moved.

[ADKPAT]

Thanks for the help.  I am sure that both printers had trouble before, but today the 5650 worked fine and the 200 still had problems so my memory must be wrong.  Now I still have a printer problem but I am glad Scribus is exonerated.