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TICKET ARCHIVE -> PDF Problems in Illustrator in Tiger

secoffey - Jan 26, 2006 - 1:54 pm

I recently upgraded to Tiger on my Powerbook and since then have had nothing but problems creating pdfs from Illustrator. I have the full version of Acrobat and tried to reinstall that thinking it was a distiller issue but still no luck. The problem becomes evident when I go to print and try to select Acrobat pdf as my printer. It goes to print then stops. If I open the printer window it just shows that the job/printer has stopped with no explanation.
I wasn't having any issues prior to Tiger. If I go to the printer menu>printer set up>pdf button>save as pdf it will create one but it looks horrible, like a non-postscript file. HELP!!!! This is making me crazy!

Thanks!

Natobasso - Jan 26, 2006 - 5:47 pm

Howdy!

Have you updated to 10.4.4 yet? Then I'd try to print by "Save as PDF" through Tiger instead of saving your illustrator as a pdf file. Might be a workaround. Let me know what happens.

Make sure your illustrator files are saved with "PDF Compatibility" turned on.

secoffey - Feb 1, 2006 - 8:31 am

I upgraded to 10.4.4 since I read your response. I've resinstalled Illustrator and Acrobat. Still no good. It was working fine before I installed Tiger. THen it was weirding out on me everytime I went to print as a pdf-I had to reselect a pdf printer (if that makes sense) and then something happened and I can't even do that. If I save as a pdf from the print menu if gives me a really crappy file that I can't print from (and yes, I've checked the prefs in Acrobat). It's like it's not distilling correctly or the adobe ppd isn't installed. I'm afraid that I've finally met a brick wall in Mac-dom. This is maddening. I'm having to transfer me Illustrator files to the PC (GAG!) to create a pdf I can use. Obviously not a happy work around. I do most of my work in InDesign but now and then I have a one pager that's easier to do in Illustrator or has already been created in AI so I need to find a solution.

Natobasso - Feb 1, 2006 - 10:47 am

Okay, let's slow down a second.

Describe to me exactly how your illustrator files are built. Without seeing your file it's very hard to diagnose a solution to this problem. Do you have placed jpg images? Lo res images? Can you just save as your illustrator files now as pdf format instead of printing to pdf since you upgraded to 10.4.4? How exactly do your pdfs look?

secoffey - Feb 1, 2006 - 12:57 pm

All my files are set up for print so they are hi res. Some have images (hi res tifs), some do not. THere's no consistancy. THe problem isn't with the files themselves, the problem is within the Illustrator Print menu where you go to select (second button from left). In the past, I would then hit and see PDF options or PDF handling (can't remember the wording). I'm no longer seeing that option and that has been my tip off that something is missing. If I then hit , it looks like it's printing but then nothing happens. I open the PDF printer icon from my dashboard and it just shows that the printer has stopped. No explanation. Secondly, if as a work around I select in the box mentioned above, what I get is a pdf that looks dithered, bitmapped, and basically like it would if it were printed on an old non-postscript printer. So it has something to do with the printer driver/distiller for Acrobat vis-a-vis Illustrator and Tiger. I've tried to go into the in System Prefs and have been able to detect anything there that might by awry. I've tried selecting a new pdf printer and nothing changes the outcome. What I'm seeing in the description about my the Adobe Printer is Name, Location, and Kind which is Adobe PDF 3015.102. It's the same everytime I try to delete the printer and then add a new one in the printer set up utility. Just FYI, I'm not networked-just stand alone here as I've brought my Mac in from home since this is a PC environment and I refuse to switch.

Natobasso - Feb 1, 2006 - 1:11 pm

You shouldn't have to create a pdf printer to make a pdf in the print dialog box; just Save As PDF; OS X does this natively and you can do it from ANY program on your computer that can print.

Also, try save as in PDF format from illustrator and then print that. Do not print it through an Adobe PDF printer. You need to directly connect to whichever printer you want to give you a hard copy print.

What version of Illustrator do you have? I have heard of quite a few issues with AI 10 and 11 and Tiger.

I'd make sure all your images are 300dpi CMYK tifs to eliminate your image files as the issue. If you're mixing file types and scaling images up and down, you are going to be putting your hi res files in jeopardy of being pixelated.

Have you done these basic maintenance steps yet? Upgrades usually can throw things out of whack: Apps/Utilities/Disk Utility/Repair Permissions/then restart.

If this doesn't work try booting in safe mode: reboot/hold command + s down till you see black screen/enter fsck -f and wait for process/enter reboot to restart computer.

Next would be to find the Adobe Illustrator preference file (just search for Illustrator and find the .pref file). Move the pref file to your desktop and let Illustrator recreate this file by restarting the program--remember all your settings and palettes will revert to factory settings. Safe the pref file just in case.

One more test would be to save your illustrator file as an eps and rip it in Distiller. If the file still looks bad then there's something wrong with your data/images.

Do you have a sample pdf you could post somewhere for me so I can look at it?

secoffey - Feb 1, 2006 - 1:27 pm

Ok, first there's nothing wrong with my files (I'm a 16 year vet of Graphic Design-I know how to set up my files). They create pdfs just fine on the PC when I take them over. Also, I know not to scale my images and I'm not in the habit of using anything but tifs since this is all for print. But again, there wasn't an issue prior to Tiger, and the problem is with any Illustrator file, not just those with images. I'm on CS not CS2 and all problems began when I installed Tiger so I'm inclined to think there's a compatability issue. When I save as pdf in Illustrator that's when I'm getting crappy images (I guess that's what your refering to as doing it through Tiger-it's a new option in the print menu that wasn't there before). Even if I select a higher resolution I'm still getting bad pdfs. Creating pdfs in InDesign is no problem.

I'll try replacing the pref file and the maintenance steps. I'll keep you posted.

Natobasso - Feb 1, 2006 - 1:54 pm

Okay, sorry, no need to get offended. I've been doing Graphic Design for 11 years so I feel your pain. Most people don't understand what we go through in the course of a day's work. You did mention there were various file types placed in your illustrator file and I was trying to eliminate that as an issue, that's all. It's very difficult to diagnose a graphic issue without seeing the file in question, I'm sure you understand this, so I have to utilize a process of elimination.

The basic maintenance I mentioned will hopefully fix the problem.

Save As PDF has been available since 10.2 Jaguar (I still run 10.2.8 at home, 10.3.5 and 10.3.9 at work, on different computers of course).

I love InDesign as far as creating pdfs. Have you tried importing your illustrator files and exporting to pdf? Might be a workaround in case deleting pref files and system maintenance doesn't solve it.