These products consist of a series of PDF documents on a CD with a free Adobe Acrobat Reader included on the CD. The documents are the same as the original documents used for printing the books that we sell under the same name. The PDF documents are exported directly from the publishing program (Quark Xpress) and then adjusted to allow for the lower printing resolution of laser printers. Books are usually printed using a process called offset printing which allows printing at a high resolution, typically in the neighborhood of 1,200 or 2,400 dpi. By comparison, the available resolutions for laser printers range from 300 dpi at the low end to 1,200 dpi at the high end. Some laser printers achieve higher resolutions with special techniques known generally as resolution enhancement. As one could imagine, trying to print a document designed for commercial publishing on a home printer will definitely put that printer through its paces. Most of the problems you will experience may be fixed by adjusting the printer settings; most customers will need to adjust their printer settings to achieve optimal printing results and in most cases, the final results will be in black and white.

The scanned images in the PDF documents on the winter-season CDs were adjusted for optimal printing at 180 dpi (dots-per-inch) in order to reduce the need for printer settings adjustment.

Problem:

When printing some documents in PDF format all the words run together with no spaces between them, however, everything looks fine on the screen. Is there an error in your documents, or is it my system?

Solution:

This issue can nearly always be resolved by obtaining and installing the most recent print driver available for your particular make and model printer. Most printer manufacturers, including Hewlett Packard, provide free printer driver updates from their websites.

Problem:

Unable to access the printer.

Solution:

If you get the error message related to "Problem accessing printer" then chances are good that the PDF is too big. What you need to do is print a range of pages rather than the whole document at once. For instance, if it is forty pages long, then print pages 1-20, then ges 21-40.

Problem:

Graphics not printing properly.

Solution:

Set up the printer to either download True Type fonts as bitmap fonts or print them as graphics. Most laser printers come with a basic set of fonts, called internal or resident fonts, but you can add additional fonts using font cartridges. In addition, you can then copy fonts from the computer's harddrive to the printer's RAM. This is called downloading fonts. A font that has been downloaded is often referred to as a soft font, to distinguish it from the hard fonts available on font cartridges. All laser printers come with a certain amount of RAM memory, and you can usually increase the amount of memory by adding memory boards in the printer's expansion slots. The more RAM a printer has, the more soft fonts that can be downloaded at one time. The advantage of font cartridges over soft fonts is that fonts on the font cartridge use none of the printer's memory. Fonts may also be printed as bitmap fonts or graphics which bypasses the font interpretor altogether, decreasing the need for print-preprocessing.

Set up the printer driver's Dithering option to get better results printing graphics. Dithering is a technique used by software printer drivers to optimize the capabilities of whichever printer is installed. Dithering creates the illusion of new colors and shades by varying the pattern of dots. In general, the finer the dithering, the longer it will take Windows to print your document.

If you're printing at a high resolution (e.g., 600 dpi), reduce the resolution (e.g., 300 dpi). On some printers, in order to change the resolution you will need to set up the printer driver to use the Normal print quality option, instead of the Best print quality option.

You should not use a higher resolution of graphics than your printer will support. For example, if your printer supports a resolution of up to 200 dots per inch (or DPI), selecting a resolution of 600 dots per inch on the Graphics tab will NOT result in a higher resolution. In addition, the final printed document resolution is limited by the resolution of the original images. The scanned images in the PDF documents on this CD were adjusted to 180 dpi (dots-per-inch).

In addition, you need significant amounts of memory in the printer to print high-resolution graphics. Ensure the printer has enough memory to print all page elements. To print at 300 dpi, the printer should have at least 2 MB of available random-access memory (RAM). To print at 600 dpi, the printer should have 4 to 6 MB of RAM. For instructions on determining available printer memory, refer to your printer's documentation.

Note that most photocopiers are limited to resolutions around 2-300 dpi.

Canon BJC 4100:

PDF files may not print properly in the printer's photographic mode. Use the printer's Graphics & Text or Automatic modes instead.

Canon LBP-81V:

Use the printer's bitmap mode for best results.

HP LaserJet Printers:

For best results it is recommended that you use the printer driver's TrueType font option to download TrueType fonts as bitmaps (not outlines).

HP LaserJet 4 or 5:

Print the PDF file in raster mode instead of vector (HP/GL2) mode. If you're printing to a Hewlett-Packard (HP) LaserJet 4 or 5 that includes the Page Protection mode, enable the Page Protection mode. This mode breaks pages into smaller imageable pieces, processes the data from each piece, stores the processed data in a reserved block of memory and, once each section has been processed, sends the job to the print engine. With Page Protection off, the printer must process the entire page in one large chunk, then send the information to the print engine.

HP LaserJet 5M:

For best results, it is recommended that you use the standard HP Laserjet 5M printer driver and not the enhanced driver that ships with the printer.

HP DeskJet Printers:

If provided, it is recommended to use the printer's Raster Graphics mode as opposed to the Vector Graphics mode. The following instructions may roughly correspond with the steps required to change the mode on your printer:

1. Select Page Setup from the File menu within the Acrobat Reader application.
2. In the Print Setup dialogue box next to the Name of the printer, click the Properties button.
3. From the Properties dialogue box, select the Graphics tab and ascertain that the "User raster graphics" radio button is selected within the Graphics mode section.

HP DeskJet 500C:

This printer has an unprintable area near the top of the page. Be sure to use the shrink-to-fit option in Acrobat Reader's Print dialog box.

HP OfficeJet 600 Series:

I have found that no amount of tweaking will fix drop-outs on these printers with version 3.01 of the Reader which is included on the CD. The only solution that I have found is to upgrade to version 4.0 of Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Upgrade to the latest version of the Acrobat Reader.

Make sure that you're using the latest version of the Acrobat viewer. You can check Adobe's website for current version information and updates.

(As of 08/30/99 the latest version for Windows 95/98/NT is the Acrobat Reader 4.01)

Several customers who have called reported "drop-outs" in their printed documents where certain graphics would not appear at all. While most of these may be eliminated by adjusting the printer settings, I have found that upgrading from Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.01 which is included on the Fall CD (15-6040) to version 4.0 resolves many of the issues by itself. In addition, for some problems involving "drop-outs," upgrading to the newest version is the only possible solution.

Make sure that you're using the most current printer driver for your printer.

Contact your printer manufacturer for information about which printer driver you should use or for driver updates.

• Hewlett Packard
• Okidata

Free up system resources.

Make sure you have at least 50% of your system resources free when printing from an Acrobat viewer. If your system resources are below 50%, exit from all applications but the Acrobat viewer. You may need to restart Windows before it reflects freed system resources.

To check the amount of available resources:

• In Windows 95, right-click My Computer, choose Properties from the pop-up menu, then click the Performance tab.
• In Windows NT4.0, press Ctrl+Alt+Del, then click Task Manager.
• In Windows 3.1x, choose Help > About Program Manager.

Free up drive space.

Make sure you have plenty of free drive space available. All Windows applications create temporary files when printing, which are stored on the computer's free hard drive space. Adobe recommends that you keep free hard drive space equivalent to at least three to five times the size of the file you're printing. In addition, both Windows 95 and Windows NT require additional drive space to manage virtual memory. Adobe recommends you keep at least 25 MB of drive space free for virtual memory management.

Create a Temp directory.

Verify the "Set Temp=" line is present in the Autoexec.bat file and that it points to a valid drive and directory. The drive containing the temp directory must have at least 10 MB of free disk space:

1. At a DOS prompt, type "set" and press Enter.
2. Note the directory specified in the "Temp =" line.
3. Change to the directory listed after the equal sign.

For example, if the directory listed in the "Set Temp=" line is C:\Windows\Temp, type: cd c:\windows\temp If you can change to the directory without error, the directory is valid. If a message appears stating that the directory is invalid, edit the "Set Temp=" line in the Autoexec.bat file to point to a valid directory.

To modify the Autoexec.bat file to point to a valid temp directory:

1. Open the Autoexec.bat file in a text editor that can save in text-only format (e.g., Windows Write, Notepad).
2. Locate the "Set temp=" line.
3. Type the path to a valid drive and directory after the equal sign.
4. Save the Autoexec.bat file in text-only format, then restart Windows.

Update your display driver.

Use the Standard VGA video driver to determine if your video driver is causing the problem.

(See Adobe's instructions on specifying the standard VGA driver in Windows 95 or Windows 98 or consult your Operating System manual.)

If the error does not occur when you use the standard VGA video driver, contact your video card manufacturer for an updated video driver. If you're already using the current version, try using a different video resolution (e.g., 800x600 rather than 1024x768).

About Anti-Aliasing (or Oversampling):

In computer graphics, antialiasing is a software technique for diminishing jaggies—stairstep-like lines that should be smooth. Jaggies occur because the output device, the monitor or printer, doesn't have a high enough resolution to represent a smooth line. Antialiasing reduces the prominence of jaggies by surrounding the stairsteps with intermediate shades of gray (for gray-scaling devices) or color (for color devices). Although this reduces the jagged appearance of the lines, it also makes them fuzzier.

Here are some links to helpful information on the World Wide Web for resolving printing issues.

• Windows troubleshooting wizards (Microsoft)
• Troubleshooting print problems on Windows (Adobe)

If your printer has a PostScript option, use the PostScript mode.

Reduce your monitor's resolution.

If you're printing to a non-PostScript (i.e., QuickDraw) printer, reduce your monitor's resolution (e.g., switch from 1024 x 768 to 800 x 600). You can change the resolution in the Monitors or the Monitors & Sounds control panel.

Upgrade your Acrobat Reader.

Make sure that you're using the latest version of the Acrobat viewer. You can check Adobe's website for current version information and updates.

(As of 08/30/99 the latest version for the Apple Power Macintosh or compatible computer is the Acrobat Reader 4.01)

Update your printer driver.

Make sure you're using the most current printer driver for your printer. Contact your printer manufacturer for information about which printer driver you should use or for driver updates. The latest drivers are usually available from the manufacturer's website.

Make sure you're using the correct PostScript Printer Description (PPD) file, or use a generic PPD file.

To set up the AdobePS 8.5x printer driver or the Apple LaserWriter 8.x printer driver to use the Generic PPD file that's included with them:

1. Open the Chooser from the Apple menu.
2. In the Chooser window, select the AdobePS or the LaserWriter 8.x icon.
3. Select your target printer in the right-hand window.
4. Click Setup.
5. In the Setup dialog box, click Select PPD.
6. In the Select A PostScript Printer Description File dialog box, click Use Generic.
7. In the Setup dialog box, click OK.

Disable Background Printing for the LaserWriter 8.x printer driver.

When Background Printing is enabled, the application spools the file you're printing to the hard disk, then Print Monitor sends it to the printer. If Print Monitor is damaged or has insufficient memory, it returns an error or doesn't print the file.

To disable Background printing:

1. Open the Chooser from the Apple menu.
2. In the Chooser window, select the LaserWriter 8.x icon.
3. Select Off for Background Printing, then close the Chooser.

If the PDF file prints when background printing is disabled, you can allocate more memory to Print Monitor, which is located in the Extensions folder, and then reenable Background Printing in the Chooser. If your printing problem recurs after you allocate more memory to Print Monitor, reinstall your printer driver from the system software installation disks or from the disks included with your printer.

Free up drive space.

Make sure you have plenty of free drive space available. All applications create temporary files when printing, and store these files on the computer's free hard disk space. Adobe recommends that you keep free hard disk space equivalent to at least three to five times the size of the file you're printing.

Increase the amount of memory allocated to Acrobat Reader.

1. Quit Acrobat Reader.
2. Start any applications you want to run simultaneously with Acrobat Reader.
3. At the Finder, choose About This Macintosh (System 7.5.x) or About This Computer (System 7.6.x and later) from the Apple menu.
4. Note the Largest Unused Block value, which is the total amount of available memory.
5. At the Finder, select Acrobat Reader's application icon, then choose File > Get Info.
6. In Acrobat Reader's Info window, enter a value for Preferred Size that is greater than the current amount but less than 90% of the Largest Unused Block value you noted in step 4.
7. Close Acrobat Reader's Info window.

Adjust the printer's settings (such as Memory Configuration).

To change AdobePS 8.5x or LaserWriter 8.x settings:

1. Open the Chooser from the Apple menu.
2. In the Chooser window, select the AdobePS or the LaserWriter 8.x icon.
3. Select your target printer in the right-hand window.
4. Click Setup.
5. In the Setup dialog box, click Configure.
6. Change one or more settings (e.g., Memory Configuration), then click OK.

Make sure you're using the current version of the PostScript cartridge.

If you're printing to an early-model PostScript printer (e.g., Hewlett-Packard LaserJet III), make sure you're using the current version of the PostScript cartridge. Contact your printer manufacturer for assistance in identifying the version of the PostScript cartridge.

Did this page answer your questions? If not, you can contact Augsburg Fortress software support directly with our E-Mail Support Form.