Unable to print FrameMaker 9 file to PDF with Acrobat Data

[hiyaya17]

I'm trying to print a FrameMaker 9 file to PDF, but the "Generate Acrobat Data" field and the PDF Setup button are both disabled - meaning I cannot select or unselect either. How can I get these re-enabled?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Do you have the full version of Acrobat Distiller or just the headless one that comes with FM? Do you have the Adobe PDF printer instance set as your default printer within FM? Can you create PDFs outside of FM? Can you Save As PDF?

[hiyaya17]

I believe we have the full version of Acrobat Distiller installed. It is listed in my All Programs as "Adobe Acrobat Distiller X".

I have the Adobe PDF printer set as my default printer on my machine. I assume this makes it the default printer in FM - it is the printer that appears when I try to print.

I can create a PDF outside of FM. For example, I can open a Word file, print to the Adobe PDF printer, specify a name with a .PDF extension, and the PDF opens.

I have been afraid to try the "Save As PDF" option. We had a team member use that 2 years ago and it corrupted his entire machine. We actually had to get a new machine for him!

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Okay…is it happening with any FM doc you’ve got or just one? Is your FM9 all patched up? I think p255 was the top level in FM9.

Maybe show us a screenshot of what’s happening (use the camera icon in the web interface).

[Arnis_Gubins]

This is exactly what happens when FM detects a non-postscript printer as the output device.

Check the printer setup being used in FM. Even if it says "Adobe PDF" in FM use the Printer Properties panel to be certain that it is actually using the Adobe PDF Converter driver.

[hiyaya17]

Jeff, yes, it happens with all our files. FYI, we have 5 networked computers with FM and this is happening on all our computers too. The latest patch we have is p196. Do you think that could cause the problem?

Arnis, I double checked the printer. I got to a screen that looks similar to yours and it does say Adobe PDF Converter driver. But it's interesting that you say this is what happens when it detects a non-postscript printer. Could the driver be corrupt or something?

[Arnis_Gubins]

It's possible that the driver has been corrupted.

When you installed FM9, did you also install the PDF creation tool at that time? If so, and you installed the full Acrobat X package later on, it would have overwritten the components that FM used with the default version it was packaged with.

First try the p255 patch. Then in Acrobat, try the Help > Repair Acrobat Installation option.

Do any of the available FM print options change if you check the "Print to file" option?

[hiyaya17]

Sorry for the delay here. I wanted to touch base with our in-office tech support. Neither the p255 patch, nor the Repait Acrobat Installation worked. The FM print options do not change if we check the Print to file option.

I now think there is something - some setting - within our network that is causing this problem. But I am unsure what that could be. Is it possible to find out what files on the hard drive, registry, and/or user permissions FrameMaker needs in order to enable this control?

[hiyaya17]

I should clarify one point from above - when we check the Print to FIle checkbox, it does change "Print Book As" to "Save Book As" and it changes "Single Print Job" to "Separate Print Job for Each Document". I think those are expected but wanted to mention it just in case.