Error saving file as PDF FM 11.0.2.384 Windows 7

[ggbusta]

"Can't launch Acrobat Distiller to create PDF file."

I cannot find Distiller on my workstation.  I do not see it in the Control Panel.  I also cannot find Distiller on the distribution media.

I suspect it is not installed.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Jerry

[Arnis_Gubins]

A full install of FM11 will also install the Adobe PDFCreator (a simplified version of Distiller) that should show as the AdobePDF priner instance in your Devices and Printers panel.

If, however, you already had a version of Acrobat installed, then the full installation may have overwritten the installed Distiller component and effectively messed it up for you (the FM installation software is not very good at checking for pre-exising components).

Have a look at this thread for some additional clues: http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1350884?tstart=0

[Mike Wickham]

It's in this location on my Windows 7 system:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Acrobat 11.0\Acrobat\acrodist.exe

Do you have the full version of Acrobat installed? I'm not sure that the

PDF Creation Add-on that comes with FrameMaker actually installs

Distiller, even though it may share the same error messages. (It

definitely does not install a full-featured Distiller version.)

Also, you should not have both Acrobat and the add-on on the same

system. They conflict with each other. If you do, you may need to

uninstall both and reinstall Acrobat alone. If I recall correctly, the

uninstall option for Acrobat in Control Panel also lets you choose to

repair it. So that may be worth a try.

[ggbusta]

Hmm.  It should not be this hard.  I worked in software development for two decades and made stuff work.  But I am quite frustrated.  My workstation build is standard.  My FM is current.  This is not like I am expecting some little used, obscure feature to work.  Saving a PDF should be mainstream.  It's like spell-checker not working.  Huh?

As far as I can tell these are the primary software components involved:

1.  Framemaker 11

2.  Adobe PDF Creation Add-on X

3.  Adobe Reader XI  (11.0.04)

4.  Windows 7.

Am I missing any others or are any of the above not in this equation?

I've now worked through the advice given above with no luck but I should not have to rely on luck.  I am trying to make a living with this software.  

Thank you Amis and Mike for taking the time to respond to my request for help.  It is very kind of you.  I am new to this forum and in spite of my issue I get a very positive vibe with the way people help each other here.

Thanks again,

Jerry

[Mike Wickham]

One possible problem I see is that you have the X version of the PDF

Creation Add-on, and the XI version of Reader on the same machine. This

is a usually a no-no. Different versions of Reader/Acrobat/PDF Creation

Add-on tend to trample all over each other and break things. It's a

common problem. You might want to uninstall both, then reinstall only

version X of both. Frankly, I'd recommend uninstalling both and then

purchasing the latest version of Acrobat and installing it instead. It

does what both Reader and the add-on do, and then some, without need to

worry about version conflicts.

[Mike Wickham]

By the way, I just noticed that none of us asked if you had tried

printing to the Adobe PDF printer, instead of using Save as PDF.

Historically, that has been a much more dependable way to create PDF,

and may give you an interim workaround.

[Arnis_Gubins]

As Mike implies, have you verified that the AdobePDF printer instance is properly installed and working? You should be able to use File > Print and select AdobePDF as the printer to create a PDF. If this doesn't work or if you get an error message, then this narrows down the usual suspects.

Having the plain Reader XI version and the PDF Creator installed from FM11, won't cause any conflicts. This would only occur if you had the full version of Acrobat installed (tthe Reader doesn't come with any PDF creation utilities).

[ggbusta]

Thank you Amis.  I took your advice, printed to the AdobePDF printer and it was successful. 

Software Configration:

1.  Framemaker 11

2.  Adobe PDF Creation Add-on X

3.  Adobe Reader XI  (11.0.04)

4.  Windows 7.

Given the sequence of my testing I conlcude that somehow printing to the PDF printer enabled successful saving as a PDF.  Don't know why or how but I'll take it. 

Thanks to EVERYONE for your help.

Jerry

[Arnis_Gubins]

@jerry,

You also might want to check that the AdobePDF is always set as your default printer instance during any FM session. There is a freebie utility that will ensure that this will always be set.

See: http://sundorne.com/FrameMaker/Freeware/setPrint.htm

[ggbusta]

Thanks again Amis.

Just a general note.  I just want to point out that I did not have Acrobat installed when I successfully saved the file as a pdf.

Jerry