"insufficient data for an image" error using Firefox 3/Reader 9

[_Jim_Endersby_]

I find some PDF files won't open in Firefox (3.0.3), giving the error "insufficient data for an image". usually the first page displays (partly garbled), then when I try to page down, I get this error. The PDF files are fine -- if I "Save as" they open without problems and they open in IE6.

The problem is not consistent: the same file will open at one attempt and not at the next (and vice versa).

Anyone come across this problem?

Thanks, Jim

[_Dano_Blake_]

Jim,
I have the same issue. I'm generating a PDF with the Atalasoft Imaging software and when I open the PDF in Firefox, IE, or the Adobe reader I get the "insufficient data for an image" error(if I have Adobe Reader 9 installed). The document opens fine in Adobe 8.

[_John_Day3_]

I have the same problem using IE6 with Adobe Reader 9. I received a pdf document attached to email (2MB). When I try to open it, I get the error message "Insufficient data for an image". Also tried to "save as" with the same results. Unfortunately Adobe Reader 8 is no longer on machine.

[_Hartmut_Dürr_]

One of our customers mailed also such a problem getting this error message "Insufficient data for an image". Does anyone of the Adobe support team read these postings and has an idea how to help here?

[_michael_eisenman_]

I am also seeing this problem crop up from time to time -

[_Appligent_Document_Solutions_]

It really depends on how the PDF was created. Some PDF creators do not transfer well, that is why the Acrobat has the Save As and Distiller. Also PDF's can be corrupted during transfer through email.

Not the answer you were looking for I am sure!

[signature removed: Solutions please stop using your signature. Advertising your company and/or website is not permitted]

[_Masudul_]

I have the same problem. I don't think it has anything to do with how the pdf was created, because the file opens fine with Acrobat 8.0 and but gives the error message "Insufficient data for an image." for Acrobat 9.0 and 4.0. I am not sure about other versions.

[_theo_engelman_]

Today, our first working day in 2009, suddenly Reader 8 and 9 do not display images in PDF files (version 1.4)
This is very strange, because in 2008 we daily used these files in Adobe reader 8 and 9 and the images (one being a barcode) displayed fine.
Adobe reader 6 AND FOX-IT display the files perfect.
We urgently need this functionality because one of our workflows depends on this PDF files

[_theo_engelman_]

To add some more information about this issue:

We see this error not only when using Acrobat as plugin for any browser, we also encounter it when opening the PDF in the Acrobat reader outside any browser.
Also we tried to open the PDF in Acrobat professional 7 which handled the file even worse.

How come a PDF-file version 1.4, that was being displayed in any version of Acrobat reader doesn't display the images not any more since the end 2008/start 2009???

The PDF 1.4 files we try to open are coming from a Sun Solaris 9 server using the Ghostscript program gs to convert a postscript file using an Open Office template to the PDF format. No changes in this procedure have been made for more than one year, so this cannot be the cause of our trouble.

It would be nice if someone from ADOBE inc. could try to analyze this issue and give any hint to solve it.

Regards,
Theo Engelman

[_Todd_Bostwick_]

Adobe 9 reader is awful when it comes to working within Firefox. The Reader DEV team really went backwards with this release, and in turn, hosed several very useful applications within Firefox - namely:
WebToPDF< PDF Download, and a host of others. Also, PDF's don't open as they should within the browser, which is a shame as it was never a problem with Firefox 1 or 2, or 3 for that matter until Reader 9 was released. We've kicked all our users to Reader 8, regardless of any other reason except it works - any security issues though, we've not seen any - but 8 does work in a Firefox 1-3.x enviornment, and with the typical Firefox AddOn running smoothly as they should.
Also have had to re-write most forms written in LiveCycle Designer, along with what versions can open these PDF docs.

Regards,
Todd Bostwick

[_Vince_Oles_]

When I get the "Insufficient Data" message I noticed the image size was 30%. When I start increasing the size it appeared at about 50%. My out of state print company however could not print from this file.

[dca422]

I was getting the same error message when I was composing an expense report.  I was using Paperport to gather all of my expense data.  Some pages came from docs that were already PDF and some pages were from receipts I had scanned.  Well, I had scanned the receipts in at 300dpi and the other content was at 600dpi.  I rescanned the receipts at 600dpi so the resolution matched for all pages and viola!  We're all good.

[McCarthy_DPS]

I am also having issues. It is happening when some users try to open a pdf from an FTP.

[ronamater60]

I will see what the software team says. All of the forum stuff has me so

confused. They had me do a bunch of stuff that has led nowhere.

[loki-dog]

I am having the same problem but with a twist.  When I post the pdf to my website through ftp.exe - a dos based Windows app this message comes up.  However, when posted through Golive, no problem.  So it's fine on my PC, Fine if posted through Golive, but corrupt when using the FTP dos protocol.  Very strange.  So the broswer is irrelevant, and actually is part of the file itself.  I could post the two files if this would help.   This has not happened in the past - it's recent.

[loki-dog]

I fixed it!  I don't really know if this will help the Firefox issue or not.  I added the command "Binary" to my FTP script for the FTP.EXE dos batch file.  So it needed to transfer in binary mode.

[ArontheITtech]

I was actually supporting some Parole Officers and the error message would come up when trying to print a PDF. However I found a forum that says if you disable the java scripting under Adobe Acrobat reader properties it should work. I did this by going to the Adobe prefrences and going to java scripting and unchecking the enable java scripting because by default it will be already checked after you install the lates version of adobe reader 9.3.2. After that the error message will not appear and you can print fine, hope this helps someone.

[eskil_saatvedt]

I got the same problem last week.

I have a PDF made from 16 jpg images. I used two different versions of PDF professional to create them.

If the pdf file is on a server which sends it as application/pdf instead of stream. It crashes pdf reader 9.3 most of the time. This happened on multiple servers, and with different versions of the pdf.

If I force the file to be dowloaded by adding a .htacess file on the server, it dowload correctly, and opens correctly, but then not in the plugin as was wanted by the customer.

If opened in the browser plugin, it dissplay the "Insufficient data for an image." error and dissplay part of the jpgs, or noting at all. Even managed to crash two different computers with this. Happens in both Firefox, Crome and IE. And on both Win7 and WinXp computers.

[tvnewswatch]

The same error occurs in Google Chrome and even in the actual reader itself when trying to open certain PDFs. Adobe is almost impossible to contact directly and there are few clues as to how to resolve this issue on their website.

Not only were there "insufficient data for an image" errors, other errors also displayed, sometimes resulting in freezing the browser and forcing a Ctrl, Alt, Del / end program procedure.

An uninstall and reinstall of Adobe 9 did not resolve the issue. After discussion with another user who did not have Adobe 9 installed, and was still using Adobe 8, it was clear that the issues surround Adobe 9. This was uninstalled and replaced with Adobe 8 and so far all documents that did not previously open now open without a problem.

While one cannot with certainty verify whether this solution works with Firefox, it is clear that Adobe 9 has a number of issues. Backward compatibility may be one of them. Documents constructed to display on older readers obviously create problems for Adobe 9. An interesting point is that even with Adobe 9 installed, by uploading the direct link to the PDF in question to Google Docs, the document displays without a problem within Google Docs itself, though a download of the same reproduces the same errors as outlines above.

So in summary, try uninstalling Adobe 9 and install Adobe 8. NB: it is advisable to close all browsers before initiating the new install to enable browser integration.

Good luck.

[iqbalkakarIA]

Hi All,

The issue seems to be related to the contents of the PDF.

If you have images in your pdf, reopen them in any image editor.  Resave them as png files and the error will disapear.

I had the same issue with gif files that were all fine, but there must have been some binary read error that adobe engine couldn't render properly.

Hope it helps.

Thanks