Adobe Reader Overrides Printer Settings

[Ron Guttman]

I have had this problem since switching to Windows 7.

At first the problem was limited to Internet Explorer, so I switched to Firefox. Earlier this month, the problem appeared in Firefox as well. The problem does not seem to occur in the stand-alone reader, only the browser plug-in.

Here is what happens. You download a PDF that contains color - pretty normal. You go to print it. My printers are color laser printers. The default printer setting is Monochrome for cost reasons. HOWEVER, the plug-in forces the printer to output color, not monochrome. Print Greyscale also forces a color print.

I can find no mention of any to override these settings, and it is not practical to download, save, open in standalone reader and print.

This behaviour, especially for a browser plug-in seems to contradict industry-standard behaviour for printer settings.

Does anyone have any insight as to what is going on here? Or how to correct this?

[qureshi_ravish]

Try these:

Is your default printer also listed as the default printer in Adobe Reader's print dialog box?

If no then quit browser. Quit all Reader windows. You can do this by checking Task Manager and check there is no acroRd32.exe running. Once done relaunch the browser and try again.

Also check the your default printer is DEFAULT in Start Menu>Printer and Faxes.

Hope that helps.

[winyaz]

Hi,

I am having the same issue described in the original post.  With Windows 7, when launching Adobe from within IE 8, Adobe is pulling different defaults than what the default printer has.  I have an HP printer, confirmed that it is the default printer in Windows, and this same printer is listed as the default when I bring up printer preferences from the Adobe plugin, yet the settings are different.  If I override the settings, the first page often (but not always) comes out as landscape even though portrait was selected.  Very annoying.

Is this an adobe bug, or is there something that I can do to fix this?  I've seen some posts with references to an Adobe printer in the Windows printers and faxes list.  We don't have an adobe printer listed there, just my HP printer (checked as the default) and a couple other printers that we don't have.

Don

[Ron Guttman]

I still don't have an answer and no one has been able to confirm this ... this is based strictly on observation.

The problem is not consistent, that is, the problem does not occur with every color document that is opened in Adobe Reader. I suspect, but do not know, that there is a setting in Acrobat that allows you to lock in the printer settings so that the document will render in a very specific way. This may be useful in the commercial print world, but is causing grief to "reader" users who may not need to render the document in all its original, glorious and expensive color.

Would someone with knowledge of the full Acrobat package please comment?

[hsclater]

We have this problem with Win7/IE8 and Acrobat Reader X. There isnt a problem in Chrome because it uses the native Windows dialog boxes and picks up the defaults correctly.

I have been unable to find a solution, just looks a bug/limitation.

[hsclater]

OK, I have found the reason for this, there are a couple of solutions.

The reason PDF files within IE do not pick up the default printer settings is due to Protected Mode.

When this is on, IE does not allow access to the users customised print settings.

There are 2 possible solutions:

- Add the sites in question to the Local Intranet zone or other zone that does not have protected mode enabled

- Change Adobe Reader settings as per http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404893.html, to disable opening in PDF within the browser. This means they open in Acrobat:

The Display PDF In Browser option is selected in Adobe Acrobat 8 or 9 or in Adobe Reader 8 or 9. (To see this option in Acrobat or Adobe Reader, choose Edit > Preferences > Internet.)

I have tested this and it works, PDF files will now have the correct printer settings.

[winyaz]

Thanks!  I'll try that.

[Lankymart]

Hi,

I'm not convinced that Protected Mode is the only problem, I have a client using Internet Explorer 9 (without Protected Mode enabled) and Network Printer settings are still being cached even when removing the printer connection and re-adding the printer connection even though looking at the Printer Properties in Devices and Printers shows the preferences correctly.

Can anyone else confirm this behaviour in the Adobe Reader plugin for IE?

Environment: Windows 7 / Windows XP - Mix of 32/64 bit machines

Adobe Reader Version: 9.5.2