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General => Technical Help => Topic started by: Malcolm Bull on Sunday 26 June 16 14:31 BST (UK)
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Something strange is happening when I print a document - notably an AOL email - using a PDF-handling program, such as PDf Creator / PDFlite / NitroPDF.
Although the document is fairly small, only about half a page of text or less, with all 3 programs the resultant PDF file is huge (typically about 500 pages).
Am I missing something? and doing something wrong? Is it AOL? Any other free software I should try?
Any constructive help would be most welcome
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What OS are you using and which version?
Have you recently upgraded your OS?
Are you using wifi or cable to print?
Have you actually printed out anything or is your preview telling you it is 500 pages?
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Thanks for the response.
I'm on Windows 7. I haven't upgraded the OS. I am only producing the PDF file at this stage, so there question of Wifi / cable is irrelevant. When I did try to print the PDF document, it just threw out blank page after blank page.
To confuse things further, I just tried cut-and-paste to move the text to OpenOffice and print to a PDF file from there and it works perfectly.
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Is the document actually in PDF format, or are you trying to print an office style document as a PDF?
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As I said, the problem appeared when I was trying to print an AOL email, not a PDF document
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That I would suggest is the problem. The document needs to be in PDF format from the start. Why can you not print directly to your printer from the email?
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Are there any options available when you print to PDF? Such as just printing the text in the mail? I use a mac so am unsure about possible Windows options when it comes to this kind of thing. I know when I print from some programs to PDF that you can choose the content that is to be printed. Could there be a hidden option somewhere perhaps?
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I don't see why you say
The document needs to be in PDF format from the start. Why can you not print directly to your printer from the email?
I have an AOL email the text of which I want to convert to a PDF document, using a PDF-handling program, such as PDf Creator / PDFlite / NitroPDF. As you imply, I can, of course, send it directly to the printer, but I don't want that; I want it in PDF form.
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There will always be additional pages when an email is "printed" as a PDF document - although 500 does seem excessive. As an experiment I tried converting a few simple emails and they generally worked out at around 12 pages in pdf format for every page (or screen view) in the actual email. Some pages were blank some had only a few words on them it all depends on the set up of the email reader (and of course the content).
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The difference between printing in a PDF format or printing as a Word document is nil. It does not matter what the format is for a printed document. I fail to see the reasoning behind wanting a PDF when you print.
If you want the email converted to a PDF, any of your PDF handling programs will do that.
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I think there's a bit of confusion here between 'printing to pdf' and printing to a physical printer.
If the email is still coming out as 500 page pdf, are you able to delete the extra pages in your pdf-reading program? Not the ideal situation, but it could be a work-around.
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The difference between printing in a PDF format or printing as a Word document is nil. It does not matter what the format is for a printed document. I fail to see the reasoning behind wanting a PDF when you print.
The original poster has referred to the process of using a pseudo printer to create a pdf file from a non pdf source ie. the email as "printing a pdf file"
If you want the email converted to a PDF, any of your PDF handling programs will do that.
The OP has used several of the available pdf pseudo printers to try and create the pdf file required. Unfortunately the programs are interpreting the information sent to them within the AOL email to create a 500 page pdf document and it this which has led to the query posted asking if this was a normal situation or if anything could be done to reduce this page count.
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Thanks Falkryn. That's exactly the situation and the problem I was facing and hoped to find a solution for
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Hi Malcolm, I didn't make it clear from my other post that I did indeed understand your problem. I'm sorry I couldn't think of a solution though! I used to use Acrobat Pro, so was used to being able to delete pages from pdfs quite easily and without too much hassle - unfortunately I don't know if that's possible with just a basic pdf reader program. I hope you find a solution!
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So why not copy and paste the contents of the email into an 'Office' document and then convert to PDF for printing?
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There will always be additional pages when an email is "printed" as a PDF document - although 500 does seem excessive. As an experiment I tried converting a few simple emails and they generally worked out at around 12 pages in pdf format for every page (or screen view) in the actual email. Some pages were blank some had only a few words on them it all depends on the set up of the email reader (and of course the content).
I have never found this to be the case.
I can offer no solution to your problem Malcolm, I can only say that I use AOL email and am not having any problems, I have just checked, a two page email printed to PDF Creator created two pages and then printed two pages, no blanks. I have tested using OS XP, Vista and Windows 10.
Jebber
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The difference between printing in a PDF format or printing as a Word document is nil. It does not matter what the format is for a printed document. I fail to see the reasoning behind wanting a PDF when you print.
The original poster has referred to the process of using a pseudo printer to create a pdf file from a non pdf source ie. the email as "printing a pdf file"
If you want the email converted to a PDF, any of your PDF handling programs will do that.
The OP has used several of the available pdf pseudo printers to try and create the pdf file required. Unfortunately the programs are interpreting the information sent to them within the AOL email to create a 500 page pdf document and it this which has led to the query posted asking if this was a normal siuation or if anything could be done to reduce this page count.
The problem could be with that specific email.... Maybe try same with another AOL email to see what happens with it??
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So why not copy and paste the contents of the email into an 'Office' document and then convert to PDF for printing?
He has already done this and said it worked perfectly.
I think the OP is making this harder for himself than it needs be.
If your email is blowing out to 500 pages, then you are dealing with raster data and spooling.
Without going right into it, can you Print directly to the printer?
You would have to go into Advanced Options.
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Thanks everyone, but it gets Curious & curiouser!
I did a few tests (all with Windows 7)
Word ==> printer OK
Word ==> PDF ==> printer OK
Firefox ==> AOL email ==> printer NOT OK (500+ pages)
Firefox ==> AOL email ==> PDF NOT OK (500+ pages)
Chrome ==> AOL email ==> printer OK
Chrome ==> AOL email ==> PDF OK
So the shadow of doubt seems to hover over Firefox and not AOL as I suspected.
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That's interesting. Is there anything in Firefox's print settings that could be causing your problem?
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To add to my previous post, all the successful tests I made with AOL email were using Firefox.
Jebber