On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
staff..

I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
other printing). What is going on?

Merry Christmas to everyone

On 25/12/2022 12:02, Scott wrote:
> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
> staff..
>
> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
> other printing). What is going on?
>
> Merry Christmas to everyone

There are loads of ways to encapsulate images in a PDF file, and it may
be the method used was one of the less orthodox ones. You can also
protect PDF files against printing, but I would have expected it to say
that if that's what the issue was.

Andrew

On Sun, 25 Dec 2022 12:34:32 +0000, Andrew Gabriel
<andrew@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>On 25/12/2022 12:02, Scott wrote:
>> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
>> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
>> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
>> staff..
>>
>> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
>> other printing). What is going on?
>>
>> Merry Christmas to everyone
>
>There are loads of ways to encapsulate images in a PDF file, and it may
>be the method used was one of the less orthodox ones. You can also
>protect PDF files against printing, but I would have expected it to say
>that if that's what the issue was.
>
My cousin holds the copyright. Maybe he is looking for a royalty
payment :-)

On 25/12/2022 12:02, Scott wrote:
> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
> staff..
>
> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
> other printing). What is going on?

Not all PDF capable programs are created equal when it comes to
printing. The ones embedded in modern web browsers and email programs
are often a bit less capable than the standalone applications like Adobe
reader or Foxit reader.

So the first thing I would try, it to save the attachment to a file, and
then open in another PDF program and try printing from there.

--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/

On 12/25/2022 7:42 AM, Scott wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Dec 2022 12:34:32 +0000, Andrew Gabriel
> <andrew@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> On 25/12/2022 12:02, Scott wrote:
>>> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
>>> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
>>> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
>>> staff..
>>>
>>> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
>>> other printing). What is going on?
>>>
>>> Merry Christmas to everyone
>>
>> There are loads of ways to encapsulate images in a PDF file, and it may
>> be the method used was one of the less orthodox ones. You can also
>> protect PDF files against printing, but I would have expected it to say
>> that if that's what the issue was.
>>
> My cousin holds the copyright. Maybe he is looking for a royalty
> payment :-)
>

https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/acrobat/kb/quick-fix-print-pdf-image.html

"Print PDF as an image
...
Printing a PDF file as an image bypasses that processing by sending the
printer a simple image of the document instead. This process can cause
images and fonts to look slightly rougher, especially at the edges.
However, you can specify the resolution in dots per inch (dpi) to suit your needs."

Screenshot of the settings.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/3xN6DQf0/print-as-image.gif

An inkjet may have printed it, without having to do that.
Whereas a laser printer might not physically have enough RAM inside.

Inkjets can "stop the sheet of paper and buffer". That means they
don't need quite as much RAM, if the manufacturer is a stingy bastard.

Lasers try to print the entire sheet in one go of it.
And that requires RAM. The image is formed on a photo-active
surface and transferred to the paper via thermal fusion.
With lots of gubbins rotating and such.

The question I have about this stuff, is when will they stop
short-sheeting the equipment and just give us stuff that works ?

The very first laser printer at work, "it just worked"!!! Shocker.
Why was that ? Well, the printer was dumb as a post, and had
a "video interface" like a TV set. Whatever image was sent on the
video interface, got printed. No scaling. No halftoning. The computer
did *all* the prep. The printer had no RAM at all. No opportunity
for short-sheeting the customer! hah!

Paul

On Sun, 25 Dec 2022 14:13:57 +0000, John Rumm
<see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:

>On 25/12/2022 12:02, Scott wrote:
>> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
>> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
>> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
>> staff..
>>
>> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
>> other printing). What is going on?
>
>Not all PDF capable programs are created equal when it comes to
>printing. The ones embedded in modern web browsers and email programs
>are often a bit less capable than the standalone applications like Adobe
>reader or Foxit reader.

I was printing using Foxit.
>
>So the first thing I would try, it to save the attachment to a file, and
>then open in another PDF program and try printing from there.

ie, rather than try to print the email attachment, open it and re-save
it? I'll know next time, thanks.

On 25/12/2022 20:49, Scott wrote:
> On Sun, 25 Dec 2022 14:13:57 +0000, John Rumm
> <see.my.signature@nowhere.null> wrote:
>
>> On 25/12/2022 12:02, Scott wrote:
>>> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
>>> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
>>> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
>>> staff..
>>>
>>> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
>>> other printing). What is going on?
>>
>> Not all PDF capable programs are created equal when it comes to
>> printing. The ones embedded in modern web browsers and email programs
>> are often a bit less capable than the standalone applications like Adobe
>> reader or Foxit reader.
>
> I was printing using Foxit.
>>
>> So the first thing I would try, it to save the attachment to a file, and
>> then open in another PDF program and try printing from there.
>
> ie, rather than try to print the email attachment, open it and re-save
> it? I'll know next time, thanks.

Just save it directly from the email, rather than opening it and then
saving it.

Sometimes you might even find counter unintuitive steps can work like
printing the PDF to the PDF printer driver, then opening that, and print
that to the printer.

--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/

You can still hold the copyright but allow printing though. It would seem
daft to not allow the document to be copied when its only been sent to
you.In some cases the font size can be so small as to be unreadable if you
only have a phone, and in such cases you need to extract the text for
goodness sake.
Brian

--

--:
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Scott" <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote in message
news:58hgqhl54lo08qhdufiu33qj30e6tqfvq6@4ax.com...
> On Sun, 25 Dec 2022 12:34:32 +0000, Andrew Gabriel
> <andrew@cucumber.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>On 25/12/2022 12:02, Scott wrote:
>>> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
>>> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
>>> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
>>> staff..
>>>
>>> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
>>> other printing). What is going on?
>>>
>>> Merry Christmas to everyone
>>
>>There are loads of ways to encapsulate images in a PDF file, and it may
>>be the method used was one of the less orthodox ones. You can also
>>protect PDF files against printing, but I would have expected it to say
>>that if that's what the issue was.
>>
> My cousin holds the copyright. Maybe he is looking for a royalty
> payment :-)

He has probably put it all in as images. This is the Bain of my life as a
blind person. The reader software will show the picture, but when I try to
navigate it of course there is no text actually in it. This same issue ten
often has knock on effects when you want to print it with various effects
like the ink and paper are the same colour, words run off the edge and all
sorts of silliness.

People need, to my mind to make their pdfs with a program that tags the
text areas and then the printing or for viewing software can tweak it to be
able to be read by screenreaders and to be printed when it might otherwise
simply not fit and quite rightly refuse to print it using anything but the
print as graphics picture.
My feeling is that the makers of any software making a pDF need to have a
wizard that allowed the person making it to make intelligent choices. What
may well fork on your machine might end up a mess on somebody elses with
different pdf reading software.
Brian

--

--:
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Scott" <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote in message
news:phegqh95tqee59t6lhe096bmvm602rifrb@4ax.com...
> On a seasonal note (literally), I received a Christmas letter from my
> cousin as a pdf file. This was three pages long and included a lot of
> photographs. However, I could not get it to print. I tried the usual
> staff..
>
> I then tried printing it as an image and this worked fine (as does my
> other printing). What is going on?
>
> Merry Christmas to everyone

On 26/12/2022 10:33, Brian Gaff wrote:

> He has probably put it all in as images. This is the Bain of my life as a
> blind person. The reader software will show the picture, but when I try to
> navigate it of course there is no text actually in it. This same issue ten
> often has knock on effects when you want to print it with various effects
> like the ink and paper are the same colour, words run off the edge and all
> sorts of silliness.

Surely you have access to OCR software.

--
Max Demian

On 25 Dec 2022 at 12:02:06 GMT, "Scott" <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:

> However, I could not get it to print.

Kindly elaborate. Otherwise it's hopeless.

--
For me leaving the EU has always been a fundamental if abstract question of democratic accountability: disliking a transnational government it's impossible to kick out.

Iain Martin - The Times 24/11/2022

On 27 Dec 2022 16:29:29 GMT, Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net>
wrote:

>On 25 Dec 2022 at 12:02:06 GMT, "Scott" <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> However, I could not get it to print.
>
>Kindly elaborate. Otherwise it's hopeless.

When I clicked the 'Print' function, a 'buffering' symbol appeared on
the monitor. After about 1 minute or so, the bar had only reached
33%. Eventually it reached 100% but nothing emerged from the printer.
When I checked the print queue, I found the relevant files within. I
unplugged the printer cable and plugged in in again in case 'plug and
play' would solve the problem, but it did not. When I tried the
'image only' printing option, the page printed without difficulty.

This is a laser printer - HP LaserJet P1102w. PDF version is 1.7,
File size is 1,100 KB. The file contains a lot of colour images as
well as the usual text relating to family events during 2022.

On 12/27/2022 12:22 PM, Scott wrote:
> On 27 Dec 2022 16:29:29 GMT, Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net>
> wrote:
>
>> On 25 Dec 2022 at 12:02:06 GMT, "Scott" <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>>> However, I could not get it to print.
>>
>> Kindly elaborate. Otherwise it's hopeless.
>
> When I clicked the 'Print' function, a 'buffering' symbol appeared on
> the monitor. After about 1 minute or so, the bar had only reached
> 33%. Eventually it reached 100% but nothing emerged from the printer.
> When I checked the print queue, I found the relevant files within. I
> unplugged the printer cable and plugged in in again in case 'plug and
> play' would solve the problem, but it did not. When I tried the
> 'image only' printing option, the page printed without difficulty.
>
> This is a laser printer - HP LaserJet P1102w. PDF version is 1.7,
> File size is 1,100 KB. The file contains a lot of colour images as
> well as the usual text relating to family events during 2022.
>

Pages 3 and 4 here, explain HP printer types. while this is a
sales sheet for colour printers, it does make passing reference
to the two types of HP printers.

https://laserpros.com/img/TechTips/hp-clj-1500-printer-specs.pdf

The cheapest type is "host based printing". The buffer on the printer
is smaller than on the other printers. Host based printing means
the pixels to be printed are sent in real time to the printer,
as the drum or belt rotates. This places a higher bandwidth requirement
on the USB2, Wifi, or Ethernet cable to the printer.

The second type is PDL (Printer Description Language) based. The
printer knows PCL5, PCL6, PostScript. These are vector languages,
where you can send a dozen bytes and it "draws a line" on the sheet.
Vector allows lower bandwidth usage in getting to the printer.
The buffer RAM is larger (and offers DIMM expansion options), because
the (faster) printer processor converts vectors into pixels
(printer cpu compute effort). This includes downsampling high-res images
so they match the printer pixel density.

The advantage of the PDL option, is it buffers up entire pages,
and it will only "emit" a sheet, when all pixels are known.
It's a "guarantee of delivery" method. The drum won't start rotating,
unless the page is ready to print, in printer DIMM RAM.

The host-based printing method, uses a tiny buffer, and it
relies on the PC feeding it (in real time!), being able to serve the info
at the (steady) rate required. The host-based printer is
cheaper to make. There's not even a DIMM slot for a memory
upgrade, because the buffer is sized for a small queue of
pixels prepared by the host processor. As long as the
"PC can squirt at drum-rotation speed", the print comes
out of the printer intact, with no damage.

While you would think in this case, there's something wrong
with the Windows printer driver preparing the pixels, we
cannot be sure unless an error code is thrown that can be
used by the computer operator, to "figure it out" :-)
Totally silent failures, leave no evidence of which
part (the Windows PC, or the dumbass printer) is at fault.

I don't know why the Windows Print Driver is fouling this up,
but it's the most likely defect, in host-based printing. A
program like Adobe, could be doing the print job, transfers
with GDI or something to the Windows printer driver, the
Windows print driver to printer with "bulk pixels". I like to
find printer stack diagrams, to verify details like that.

Printing the errant document from Linux, using CUPS or something,
would be an interesting experiment to see if the doc prints
better that way. But it's a lot of work getting printing to work
in Linux, so this would hardly be "fun".

Paul

On Wed, 28 Dec 2022 07:07:31 -0500, Paul <nospam@needed.invalid>
wrote:

>On 12/27/2022 12:22 PM, Scott wrote:
>> On 27 Dec 2022 16:29:29 GMT, Tim Streater <timstreater@greenbee.net>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 25 Dec 2022 at 12:02:06 GMT, "Scott" <newsgroups@gefion.myzen.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> However, I could not get it to print.
>>>
>>> Kindly elaborate. Otherwise it's hopeless.
>>
>> When I clicked the 'Print' function, a 'buffering' symbol appeared on
>> the monitor. After about 1 minute or so, the bar had only reached
>> 33%. Eventually it reached 100% but nothing emerged from the printer.
>> When I checked the print queue, I found the relevant files within. I
>> unplugged the printer cable and plugged in in again in case 'plug and
>> play' would solve the problem, but it did not. When I tried the
>> 'image only' printing option, the page printed without difficulty.
>>
>> This is a laser printer - HP LaserJet P1102w. PDF version is 1.7,
>> File size is 1,100 KB. The file contains a lot of colour images as
>> well as the usual text relating to family events during 2022.
>>
>
>Pages 3 and 4 here, explain HP printer types. while this is a
>sales sheet for colour printers, it does make passing reference
>to the two types of HP printers.
>
>https://laserpros.com/img/TechTips/hp-clj-1500-printer-specs.pdf
>
>The cheapest type is "host based printing". The buffer on the printer
>is smaller than on the other printers. Host based printing means
>the pixels to be printed are sent in real time to the printer,
>as the drum or belt rotates. This places a higher bandwidth requirement
>on the USB2, Wifi, or Ethernet cable to the printer.
>
>The second type is PDL (Printer Description Language) based. The
>printer knows PCL5, PCL6, PostScript. These are vector languages,
>where you can send a dozen bytes and it "draws a line" on the sheet.
>Vector allows lower bandwidth usage in getting to the printer.
>The buffer RAM is larger (and offers DIMM expansion options), because
>the (faster) printer processor converts vectors into pixels
>(printer cpu compute effort). This includes downsampling high-res images
>so they match the printer pixel density.
>
>The advantage of the PDL option, is it buffers up entire pages,
>and it will only "emit" a sheet, when all pixels are known.
>It's a "guarantee of delivery" method. The drum won't start rotating,
>unless the page is ready to print, in printer DIMM RAM.
>
>The host-based printing method, uses a tiny buffer, and it
>relies on the PC feeding it (in real time!), being able to serve the info
>at the (steady) rate required. The host-based printer is
>cheaper to make. There's not even a DIMM slot for a memory
>upgrade, because the buffer is sized for a small queue of
>pixels prepared by the host processor. As long as the
>"PC can squirt at drum-rotation speed", the print comes
>out of the printer intact, with no damage.
>
>While you would think in this case, there's something wrong
>with the Windows printer driver preparing the pixels, we
>cannot be sure unless an error code is thrown that can be
>used by the computer operator, to "figure it out" :-)
>Totally silent failures, leave no evidence of which
>part (the Windows PC, or the dumbass printer) is at fault.
>
>I don't know why the Windows Print Driver is fouling this up,
>but it's the most likely defect, in host-based printing. A
>program like Adobe, could be doing the print job, transfers
>with GDI or something to the Windows printer driver, the
>Windows print driver to printer with "bulk pixels". I like to
>find printer stack diagrams, to verify details like that.
>
>Printing the errant document from Linux, using CUPS or something,
>would be an interesting experiment to see if the doc prints
>better that way. But it's a lot of work getting printing to work
>in Linux, so this would hardly be "fun".
>
Thanks. I'll have a look at this, though it does not appear to be
relevant to the 1100 series and it relates to colour printers when
mine is monochrome.

On 12/28/2022 12:35 PM, Scott wrote:

> Thanks. I'll have a look at this, though it does not appear to be
> relevant to the 1100 series and it relates to colour printers when
> mine is monochrome.
>

Your laser printer, according to the specs I could find,
has 8MB of RAM. It has a tendency to show, on its information
display, that it has "1MB of RAM free".

This allows me to classify the device, in a similar way to the
table I provided. Your device is a "host-based printer" and
the RAM is not expandable. There will be no DIMM slot in there.

Knowing that it is a "host-based printer", means the problem
is somewhere in the Windows PC, not the printer.

Paul