Cannot print to Adobe PDF from InDesign CS4 under Snow Leopard (10.6.2)

I can't print from Acrobat Reader, but in the process of looking for a solution for that, I ran across some info that said that people solved the problem you're having by installing Rosetta and having the InDesign/Illustrator workflow run in Rosetta.

I only have the Windows version of InDesign CS2 so I can't reproduce your exact problem, but maybe this helps.

HMM just come across this problem myself too, Indesign CS4 and me new mac with SL on. I take it from the lack of response that this is still an unsolved problem?

First you have to make sure you have applied all updates from Adobe for Acrobat Pro 9. Changes were made for it to be compatible with Snow Leopard.

Due to security changes in SL, the PDF print option went through a few changes. As you've already discovered, the PDF 9 print driver no longer works as a defined printer. Instead, you'll find it in the menus of the Adobe apps.

Once you have all Acrobat updates applied, there should be an option in the CS4 menu right above "Export" for "Adobe PDF Presets". There is nowhere in these presets to define a page size, but the resulting PDF should automatically be created to the size of the current document.

Thanks for the quick reply Kurt! unfortunately the solution you mention is great if you want composite proofs...but if like many printers you frequently have to supply print separated pdfs, the presets are useless. Previously you simply printed them through the print command using the seperations output, along with the pdf print driver. This no longer seems to work leaving me and plenty (if my google search is to be believed) out in the cold. Any solutions will be greeted with open arms and a big cuddle!

Dang! I don't have any clients who require separated PDFs, so I hadn't noticed that.

It's a kludge, but you can do it this way. I used the print driver for an HP 5000 just to call up some kind of print driver dialogue where I could set a page size. Went into the Output section in InDesign's print dialogue and chose Separations.

Now click on the Printer... button at the bottom. Then click PDF at the lower left and Save as PostScript. Save the .ps file wherever you want it. Open the Distiller, choose PDF/A-1b in the Default Settings drop down menu. Drag and drop your .ps file into the Distiller. You should get a color separated PDF.

For a long time I was printing out of InDesign CS4 to a PS file and Distilling to a PDF, either composite or separated. Then Snow Leopard came along and that workflow seemed no longer available. It seems some well meaning people didn't understand a professional DTP workflow.
I had to work between two Macs to create a project and then make separations.
Eventually I went back to the Adobe InDesign forums and folks insisted that a Adobe PDF 9 printer should be available in my print drivers.
On that suggestion I completely uninstalled Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 and then reinstalled it.
It worked, I had the PDF printer back and can now print to a postscript file and do separations as I always have.
(Another story is that Snow Leopard killed my Epson 2200 printer)
At one stage I did an update of Acrobat 9 and it caused me to lose the Adobe printer again. Going through the procedure again brought it back and this time after a Acrobat 9 update it stuck.
In my opinion somebody screwed up. It's not enough to be able to create PDFs out of Microsoft Word. There are people out here trying to make a living and need to be able to create print separations for some offset printers.

Eventually I went back to the Adobe InDesign forums and folks insisted that a Adobe PDF 9 printer should be available in my print drivers.
On that suggestion I completely uninstalled Adobe Acrobat Pro 9 and then reinstalled it.

Very interesting! I couldn't get a PDF 9 printer to show up in SL a while back and just kind of relegated it to, "Well, I guess that's gone." When I get time, I'll have to try your steps to see if I can get it to reappear.

Well, that was a major waste of time. I don't know how some have gotten the PDF printer working in Snow Leopard, but Adobe themselves say it does not work. Official statement and new procedure outlined here.

I did get it to show up by uninstalling and reinstalling Acrobat Pro, but it always does at 9.0. Once you update Acrobat to 9.1.x or later, the installer removes the PDF printer and replaces it with the menu driven options.

When I did have the PDF printer up, it functioned as you would expect the menus to. But as it always has for me, anything you sent through the PDF printer went to digital heaven. Nothing was produced. We'll have to see what Adobe did for CS5. The launch date is April 12 when you can see previews of the improvements and additions. The actual release date is still unknown.

As I mentioned I got it to work with an Acrobat 9 Pro re-install, and then after I updated it disappeared. Re-installing again brought it back and then after two updates to Acrobat 9.3.1 I still have the PDF printer as a choice. I know this is not much help to you, but it seems there is a variable here that can allow a PDF printer.

BTW, I totally agree with the assertion that a PDF printer is essential for a correct DTP workflow. I have a number of printers who I have to supply separations for. For Apple or Adobe to suggest we don't need it is clearly an error of judgement.

Re-installing again brought it back and then after two updates to Acrobat 9.3.1 I still have the PDF printer as a choice.

Yup, I tried various methods to get the PDF printer to stick. It never does. The updaters do exactly what Adobe says it will every time.

I know this is not much help to you, but it seems there is a variable here that can allow a PDF printer.

Wish I knew what it was. There's certainly no documentation that gives anyone a hint. None that I could find anyway.

I wish I had seen this post before. I spent 2 hours on the phone with Adobe tech support - arguing with the tech. After an escalation to the next level - I was confirmed - I can not print to a PDF printer with OS X 10.6.3 - So I did a re-install of my OS back to 10.6. It used to work on 10.6 - and now it doesn't. I use the PDF printer to print tiled documents - i.e. 11x17 in InDesign CS4 to 8.5 x 11 sheets so my client can easily print and view. Does anyone have another work around suggestion that does NOT include manually cropping these in photoshop and recombining the PDF in Acrobat? I could cry. 1 minute now will take 15 minutes. Its almost like Adobe is doing it to force designers to upgrade to CS5.
Thanks for any suggestions!
Patty