Preview doesnt let me create pdfs since catalina

On 2019-10-25 I spoke to Apple upper level tech support and was told this is a known issue and Apple is working on a fix. Here is the best workaround I've found that has worked for me -- I had this same issue appear for me after installing Catalina on my iMac:

Option1 - Even though you are not trying to actually print anything out, if you only have 1 printer, try this -- just deleting and adding your printer back (in Sys Prefs>Printers) will get rid of the bug causing the issue -- this fixed the issue for me. Now try "save as PDF."

Options 2 - A workaround is to go up to the Preview "File" menu and select "Export as PDF" but note that this reduces the final file size considerably (from a 100MB file of 23 images to 4MB) - so if you need it to remain a high quality image, do not use this.

Option 3 - When the print dialog is open in Preview, if I select a different printer from my list (even though I'm going to Save as PDF), then it worked fine with no issues. I only have 2 printers in my dialogue box, a Canon and an Epson - but only the Canon is "on" and in regular use, so I selected the Epson which was not even turned "on" and then did the Save As PDF and it worked. Which lead to me think maybe even though I'm not printing, that somehow my Canon printer, (which works just fine as a printer), maybe the printer's driver is causing some issue - so, I deleted this printer (in Sys Prefs>Printers) and added it back in (there were 2 options for this printer - a Canon series or Canon Bonjour - I selected the Bonjour driver option and attempted to do what I initially had issues with.

Hope this helps

I had part of your issue - I got the "Error while printing" when attempting to Save As PDF. I also had the issue where I selected to open screen shots via Safari since Safari seems to have no issue saving PDFs - but that only gave me the top image saved as the PDF which was not helpful. And I had some other erratic behavior - where Save As PDF gave me the error message 10x in a row, then after a restart it worked once, then again stopped working - all before deleting my printer driver and adding it back - since then I have created many PDFs from jpegs, screen shots, etc... and all have worked as it used to (before the issue reared it's head in Catalina). Know that Apple is aware of this issue and working on a fix - but I would suggest going to https://www.apple.com/feedback/ and under the macOS input let them know your issue, every person that tells Apple about this will escalate the problem further in scale. Am I right in assuming you tried all 3 options I suggested to you? The other option I read from another user with same issue is that selecting an AirPrint printer in the Preview dialogue box, even though you are NOT printing anything, fixes the issue - you may not own an AirPrint printer, so that won't help you. And I will add my Epson printer is an older printer, definitely not an AirPrint printer and when I selected it instead of my newer Canon printer my issue was solved. But out of curiosity, all this made me think to try deleting my Canon printer driver and add it back - and that has fixed my issue fully at least the past week and have done dozens of PDFs without issue.

Did you also try deleting the printer in Sys Prefs>Printers and adding it back? or try the suggestion from the Jblanchard who said to try this: add a fake printer using the Generic PS ppd: AddPrinter -> Select the IP tab, enter 1.2.3.4 in the Address field, select Generic PostScript Printer in the Use menu, and then Add. Then switch to this printer in the Preview print dialog and try your save as pdf again.

It's insanity that after 2 Catalina updates this glaring problem is still not solved. That being said, here is a workaround:

1) Open System Preferences

2) Open Printers & Scanners

3) Under the list of printers on the left, click the + symbol to add a printer

4) Click the IP tab at the top left

5) Fill in the window with these value:

Address: 127.0.0.1

Protocol: Select "AirPrint" from the dropdown menu

Queue: Leave blank

Name: Choose a name of your choice. I recommend "PDF Printer"

Location: Leave blank

Use: Select "AirPrint" from the dropdown menu

6) You will get a pop up saying "Unable to verify printer on your network. Would you still like to create the printer?" Click Continue

7) Open the file(s) in Preview that you wish to save as a PDF.

8) Click File, Print, then select the printer you just added ("PDF Printer"), then select Save As PDF

Ridiculous that we have to go through all of this to maintain a basic function of Preview, but this works.

PREVIEW application issue in Catalina 10.15 with supplemental update - SAVE AS PDF ISSUE - opened files in Preview, selected "save as" PDF I get an error message "error while printing" since upgrading to Catalina (including the supplemental update). I've tested various files on my iMac and also on an external hard drive - jpegs, screen shots, scanned documents - ranging from a single image to 23 images opened in Preview>Save As>PDF and always get the same error message "error while printing." Never had this issue before upgarding to Catalina 10.15. I've checked my "permissions" in Finder for example on files on my Desktop and it says "read and write" so I'm assuming it's not a Permissions issue. I've submitted this bug report to Apple Feedback - MacOS. IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING A TEMPORARY FIX: A workaround is to go up to the Preview "File" menu and select "Export as PDF" but note that this reduces the final file size considerably (from a 100MB file of 23 images to 4MB) - so if you need it to remain a high quality image, do not use this. The link to submit feedback is here: https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

earlier in this thread:

1) Use an AirPrint or generic PS/PCL printer, not a printer added with vendor drivers; it doesn't need to be real printer

2) Use "Open in Preview" from the pdf menu in the print dialog

3) Use Preview, File->Export as PDF…

4) Open the PDF in Safari, where Print->Save as PDF works.

You’re right, that is a really unhelpful error message.

I suggest you try this:

1) In the Finder, press command-shift-G and type

~/Library/Containers

2) Drag the com.apple.Preview folder out of the Containers folder (place it on the Desktop, for example)

3) Logout and login again

4) Launch Preview and see if the problem is solved

Boot into Safe Mode (Use Safe Mode to isoloate issues with your Mac) and try printing to PDF from there. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing. ss

I think option 3 will only help if you add the printer with a non-vendor driver and then make that printer the selected printer in the print dialog.

A very quick test is to add a fake printer using the Generic PS ppd:

AddPrinter -> Select the IP tab, enter 1.2.3.4 in the Address field, select Generic PostScript Printer in the Use menu, and then Add. Then switch to this printer in the Preview print dialog and try your save as pdf again.

If this doesn't work, then this is a different problem than the known saving to PDF with vendor drivers.

Hope this helps.

Hi Community,

I had the exact same problem here. Brandnew MacBook pro 16" with Catalina 10.15.1. My complete workflow depends on the "Save as PDF". My solutions was to delete the installed Printer (in my case a HP Laserjet 100)...and yes it work´s again for me!!!

Thanks everyone for your inputs!

A Catalina update has been released, Version 10:15. This has solved the preview print problems for me. However I still can't open locked PDFs in preview.

Deleting my printer worked for me.

As lithiumus mentioned, deleted the printer then add it back. It worked for me.

There may some conflict with other software. Please run Etrecheck and post its report here.

Thanks John, it does. I open in Safari, print as PDF. Then open in preview, edit, then save. Then open THAT pdf again in Safari, and print to PDF. Very annoying.

Also, Preview won't let me open locked PDFs. Typing the correct password doesn't open the PDF. Again, safari can be used as a workaround. I really hope they fix this.