pdfs will only print as gobbledygook from MacBook Air

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Level 1

4 points

pdfs will only print as gobbledygook from MacBook Air

I bought my MacBook Air (M1) in 2020 and have always had problems printing pdfs. I have regularly updated the OS (now using Venture 13.3.1) but the problem never goes away! What happens is I get unlimited printed pages of gobbledygook and have to pull out the paper tray to stop it and then reset the print queue to cancel the job. My printer is a Samsung C48x series, driver version 3.0. If I restart everything – printer and Mac – I can sometimes get it to print one page, but never more. The printer works fine for printing other file types from my MacBook Air, and I can print pdfs from my iPhone and iPad, so it should be a very specific problem! I have recently deleted Adobe Acrobat from my computer and taken to using only Preview for pdfs, but I still have the same problem. Any thoughts?

MacBook Pro 15″, OS X 10.11

Posted on May 9, 2023 3:09 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

John Galt

Level 10

141,826 points

May 13, 2023 5:30 AM in response to 2Macs_France

My printer is a Samsung C48x series, ...

Confirm that it is one of the models listed in About AirPrint - Apple Support. The fact that your iPhone and iPad can print PDF documents correctly indicates that your printer is AirPrint-compatible, and needs no drivers.

If so the solution is to remove the existing printer from Printers & Scanners and add it again as an AirPrint printer. Refer to Solve printing problems on Mac - Apple Support.

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Answer 2

2Macs_France Author

Level 1

4 points

May 13, 2023 4:34 AM in response to ku4hx

Thank you.

What do you mean by 'compatible'? I have visited the Samsung site and installed their latest printer driver, and it works fine, but not for printing pdfs.

I feel the problem may be more related to a cache or preference somewhere which has got corrupted, but I don't know what I can delete with impunity, ie without causing another problem elsewhere! I have tried deleting the ones with 'printing/printer' in their names, but this has not improved things.

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