pdfs print fine with preview, not at all with adobe reader

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Level 2

309 points

pdfs print fine with preview, not at all with adobe reader

this is a relatively new issue that popped up sometime in the last month or so. when i try to print any pdf document with adobe reader, to my HP laserjet P1505, i get the following error:

/usr/libexec/cups/filter/pstoraster failed

if i open up the same document with preview, it prints fine. i updated my printer software, and reinstalled adobe reader with no change. what gives?

MacBook Pro, 27" iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.3)

Posted on Sep 7, 2010 12:13 PM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 7, 2010 12:27 PM in response to Sobeck

Sobeck wrote:
i updated my printer software, and reinstalled adobe reader with no change.

So the issue happened before you updated? If you're printing from Preview fine I don't think it's a printer related issue. Do you have the latest Adobe Reader update? Also, you might try trashing Adobe Reader's preferences if you know where to find them in /Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/Acrobat folder.

-mj

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Answer 2

Sobeck Author

Level 2

309 points

Sep 8, 2010 5:58 AM in response to macjack

that didn't help either.

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 8, 2010 6:12 AM in response to Sobeck

Try going to System Preferences > Print&Fax and delete Adobe PDF from your Printer list, then re-add it.

-mj

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Answer 4

Sobeck Author

Level 2

309 points

Sep 8, 2010 7:16 AM in response to macjack

it's not in there...

but it almost has to be a printer issue because i just found that i can print just fine to a different printer shared over the network. it's just this one. interesting.

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Answer 5

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 8, 2010 7:21 AM in response to Sobeck

Sobeck wrote:
it's not in there...

Aha! Choose it from /Library/Printers.

-mj

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Answer 6

Sobeck Author

Level 2

309 points

Sep 8, 2010 11:20 AM in response to macjack

there's nothing about adobe or pdf in there, either. just the names of the two printers i have installed.

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Answer 7

Sep 8, 2010 12:09 PM in response to Sobeck

macjack is confusing Adobe Reader with Acrobat.

Adobe Reader has some issues with some PDFs. In the Print... dialog, try clicking on the Advanced... button and choosing Print as Image.

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Answer 8

Sobeck Author

Level 2

309 points

Sep 8, 2010 12:24 PM in response to Bruce De Benedictis

that works, but the print quality suffers. it would be better to reopen the document with preview and print that way.

if nobody else has any ideas, i guess i'll just make preview the default pdf viewer and open stuff manually with adobe reader when i need the extra features. thanks.

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Answer 9

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Sep 8, 2010 12:48 PM in response to Bruce De Benedictis

Yes, I guess. I thought the reader had a PDF printer also. I have AcrobatPro and I ONLY use when I have to. My default is Preview, so much easier to work with.

-mj

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Answer 10

Sep 8, 2010 6:24 PM in response to Sobeck

Preview will send PDF to the printing system. Adobe Reader sends PostScript to the printing system. For some reason the PostScript to raster filter is failing when you use Adobe Reader. When you print as an image from Adobe Reader, it will send some other form of data to the printing system.

When the printing system encounters an error, it usually leaves about 50 lines of debugging information in the error_log. The error message doesn't really tell you what caused the error. You have to look at what led up to the error.

You can check your CUPS error_log by using a web browser and going to http://127.0.0.1:631/admin/log/error_log? If you post the items surrounding the filter failure, we may be able to determine the cause of the failure. Debugging messages are preceded by the letter D. Error messages are precede by the letter E.

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Answer 11

Sobeck Author

Level 2

309 points

Sep 10, 2010 5:45 AM in response to Matt Broughton

here's what popped up in that log just now when the print failed:

thanks for looking at this!

D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] argv[6]="/private/var/spool/cups/d00215-001"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[0]="<CFProcessPath>"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[1]="CUPS_CACHEDIR=/private/var/spool/cups/cache"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[2]="CUPS_DATADIR=/usr/share/cups"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[3]="CUPS_DOCROOT=/usr/share/doc/cups"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[4]="CUPS_FONTPATH=/usr/share/cups/fonts"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[5]="CUPS_REQUESTROOT=/private/var/spool/cups"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[6]="CUPS_SERVERBIN=/usr/libexec/cups"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[7]="CUPS_SERVERROOT=/private/etc/cups"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[8]="CUPS_STATEDIR=/private/etc/cups"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[9]="HOME=/private/var/spool/cups/tmp"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[10]="PATH=/usr/libexec/cups/filter:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[11]="SERVER_ADMIN=root@MOS525macSobeck.local"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[12]="SOFTWARE=CUPS/1.4.4"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[13]="TMPDIR=/private/var/spool/cups/tmp"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[14]="USER=root"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[15]="CUPS_SERVER=/private/var/run/cupsd"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[16]="CUPS_ENCRYPTION=IfRequested"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[17]="IPP_PORT=631"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[18]="CHARSET=utf-8"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[19]="LANG=en_US.UTF-8"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[20]="APPLE_LANGUAGE=en-US"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[21]="PPD=/private/etc/cups/ppd/HP LaserJetP1505.ppd"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[22]="RIP MAXCACHE=8m"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[23]="CONTENT_TYPE=application/postscript"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[24]="DEVICE_URI=usb://Hewlett-Packard/HP%20LaserJet%20P1505?serial=CA4467F "
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[25]="PRINTER_INFO=HP LaserJet P1505"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[26]="PRINTER_LOCATION=MOS525macSobeck"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[27]="PRINTER=HP LaserJetP1505"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[28]="CUPS_FILETYPE=document"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] envp[29]="FINAL CONTENT_TYPE=printer/HP_LaserJetP1505"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Started filter /usr/libexec/cups/filter/pstops (PID 99017)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Started filter /usr/libexec/cups/filter/pstoraster (PID 99018)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Started filter /Library/Printers/hp/laserjet/hplaserjetzjs.bundle/Contents/MacOS/rasterToHPZJS (PID 99019)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Started backend /usr/libexec/cups/backend/usb (PID 99020)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Starting ESP Ghostscript 7.07.1...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Running /usr/local/bin/gs -dQUIET -dDEBUG -dPARANOIDSAFER -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dNOMEDIAATTRS -sDEVICE=cups -sstdout=%stderr -sOUTPUTFILE=%stdout -c -
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] /usr/libexec/cups/filter/pstoraster: line 58: /usr/local/bin/gs: No such file or directory
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Page = 612x792; 18,14 to 594,778
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] slow_collate=0, slow_duplex=0, slow_order=0
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Before copy_comments - %!PS-Adobe-3.1
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %!PS-Adobe-3.1
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %ADO DSCEncoding: MacOS Roman
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%Title: 125vocab2.pdf
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%Creator: Adobe Acrobat 9.3.4
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%For: osu
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%CreationDate: 9/10/10, 8:37 AM
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%BoundingBox: 22 40 590 774
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%HiResBoundingBox: 22.4091 40 589.5909 774
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%CropBox: 22.4091 40 589.5909 774
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%LanguageLevel: 2
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%DocumentNeededResources: (atend)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%DocumentSuppliedResources: (atend)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%DocumentNeededFeatures: (atend)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%DocumentSuppliedFeatures: (atend)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%DocumentData: Binary
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%PageOrder: Ascend
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%Pages: (atend)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%DocumentCustomColors: (atend)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] %%EndComments
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Before copy_prolog - %%BeginDefaults
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] usb: AppleLanguages="en-US"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] STATE: +connecting-to-device
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Looking for 'Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet P1505'
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] load_classdriver(/System/Library/Printers/Libraries/USBGenericTOPrintingClass.p lugin) (kr:0x00000000)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Opening connection
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] load_classdriver(/System/Library/Printers/Libraries/USBGenericTOPrintingClass.p lugin) (kr:0x00000000)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] STATE: -connecting-to-device
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Sending print data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Read 59 bytes of print data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] CUPS SC_CMD_DRAINOUTPUT received from driver...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Wrote 59 bytes of print data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Read 16 bytes of back-channel data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Using unbuffered writes.
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Executing Shutdown().
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] CommandInterface does not exist.
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Releasing the Command Interface.
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Entering ProcessStatusMessages(60.000000)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] About to read CUPS back channel...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Read 319 bytes of print data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] CUPS SC_CMD_DRAINOUTPUT received from driver...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Wrote 319 bytes of print data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Got USB transaction timeout during read
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] ...back channel read returned; -1 bytes returned.
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Exiting ProcessStatusMessages
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Entering ProcessStatusMessages(1.000000)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] About to read CUPS back channel...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Read 18 bytes of print data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Wrote 18 bytes of print data...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] ...back channel read returned; -1 bytes returned.
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Exiting ProcessStatusMessages
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Sent 396 bytes...
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] Got USB transaction timeout during read
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] End of messages
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] printer-state=3(idle)
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] printer-state-message="No pages found!"
D [10/Sep/2010:08:38:48 -0400] [Job 215] printer-state-reasons=none

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Answer 12

Sep 10, 2010 6:46 PM in response to Sobeck

The pstoraster fiter that failed is actually part of the Ghostscript package. It cannot find Ghostscript (/usr/local/bin/gs) to do the conversion. At one point you had Ghostscript installed or perhaps you need to reinstall it.

What printer driver are you using for your printer? That will determine whether you actually need Ghostscript. In any event, you can download Ghostscript at http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/macosx/foomat ic The package contains both an installer and an uninstaller.

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Answer 13

Sobeck Author

Level 2

309 points

Sep 15, 2010 9:39 AM in response to Matt Broughton

thanks for the help everyone, but... fail. reinstalled the entire ghostscript package as well as foomatic, and now i'm getting a different error:

Bitdepth and/or color space not supported by threshold set! Fatal Error!

shockingly, i'm still alive, but i'm a little concerned that every time i do this, someone else somewhere dies. it's kinda funny 'cause i don't know them, but at some point i guess everyone has to get to a place in life where they stop causing the death of total strangers.

so i give up. i'll just print PDFs using preview.

thanks.

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Answer 14

Sep 15, 2010 12:14 PM in response to Sobeck

Try running the Uninstallers for both Foomati-RIP and Ghostscript. It could be that the output from Ghostscript is not compatible with the driver for your LaserJet.

You could print from Preview before without having Ghostscript installed, so it would seem that your printer driver does not need it.

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Answer 15

Sobeck Author

Level 2

309 points

Sep 16, 2010 7:10 AM in response to Matt Broughton

winner, winner, chicken dinner. uninstalling GS and foomatic did the trick. thanks!

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