Barcode Not Printing New iMac

Hello there, fishfun83.

The following Knowledge Base article offers up a great checklist of steps for troubleshooting printing issues with your Mac:

Troubleshooting printer issues in OS X

http://support.apple.com/kb/ts3147

USB printers and Bonjour-enabled network printers

Follow these steps until the issue is addressed:

1. Make sure that the printer is powered on, has ink / toner, and that there are no alerts on the printer’s control panel. Note: If you cannot clear an alert on the printer's control panel, stop here and check the printer's documentation or contact the manufacturer for support.
2. Ensure the printer is properly connected to a USB port on the Mac or AirPort base station / Time Capsule. If the printer is a network-capable printer, make sure that it is properly connected to your home network.
3. Use Software Update to find and install the latest available updates. If an update is installed, see if the issue persists.
4. Open the Print & Scan pane or Print & Fax (Snow Leopard) pane in System Preferences.
5. Delete the affected printer, then add the printer again.

If the issue persists, try these additional steps:

1. Reset the printing system, then add the printer again.
2. If the issue still persists, reset the printing system again. Download and install your printer's drivers. Then, add the printer again.
3. Contact the printer vendor or visit their website for further assistance.

Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.

Cheers,

Pedro.

If Groupon is printing through your browser, check to see if you are or are checking to print backgrounds or headers and footers.

One method to try is to go to the PDF menu instead of printing and Open it in Preview. If the barcode shows up in that, try printing that from Preview.

Good luck.

hi - ihave just had a similar barcode printing problem - barcodes appears fine on scren in pdf but printed out as a solid black block on 3 different printers.

but following your suggestion of opening the pdf using Preview and printing from that - it worked fine. How mad is that?

This is a serious business -- my wife might have missed a flight as she had to go back to get a new boarding pass as the barcodes had not printed out on her boarding pass even though the print preview showed them, and Security would not let her through. What is it about Virgin's boarding pass that Preview doesn't like -- does it use a new pdf trick that Apple doesn't know about for the barcode?

I've tried the remedies suggested here: software update, as recommended by HP to get the most recent driver, seems to think my software is up to date, and also resetting the printing system, but they don't work. But one beautifully simple remedy does work: don't use Preview to print from, use Acrobat Reader instead!

I have solved this by printing it to a PDF file first. Then ensure that the barcode is in the PDF and print that.

I was doubtful about trying that, as I'd got the pdf file originally by saving the file emailed to me by Virgin. Anyway, it doesn't work, and 'export to PDF' doesn't either. But I tried exporting to png, and that has worked. I guess it has to as png format is basically a bitmap representation(?) and won't use the representation that Apple can't handle when printing.

The thought occurred to me, perhaps it isn't Apple's fault? Perhaps the file sent by Virgin is faulty. I found a web site, http://www.pdf-tools.com/pdf/validate-pdfa-online.aspx, that had a validator, and this was the result:

boardingpass.pdf does not conform to PDF/A.

I thought for good measure I'd check out a National Express bus ticket, which also has a bar code: