I have a problem with generating a PDF file from an application, and neither vendor makes it easy to figure out what could be wrong.
I am using a music writing application called ScoreWriter from GenieSoft. It allows you to write music, and it will play it back or capture it as a midi file. It prints just dandy.
I have Adobe Acrobat 7.0. When I generate a PDF from ScoreWriter (by printing to the virtual printer Adobe PDF Writer) I get something that looks like a music copyist on LSD (30K PDF file). Here is what the first page is supposed to look like (if you don’t view it full size then some of the stems will look blanked out, but trust me, they’re there).
I don’t have any problems generating PDFs from MS Office applications.
Anybody have an idea of even where to go for a solution without paying Adobe for support, or sending yet another email to GenieSoft that they don’t answer? Does Adobe just not care that much about compatibility with apps other than MS, or did GenieSoft do something non-standard that rendered it incompatible?
Can ScoreWriter generate outputs in some other format, like a JPG, GIF or TIFF or something? If so, do that, then use a viewer/editor for the other format to make the PDF.
If you have Office installed on the same computer, it comes with a Microsoft virtual printer (Microsoft Office Document Image Writer). Try printing to that from ScroreWriter. If it looks correct, perhaps you can open up the virtual printout and then virtually re-print it to PDF.
Adobe PDFWriter is a printer driver for simple PDF files; it’s easy to use but it has its limitations. One such common limitation is the use of specialized fonts, such as those most likely used for notes and accidentals in your music program. The simple PDF doesn’t embed the fonts or convert them to paths, and the Acrobat engine isn’t sophisticated enough to accurately represent those shapes when you open the resultant PDF in Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.
Here’s how you get a more reliable PDF in cases such as described in the OP:
a) Use a PostScript printer driver, such as HP LaserJet (PS) or Apple LaserWriter. You don’t need to actually be hooked to any such printer in order to be able to configure one in your printers list.
b) When you print, print to that printer but check the checkbox that says “print to file”.
c) Use Acrobat Distiller, included as part of your Acrobat package, to convert the postscript file to PDF.
Just a quick follow-up for anyone who’s interested–I posted the question to rec.music.makers.guitar.jazz and followed the advice to try CutePDF, which worked like a charm (freeware PDF maker). It also required some sort of PS driver or something to be installed first, so I don’t know if it was the driver or CutePDF that solved it. (I didn’t go back and retry Adobe.)