# Computer problem: .pdf document printing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213 "2016-07-29T18:38:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/1 "2016-07-29T18:38:54Z")
I have a situation which at first I thought was caused by my lack of a .pdf reader, but I’m not so sure now–since now I seem to have one. I had attempted to print a .pdf document, specifically a California Judicial Council legal form. I selected the form and followed the instructions in the on-screen box, and the printer spit them out–blank. This happened with AND without the .pdf reader which I apparently acquired after the first blank “printing.” Is there something I have failed to do, or is it just an inadequate .pdf reader? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/2 "2016-07-29T18:41:44Z")
Can you print successfully from other software, like your web browser? It might be a general printing issue, and not specific to .pdf. Any chance you are out of ink? ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/3 "2016-07-29T18:47:20Z")
I use Adobe Reader XI.It’s free. I especially use it for printing booklets which seems impossible direct from Word. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/4 "2016-07-29T19:09:46Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I use Adobe Reader XI.It’s free. > > I especially use it for printing booklets which seems impossible direct from Word. I would use that; unfortunately, every time I try to install it I get a message saying I already have it! I I had uninstalled it months ago for some now-forgotten reason; and I have done my damnedest to purge the computer of all remnants of that program. But I can’t convince the website that I try to download it from. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/5 "2016-07-29T19:12:09Z")
I try to always download the PDF and the print. Printing directly from the web often fails. I believe the print software often doesn’t expect the delays from downloading across the web. Perhaps print spooling timeouts on the packets, etc. For documents that it won’t allow you to download, you might install a “print-to-file” device to ‘capture’ the output which you can then print locally. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/6 "2016-07-29T22:02:29Z")
Pdf files can be print-restricted, although usually you get an alert message. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/7 "2016-07-30T03:47:38Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > […] > For documents that it won’t allow you to download, you might install a “print-to-file” device to ‘capture’ the output which you can then print locally. And where do I find that? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/8 "2016-07-30T04:39:00Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I would use that; unfortunately, every time I try to install it I get a message saying I already have it! I I had uninstalled it months ago for some now-forgotten reason; and I have done my damnedest to purge the computer of all remnants of that program. But I can’t convince the website that I try to download it from. :mad: That seems odd to me. The website should not know nor care if you already have the software installed. At the top of [this page](http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?platform=windows&product=10) there is a 135MB “Adobe Reader 11.0 - Multilingual (MUI) installer”. I was able to download it even though I already have Adobe Reader installed. (And that’s what you’d expect, since I might be downloading it to install on a second computer, perhaps one that’s offline.) Are you able to download it? ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/9 "2016-07-30T04:56:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That seems odd to me. The website should not know nor care if you already have the software installed. > > At the top of [this page](http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?platform=windows&product=10) there is a 135MB “Adobe Reader 11.0 - Multilingual (MUI) installer”. I was able to download it even though I already have Adobe Reader installed. (And that’s what you’d expect, since I might be downloading it to install on a second computer, perhaps one that’s offline.) Are you able to download it? NO! I got all the way up to 74% when the installation process stopped and that same damn message appeared: “Newer version already installed.” :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/10 "2016-07-30T04:57:25Z")
Wait, you get up to 74% on the download process or on the installation process (once the full file is downloaded)? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/11 "2016-07-30T05:00:14Z")
And what if you go to [this page](https://get.adobe.com/reader/enterprise/) and attempt to download “Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software”? I think that’s the latest version, although I didn’t like the DC version and downgraded to Reader XI. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/12 "2016-07-30T07:38:59Z")
I assume you’re running some version of Windows. Go to the Programs and Features control panel, find whatever version of Adobe Reader you have on your system and uninstall it. Then download and install the latest version from Adobe. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/13 "2016-07-30T14:49:50Z")
Another option; download and install a different PDF reader, like the Foxit Reader. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/14 "2016-07-30T15:03:14Z")
Or the SumatraPdf reader that has a number of advantages over the Adobe. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/15 "2016-07-30T17:39:49Z")
I tried installing Adobe Acrobat Reader. Everything worked fine until I got this information notice during the installation process: “Error 1722. There is a problem with this Windows Installer package. A program run as part of the setup did not finish as expected. Contact your support personnel or package vendor. Action InstallWebResources, location C:…\RdrServicesUpdater.exe, command: 15.017.20050” Another in a long line of high-tech excuses. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/computer-problem-pdf-document-printing/761213/16 "2016-07-30T17:53:04Z")
Foxit Reader did it. I downloaded and installed that, and sent a set of Judicial Council forms to the printer. It printed them properly, no problem! Thanks a lot. 🙂