Re: Incredibly frustrating FrameMaker/PDF problem (long)

[Max Wyss <prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch>]

Emily,

there are a few things you would have to check or to keep in mind:

* The "Create PDF" function in Framemaker is not very stable, and should be
avoided. It is much better to set up Distiller with a watched folder and to
create a PostScript file which you then transfer to the In folder of this
Watched Folder set-up.

* It is highly recommended to use the AdobePS printer driver with the
Distiller PPD selected.

* Adobe has a tendency to install their very newest AdobePS printer driver
behind the user's back when installing new software.

* Adobe has a tendency to mess up their very newest AdobePS printer drivers
for working with Framemaker.

* There has been a very recent update of the newest AdobePS printer driver
which seems to work with Framemaker. I don't have the link around, but you
might look around in the News section of PlanetPDF
(http://www.planetpdf.com), or in the General section of the Acrobuddies
(http://www.acrobuddies.com), which is the user forum of PlanetPDF.

* It is highly recommended to update to Acrobat 4.05. Acrobat 3 should by
now be something you talk about in the Past Tense.

Hope, this can help.


Max Wyss
PRODOK Engineering
Low Paper workflows, Smart documents, PDF forms
CH-8906 Bonstetten, Switzerland

Fax:  +41 1 700 20 37
e-mail:  mailto:prodok -at- prodok -dot- ch
http://www.prodok.ch



[ Building Bridges for Information ]


______________________





I have a FrameMaker 5.5.6 document that is nigh on 490 pages, now.  But my
problems may have begun when my document crept up past 250 pages.  Or, they
may also have started when, in the dead of night, and in a fit of
stupidity, an associate installed InDesign 1.5 onto my computer.

My PC (a Pentium 667 with a very, very large amount of RAM and 15 GB of
free space on the local hard drive) is part of a network on which are
installed approximately five Windows 98 PCs (they come and go).  On each PC
is a licensed copy of FrameMaker 5.5.6.  Each of these installations of
FrameMaker used to be able to generate a PDF of the document in question.

However, at this point, when I try to save as... PDF on my PC, it starts,
gets about 200 pages into the document and then:

FrameMaker terminates without warning.
Distiller does NOT start.
Explorer crashes.
Other programs that I have been foolish enough to leave running report "Out of
Memory" errors.
I reboot.

     Side note to the overly-grammatically correct: hereinafter I
     will refer to the process of "Saving as PDF" with the verb "to PDF".
     I am at present too distraught to agonize about adding just one
     more verb to the English language...

However, on the PCs (slower, smaller, less space on hard drives, attached
to very same file server) on which InDesign was never installed, I can PDF
this very same document, no problem.

On my PC, the problematic one, I can PDF every chapter in this document, if
I do it one chapter at a time.  But if I try to save the whole book as a
pdf --
CRASH!

Here's what I've done to try to fix this problem:

1.  I uninstalled InDesign.
2.  I uninstalled Acrobat and re-installed it.
3.  I uninstalled Acrobat and FrameMaker and re-installed them.
4.  I uninstalled Acrobat and FrameMaker and Adobe Type Manager and
re-installed them.
5.  I uninstalled Acrobat and FrameMaker and Adobe Type Manager,
re-installed the operating system and then re-installed the applications.
6.  I tried to upgrade to Acrobat 3.02.  However, if I try to install the
upgrade after I've uninstalled Acrobat 3.01, I get an error.  And when I try
to install it with Distiller installed (and running), the installer just
displays the readme file.
7.  I ordered the upgrade to FrameMaker 6.0.  But, it's on backorder.

Suggestions, please.  Feel free to make them off-list, as I assume this is a
very unique situation.  If anything works, I'll post back to the list.