[Macworld]

Post your comments for Print-to-PDF mysteries revealed here

[virtualseeds]

Thank you so much for this very informative article. Frankly I rarely used Preview but you have shown me some of it's hidden capabilities

[n4hhe]

I rarely use Adobe's Acrobat Reader ever since Preview because 1) Preview gets the job done, and 2) isn't overloaded with FLASH, Java, Javascript, etc. If I wanted to allow "documents" to have complete control over my computer I'd run Windows .exe files.

[lefthander57]

Thank you for this useful article. I'd like to see more like this from Macworld. Please keep it up.

[alterbentzion]

Here's a print-to-PDF mystery: An exclamation point that appears out of nowhere!

I do a weekly newsletter for an organization which needs an enlarged copy of their weekly schedule to hang on their bulletin board. I do that by exporting the original InDesign file to PDF, then placing that PDF in another InDesign file, scaled up. If I try to print that InDesign file directly, it fails with an error (something I've seen InDesign do before with files with placed PDF's.) So I create a new PDF of the scaled-up version. When I open that PDF with Preview and print it, an exclamation point appears in the printout, where none existed before!

[greyone]

"...are comprised of [a finite number of pixels.]" Back to grammar class.

Correct: "...consists of" or "...composed of" or "...comprising..." but not "comprised of".

It matters.

[DarrynLowe]

Can you please explain more about PDF-X?

Every time I try to create one from the print dialog it ALWAYS fails to create. Why? What is required to get a PDF-X to be created?

[BoxOfSnoo]

Just a note on the Quartz Filters... you can create or modify your own.

For example, if you want a "Reduce File Size" filter that isn't so aggressive, launch the ColorSync utility, click on "Filters" and hit the little down-arrow to the right of the "Reduce File Size" filter, and Duplicate it. Go in to the new filter and change the settings, or even add more processes (like image compression) to the filter. I like to change "Scale" to 60%, Max to 1024 pixels and min to 256.

Why you have to go in to ColorSync to manipulate Quartz filters, I have no idea.

Hope this made sense!

[Steve_S]

n4hhe, on 18 January 2011 - 07:16 AM, said:

I rarely use Adobe's Acrobat Reader ever since Preview because 1) Preview gets the job done, and 2) isn't overloaded with FLASH, Java, Javascript, etc. If I wanted to allow "documents" to have complete control over my computer I'd run Windows .exe files.

Perhaps my needs are simple, but I have to agree. Even when using InDesign, I always check my final output in Preview. Preview seems to both render better than Acrobat and is MUCH faster.

[djohnson45]

I got fed up with Reader and its security holes in the past. I completely removed Reader and use Preview for all PDF viewing. Haven't hit one yet I couldn't read.

[DanBert5wck]

1. Producing a pdf in OSX in any dimensions other than the default is not intuitive and most users get it consistently wrong.

2. One thing that Reader does that Preview does not is give you a quick view of the dimensions of the document.

3. Any remotely serious review work will lead you to apps like Skim, etc.

For anything but a quick look, preview falls way short.

[fredzimm]

Please learn the difference between pixels-per-inch (photo resolution) and dots-per-inch (printing resolution). They are both important in printing digital photos but are completely different. It would be similar to confusing mass w volume when measuring an object.

pixels = tiny squares of color in a digital photo
dots = tiny pinhead sized drops of ink

1) Digital photos are measured in Megapixels--the number of pixels used to create a image. You can adjust the resolution of a photo by changing the size of the pixels. The number of pixels doesn't change just their size.

Low-res. = the pixels are very large and can often be seen when printed. (ex. 72-150 ppi)
High-res. = the pixels are very small & tightly packed together. (ex. 200-300 ppi)

Increasing the resolution of a photo will cause it to appear smaller but more crisp, while lowering the resolution will spread out the pixels and appear larger but detail will appear less focused. A 300 ppi photo placed at 100% is considered professional quality.

2) Printing a photo at 300 dpi would be considered very low quality. Most inkjet printers have 3 settings; 360 dpi draft-mode, 720 dpi high-quality, 1400 dpi super-high-quality. Large offset printing companies print magazine at around 2400 dpi.

3) Printing a 300 ppi photo at 300 dpi would look terrible.

[ChristyMartin1985]

I am having an issue when I try to print to pdf using adobe reader on my macbook pro. I do not have a printer so when I want to use the print to pdf function, I cannot. When I click print, it gives me this message "Before you can perform print-related tasks such as page setup or printing a document, you need to install a printer". This only happens in Adobe Reader and I have multiple PDF documents that are sent to me as one attachment regularly that I need to separate into different individual files to save to my desktop. Help!

[howardpolenberg]

How do I print to a PDF with color separations on the Mac from the print cue.