Re: PDF problem

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: Elliott Roper (nospam_at_yrl.co.uk)
Date: 02/19/04 

Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 20:51:28 +0000

In article <4035163D.8D678297@kimbanet.com>, Phillip M. Jones, C.E.T.
<pjones@kimbanet.com> wrote:

> Elliott Roper wrote:
> >
> > In article <BC5A402B.9E6C%david_gleeson@earthlink.net>, david gleeson
> > <david_gleeson@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> > > Mac OS x 10.3.2
> > >
> > > Word for Mac x service rls 1
> > >
> > >
> > > When I choose print, print box comes up, I hit 'save as PDF'
> > >
> > > Instead of creating one pdf file, it creates several.
> >
> > This is a well known misfeature. Some section breaks, but not all, bust
> > the document up on printing. It is much more noticeable on save as PDF.
> > To be fair, it may be Apple's fault, at least partially.
> >
> > The fix is to avoid section breaks that change page orientation or
> > margins, and maybe a couple of other things depending on the phase of
> > the moon.
> >
> > You may be able to stitch them together in another utility. The ones I
> > have looked at are expensive or don't work.

>
> I'm tired of a Company creating software for Mac Blameing Apple for defects in
> there product. And I am tired of it.
>
> OSX IS UNIX WITH THE APPLE INTERFACE ON TOP. UNIX HAS BEEN AROUND IN SOME FORM
> OR ANOTHER SINCE AT LEAST 1965, MAYBE EARLIER.
> THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE DEVELOPERS HAVEN"T LEARNED "UNIX".
>
> I applogize for blowing up and shouting. But I'm tired of software companies,
> coming across bugs and saying "its Apple's Fault".
>
> Its the software companies fault for not learning and keeping up with the OSes.
> Be It Apple, MS, UNIX, Linux, or whatever.

Simmer down. Apparently FIlemaker does the same thing as Word. That
leads me to believe that both are making the same misuse of something
in OS X. It is hard to make the claim that Apple's print to PDF is pure
Unix. The Unix underpinnings of OS X are way...yyy beneath print to
PDF.

I said 'at least partially'. Was that not fair in the circumstances?

I know what it is like trying to keep your product up to date while the
OS shifts under your feet, so as much as it goes against the grain, one
does have to cut those slap-happy Redmond billionaires a little bit of
slack.

Now I have your attention. Why the f*** have we gone so long with a
broken save as... and lack of Unicode? Of course every one should keep
up with the OS. At the price we pay for Office we should have gotten a
far better deal with updates to track OS X.

Happy now?

Back to David's problem.
Make sure that the section breaks do not change margins or page
orientation, page size or whatever. By treading on the problem like
walking on eggshells you might be able to get your PDFs to hang
together.

I tried a document with section breaks without any of those and it
printed to PDF as one.

If your are trying to lay out and print a long document with decent
typography and running heads and so on, then Word is not not the right
product for you. It is designed for the Powerpoint generation of ransom
note producers.

If you have not already used up your free 30 day trial for Adobe
InDesign 2, try flowing your Word document into that.

Sadly the full product is even more expensive than Office, and it is
not the most elegant thing to do word processing in either.

Grr! Maybe I should go the full curmudgeon, and edit in Emacs and set
in TeX?

Then I won't have to deal with all those horrible customers and I can
starve in my garret in splendid isolation. 

-- 
Swen has got to me. I thought I would be the last on earth to mangle my e-mail
address. fsnospam$elliott$$

Relevant Pages

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