Broken PDF from iWork Pages

Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

A substantial number of Windows users have been reporting some 
difficulties with the PDFs I've been producing on a weekly basis using 
Pages (part of Apple's iWork suite) on OS X.  They appear to not see the 
material in Hoefler text on the first page of the document, although they 
can see material in the identical text on the second page of the same 
document.

Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.

  http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf

Note that only some people appear to be having those difficulties.  I can 
never get detailed version information out of them, but several of them 
have reported that they updated Acrobat Reader on Windows to the latest 
version.

This problem has been going on for a while, but I'm reports of it 
frequently enough that I am starting to look at whether there is something 
I could be doing better in producing the documents.

The example listed above was produced with Pages version 3.0.2 on OS X 
10.5.4.  But that problem has been going on for nearly a year when I was 
using slightly older versions as well.

I really don't know much about how PDF works, but what I'm guessing is 
that for some unexplained reason the the Hoefler family font is being 
embedded twice (once for the first page and once for the second) and that 
it is being done it two different ways.  The way it is being done for the 
first page is either buggy or tickles some bug in some rendering systems.

I should note that the people who say they can't see the Hoefler text 
(right column) on the front page when they view the PDF are able to 
successfully print the PDF and see all of the material.

Cheers,

-j

-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg                     http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
  I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
  http://improve-usenet.org/

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In article Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages,
 Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:

   Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
       http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf

Interesting results here:

Read item with Safari (3.1.2 on imac with OS 10.5.4)
Right column is blank, but dragging over blank area shows various blank fields 
presumably corresponding to paragraphs including one diagonally placed 
paragraph.  Note I do NOT use Adobe reader as my default reader in Safari.

Printing from Safari shows the right column present.

Download the file

Preview displays the file with the right hand column present! Surprising since I 
thought Safari used the same mechanism as Preview.

Adobe reader 8 displays the file, missing the right hand column, but printing 
shows the right hand column


Bill Williams
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In <lvidnSO4pfTsgl7VnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:

>>  Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:
>>
>>    Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
>>        http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf
>> 
>> Preview displays the file with the right hand column present! Surprising 
>> since I thought Safari used the same mechanism as Preview.
>> 
>> Adobe reader 8 displays the file, missing the right hand column, but 
>> printing shows the right hand column
>
> What happens if you re-distill the file?

I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill".  The PDF was generated from 
Pages presumably using Apple's PDF Document kit.  So its not clear to me 
that it was ever distilled in the first place.  Are you recommending that 
there is something I could do with the files with Acrobat?  I am very open 
to suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I will need a 
bit more guidance.

Cheers,

-j


-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg                     http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
  I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
  http://improve-usenet.org/

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:
> In <lvidnSO4pfTsgl7VnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:
> 
>>>  Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>    Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
>>>        http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf
>>>
>>> Preview displays the file with the right hand column present! 
>>> Surprising since I thought Safari used the same mechanism as Preview.
>>>
>>> Adobe reader 8 displays the file, missing the right hand column, but 
>>> printing shows the right hand column
>>
>>
>> What happens if you re-distill the file?
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill".  The PDF was generated from 
> Pages presumably using Apple's PDF Document kit.  So its not clear to me 
> that it was ever distilled in the first place.  Are you recommending 
> that there is something I could do with the files with Acrobat?  I am 
> very open to suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I 
> will need a bit more guidance.
> 

Well then, dust the cobwebs off of that old Distiller and just "print" 
that funny PDF to it, and see what you get.

You got nothin' to lose.

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In <J86dnU2r5KUx8lXVnZ2dnUVZ_rfinZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:

> Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:

>> I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill". [...] I am very open to 
>> suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I will need a 
>> bit more guidance.

> Well then, dust the cobwebs off of that old Distiller and just "print" that 
> funny PDF to it, and see what you get.

When I say I need more guidance, I wasn't kidding.  Where do I find this 
"distiller" of which you speak?

If I bring up Adobe Reader and try to print the file as PDF, I get a 
pop-up telling me to just use "Save as" to make a copy.

-j

-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg                     http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
  I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
  http://improve-usenet.org/

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In article 
<alpine.OSX.2.00.0809102118560.1090@hagrid.ewd.goldmark.org>,
 Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:

> In <J86dnU2r5KUx8lXVnZ2dnUVZ_rfinZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:
> 
> > Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:
> 
> >> I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill". [...] I am very open to 
> >> suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I will need a 
> >> bit more guidance.
> 
> > Well then, dust the cobwebs off of that old Distiller and just "print" that 
> > funny PDF to it, and see what you get.
> 
> When I say I need more guidance, I wasn't kidding.  Where do I find this 
> "distiller" of which you speak?
> 
> If I bring up Adobe Reader and try to print the file as PDF, I get a 
> pop-up telling me to just use "Save as" to make a copy.
> 

"Adobe Acrobat Distiller - What is Distiller"

<http://desktoppub.about.com/od/pdf/g/distiller.htm>

(I deliberately haven't pointed you at the Adobe page, since it wants JS 
enabled and might want me to download the latest Acrobat as well, so I 
didn't look any further :-))

-- 
Paul Sture

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

On Sep 6, 5:09=A0pm, Jeffrey Goldberg <nob...@goldmark.org> wrote:
> A substantial number of Windows users have been reporting some
> difficulties with the PDFs I've been producing on a weekly basis using
> Pages (part of Apple's iWork suite) on OS X. =A0They appear to not see th=
e
> material in Hoefler text on the first page of the document, although they
> can see material in the identical text on the second page of the same
> document.
>
> Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
>
> =A0http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf
>
> Note that only some people appear to be having those difficulties. =A0I c=
an
> never get detailed version information out of them, but several of them
> have reported that they updated Acrobat Reader on Windows to the latest
> version.
>
> This problem has been going on for a while, but I'm reports of it
> frequently enough that I am starting to look at whether there is somethin=
g
> I could be doing better in producing the documents.
>
> The example listed above was produced with Pages version 3.0.2 on OS X
> 10.5.4. =A0But that problem has been going on for nearly a year when I wa=
s
> using slightly older versions as well.
>
> I really don't know much about how PDF works, but what I'm guessing is
> that for some unexplained reason the the Hoefler family font is being
> embedded twice (once for the first page and once for the second) and that
> it is being done it two different ways. =A0The way it is being done for t=
he
> first page is either buggy or tickles some bug in some rendering systems.
>
> I should note that the people who say they can't see the Hoefler text
> (right column) on the front page when they view the PDF are able to
> successfully print the PDF and see all of the material.
>
> Cheers,
>
> -j
>
> --
> Jeffrey Goldberg =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0http://www.goldma=
rk.org/jeff/
> =A0 I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
> =A0http://improve-usenet.org/

There are two different ways to generate a PDF file from Pages.
First, you can use the EXPORT function to save a PDF file directly
from Pages.
Second, you can go to the PRINT dialog box and use the PDF function
there.
Which are you using (I'd guess the first)?
Do both methods give you the same result?

Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

A substantial number of Windows users have been reporting some 
difficulties with the PDFs I've been producing on a weekly basis using 
Pages (part of Apple's iWork suite) on OS X.  They appear to not see the 
material in Hoefler text on the first page of the document, although they 
can see material in the identical text on the second page of the same 
document.

Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.

  http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf

Note that only some people appear to be having those difficulties.  I can 
never get detailed version information out of them, but several of them 
have reported that they updated Acrobat Reader on Windows to the latest 
version.

This problem has been going on for a while, but I'm reports of it 
frequently enough that I am starting to look at whether there is something 
I could be doing better in producing the documents.

The example listed above was produced with Pages version 3.0.2 on OS X 
10.5.4.  But that problem has been going on for nearly a year when I was 
using slightly older versions as well.

I really don't know much about how PDF works, but what I'm guessing is 
that for some unexplained reason the the Hoefler family font is being 
embedded twice (once for the first page and once for the second) and that 
it is being done it two different ways.  The way it is being done for the 
first page is either buggy or tickles some bug in some rendering systems.

I should note that the people who say they can't see the Hoefler text 
(right column) on the front page when they view the PDF are able to 
successfully print the PDF and see all of the material.

Cheers,

-j

-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg                     http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
  I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
  http://improve-usenet.org/

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In article Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages,
 Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:

   Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
       http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf

Interesting results here:

Read item with Safari (3.1.2 on imac with OS 10.5.4)
Right column is blank, but dragging over blank area shows various blank fields 
presumably corresponding to paragraphs including one diagonally placed 
paragraph.  Note I do NOT use Adobe reader as my default reader in Safari.

Printing from Safari shows the right column present.

Download the file

Preview displays the file with the right hand column present! Surprising since I 
thought Safari used the same mechanism as Preview.

Adobe reader 8 displays the file, missing the right hand column, but printing 
shows the right hand column


Bill Williams
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In <lvidnSO4pfTsgl7VnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:

>>  Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:
>>
>>    Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
>>        http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf
>> 
>> Preview displays the file with the right hand column present! Surprising 
>> since I thought Safari used the same mechanism as Preview.
>> 
>> Adobe reader 8 displays the file, missing the right hand column, but 
>> printing shows the right hand column
>
> What happens if you re-distill the file?

I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill".  The PDF was generated from 
Pages presumably using Apple's PDF Document kit.  So its not clear to me 
that it was ever distilled in the first place.  Are you recommending that 
there is something I could do with the files with Acrobat?  I am very open 
to suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I will need a 
bit more guidance.

Cheers,

-j


-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg                     http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
  I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
  http://improve-usenet.org/

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:
> In <lvidnSO4pfTsgl7VnZ2dnUVZ_vOdnZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:
> 
>>>  Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>    Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
>>>        http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf
>>>
>>> Preview displays the file with the right hand column present! 
>>> Surprising since I thought Safari used the same mechanism as Preview.
>>>
>>> Adobe reader 8 displays the file, missing the right hand column, but 
>>> printing shows the right hand column
>>
>>
>> What happens if you re-distill the file?
> 
> 
> I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill".  The PDF was generated from 
> Pages presumably using Apple's PDF Document kit.  So its not clear to me 
> that it was ever distilled in the first place.  Are you recommending 
> that there is something I could do with the files with Acrobat?  I am 
> very open to suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I 
> will need a bit more guidance.
> 

Well then, dust the cobwebs off of that old Distiller and just "print" 
that funny PDF to it, and see what you get.

You got nothin' to lose.

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In <J86dnU2r5KUx8lXVnZ2dnUVZ_rfinZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:

> Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:

>> I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill". [...] I am very open to 
>> suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I will need a 
>> bit more guidance.

> Well then, dust the cobwebs off of that old Distiller and just "print" that 
> funny PDF to it, and see what you get.

When I say I need more guidance, I wasn't kidding.  Where do I find this 
"distiller" of which you speak?

If I bring up Adobe Reader and try to print the file as PDF, I get a 
pop-up telling me to just use "Save as" to make a copy.

-j

-- 
Jeffrey Goldberg                     http://www.goldmark.org/jeff/
  I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
  http://improve-usenet.org/

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

In article 
<alpine.OSX.2.00.0809102118560.1090@hagrid.ewd.goldmark.org>,
 Jeffrey Goldberg <nobody@goldmark.org> wrote:

> In <J86dnU2r5KUx8lXVnZ2dnUVZ_rfinZ2d@rcn.net>, PDFrank wrote:
> 
> > Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:
> 
> >> I'm not sure what you mean by "re-distill". [...] I am very open to 
> >> suggestions, but since I only ever rarely use Acrobat, I will need a 
> >> bit more guidance.
> 
> > Well then, dust the cobwebs off of that old Distiller and just "print" that 
> > funny PDF to it, and see what you get.
> 
> When I say I need more guidance, I wasn't kidding.  Where do I find this 
> "distiller" of which you speak?
> 
> If I bring up Adobe Reader and try to print the file as PDF, I get a 
> pop-up telling me to just use "Save as" to make a copy.
> 

"Adobe Acrobat Distiller - What is Distiller"

<http://desktoppub.about.com/od/pdf/g/distiller.htm>

(I deliberately haven't pointed you at the Adobe page, since it wants JS 
enabled and might want me to download the latest Acrobat as well, so I 
didn't look any further :-))

-- 
Paul Sture

Re: Broken(?) PDF from iWork Pages

On Sep 6, 5:09=A0pm, Jeffrey Goldberg <nob...@goldmark.org> wrote:
> A substantial number of Windows users have been reporting some
> difficulties with the PDFs I've been producing on a weekly basis using
> Pages (part of Apple's iWork suite) on OS X. =A0They appear to not see th=
e
> material in Hoefler text on the first page of the document, although they
> can see material in the identical text on the second page of the same
> document.
>
> Here is a sample document illustrating the problem.
>
> =A0http://www.goldmark.org/test/Post-2008-08-26.pdf
>
> Note that only some people appear to be having those difficulties. =A0I c=
an
> never get detailed version information out of them, but several of them
> have reported that they updated Acrobat Reader on Windows to the latest
> version.
>
> This problem has been going on for a while, but I'm reports of it
> frequently enough that I am starting to look at whether there is somethin=
g
> I could be doing better in producing the documents.
>
> The example listed above was produced with Pages version 3.0.2 on OS X
> 10.5.4. =A0But that problem has been going on for nearly a year when I wa=
s
> using slightly older versions as well.
>
> I really don't know much about how PDF works, but what I'm guessing is
> that for some unexplained reason the the Hoefler family font is being
> embedded twice (once for the first page and once for the second) and that
> it is being done it two different ways. =A0The way it is being done for t=
he
> first page is either buggy or tickles some bug in some rendering systems.
>
> I should note that the people who say they can't see the Hoefler text
> (right column) on the front page when they view the PDF are able to
> successfully print the PDF and see all of the material.
>
> Cheers,
>
> -j
>
> --
> Jeffrey Goldberg =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0http://www.goldma=
rk.org/jeff/
> =A0 I rarely read top-posted, over-quoting or HTML postings.
> =A0http://improve-usenet.org/

There are two different ways to generate a PDF file from Pages.
First, you can use the EXPORT function to save a PDF file directly
from Pages.
Second, you can go to the PRINT dialog box and use the PDF function
there.
Which are you using (I'd guess the first)?
Do both methods give you the same result?