PDF Prints with Incorrect Letters

[jneezy2008]

When printing a PDF, most of the time it prints fine. Other times it prints using the wrong letters. For example, the word Invoice prints as Jowpjdf, all the letters are off by one. This happens with every word in the PDF. Images within the PDF always print fine. The customer could turnaround and click print a second time and the PDF may print correctly.

The customer is using a version of Adobe Acrobat Pro.
I have checked "Print as Image" in Adobe. This has worked in the past.(As far as I know the customer may have unchecked this option by now).
We've put the latest firmware on the MFP(Muratec MFX-2350D).
This abnormal printing seems to be happening from one PC only and it's intermittent and it only occurs with PDFs.
I believe the customer is downloading these PDFs from a website then printing them. They are invoices for their customers.

I've suggested to the customer to reinstall the Muratec print drivers(GDI only, no PCL or PS options available).
I've seen Adobe cause problems with PDFs in the past so I suggested using a different PDF viewer such as Foxit Reader.

I think this problem may have something to do with the way the PDFs are being created but I have no information to back that up.

Does anyone have any resources for this problem? Or any experience or explanation for this printing abnormality?

You can download a copy of the resulting PDF from here:
drop.io muratec_sample

[Colonicaminota]

I have had the same issues with various customers, although with a nashuatec PCL driver.

The issue seemed to be casued by way the printer was processing the fonts. I dont know if the Muratec driver is similar but In the nashuatec driver there are a few options you can change for font processing:

Download as soft font
This will download the font files from the users PC to the copier and store it in the memory. This can cause an issue if the font file becomes corrupt either at the device or the users PC (resolved by powering the copier off completely which will clear the font from the copiers memory)

Download as bit image
This will render the fonts as a bitmap image and then print (similar to print as image) which can resolve such problems.

User printer fonts
Uses native printer fonts regardless of what is in use on the PC

Hope this helps!

[jneezy2008]

Thank you for the quick reply, Colonicaminota. I know what options you're referring to but unfortunately the print driver for this model of Muratec does not offer ANY of those options.

[Colonicaminota]

from what you have discribed, it sounds like the printers is downloading the fonts from the PC (as you mentioned only one user is affected). So it is possible that a corrupt font now exists on the copier- i assume you will have already powered the copier off completely (i know thats a stupid question but it must be asked)?

Is the driver available to download? do you have a link?

[jneezy2008]

Colonicaminota, Yes, the MFP has been power-cycled, even unplugged.

I just read a posting somewhere(may not have been @ copytechnet.com) about someone with a similar problem. They resolved it by plugging the MFP into a different port at the switch. I have written in my Service Order that the CAT5 cable connected to the MFP was in bad shape. I don't know if the customer ever changed it though. May be something there??

Here's the direct link to the print driver the customer is using:
http://www.muratec.com/Webcenter/Service/Drivers/OB_28-2350_V1.40.zip

[rthonpm]

Since the customer has a full version of Acrobat, have them re-save the files as PostScript files (filename.ps) and then re-open them. Acrobat will then re-convert them into a PDF using local fonts.
I've mainly seen this issue with companies that use custom or off the wall fonts.

That should work for you...

[TheOwl]

If you are using a Postscript driver, then try tuning 'Postscript Pass Through' of in the driver.

I have found on many different models / manufacturers that this option can cause all sorts of funny printing issues.

Postscript Pass Through allows the PC to RIP as much of the print job as possible before sending it through to the copier, so there is no harm in turning this off as a default so that the copier is the one doing all the RIPing.

[jneezy2008]

Since the customer has a full version of Acrobat, have them re-save the files as PostScript files (filename.ps) and then re-open them. Acrobat will then re-convert them into a PDF using local fonts.
I've mainly seen this issue with companies that use custom or off the wall fonts.

That should work for you...

I'll try this. The weird thing is that they can hit print and the PDF will not print correctly. They can then hit print a second time and the document will print fine(from what the customer is telling me).

[jneezy2008]

If you are using a Postscript driver, then try tuning 'Postscript Pass Through' of in the driver.

I have found on many different models / manufacturers that this option can cause all sorts of funny printing issues.

Postscript Pass Through allows the PC to RIP as much of the print job as possible before sending it through to the copier, so there is no harm in turning this off as a default so that the copier is the one doing all the RIPing.

Unfortunately, this model of Muratec uses a GDI print driver. No options for PS Pass Through.

[jneezy2008]

I went to the customer's site this past Friday and gathered some more information.

If you've looked at the document please look at it again as I've added a red box highlighting the information I've gathered. (http://drop.io/muratec_sample)

An area of the PDF prints out just fine because it is an image created from a spreadsheet application. That image is then pasted or inserted into the PDF by a third party. The rest of the PDF is editable by that third party.

I'm thinking the problem the customer is having is caused by the way the third party is creating the PDF document or is caused by the software the third party is using to create the PDF. I don't feel the problem is caused by the printer as they are only having problems with printing their invoices which are retrieved from a third party. May be too early to tell but at this point, that's what I'm thinking.

I'm going back today to see where they are getting these PDFs(a website I think) and how they are printing them(what program they're using). The person who printed this document originally was not in the office when I was there. We tried recreating the problem by printing other PDFs but were unsuccessful.

While on-site Monday I will reinstall/update print drivers also.

[nmfaxman]

Try going to the print properties and print as image.
It won't care what fonts, it will print like a picture.

[jneezy2008]

nmfaxman, in Adobe Acrobat Pro I went to File => Print => Advanced => Print as image. I showed the customer how to verify this is selected each time they print, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I updated the Muratec print drivers.

One of the computers printed squares instead of letters on one PDF and it printed unrecognizable characters from a different PDF. I was not on-site when this happened and we weren't able to recreate it. I've posted these new samples(Samples(9.27.09).pdf) to drop.io muratec_sample.

Hopefully the combination of Print as image and the updated print drivers will correct these printing abnormalities. If they don't, then Muratec has suggested replacing the OB Board and the MCB.

I'll update the post once new information comes in.

[Mike Harden]

If your customer is using documents coverted to a PDF with Postscript turn on and them trying to print with a non postscript driver this will happen. The latter is most often the cause. If your customer is printing it from the internet or start printing before it has had a chance to save local it will cause this problem. If the document has any securities on it at all it can do this. Have your customer convert to curves and lines and or embed the fonts as your client may not have the font in their font folder causing the information to scarmble. These are just of few of the problems we have found here in our print shop with customers providing PDF that don't print correctly. As a tech I have see these problems drive tech and customer to the edge and in most cases I have reloaded the Adobe product and the problem has gone away except for Acrobat 9 which can not be fixed period for this exact problem.

[nmfaxman]

Try loading an earlier version of adobe reader and see how it functions.
I keep version 6 on my laptop just to prove it is an application problem and not a printer problem.
I have found as early as Reader 4.0 on an old driver disk with the manual included.
A printer is an output device. It only does as it is told.
If you can run a test page from the printer properties, it is not a printer issue.

[Mike Harden]

I agree with the printer being an output device however if the device is given commands it can not understand like Postscript to PDL device it can and will scrable the information. We see it on a Konica 7272 all the time we send the job to a Xerox 700 with a fiery or a Konia 6500 with a Crieo and it does not present. I have converted the same file to curves and had it work on a PDL driver.