PDF from Finale not printing correctly

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musicus1
Posts: 36
Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2011 2:13 am

Post by musicus1 » Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:08 am

I had some PDFs of Finale files printed up at the local copy place, and I noticed that some markings were missing in the printout that were visible in the PDFs. Specifically, the dotted lines after the 8va sign were missing in the printout. (Everything else appeared OK.) Have you encountered this before?
Mac, system 10.6.4; Finale 2011


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Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6604
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:53 am

Yes, this is a known issue.

When viewing the PDF, what program did you use?
Preview?
or Adobe Reader?
You may find that the PDF looks right in Preview, but wrong in Adobe Reader.

When you create the PDF, try this:
From the Mac OS X Print dialog box, in the PDF pop up menu, choose “Open in Preview”.
Finale will spool the print data to Preview.
While viewing in Preview, hit ⌘S to Save.
In the Save dialog box, in the Quartz filter pop up menu, choose “Create Generic PDFX-3 Document”.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

musicus
Posts: 824
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 11:12 pm
Finale Version: Finale v26
Operating System: Mac

Post by musicus » Mon Jul 14, 2014 6:33 pm

I just click on the file and it opens. I'm not sure but I think that means preview. I am not opening up Adobe Reader (which I don't know how to use anyway) and then opening the PDF. If I do the steps you suggested, what does that do in effect?
Peter Thomsen wrote:Yes, this is a known issue.

When viewing the PDF, what program did you use?
Preview?
or Adobe Reader?
You may find that the PDF looks right in Preview, but wrong in Adobe Reader.

When you create the PDF, try this:
From the Mac OS X Print dialog box, in the PDF pop up menu, choose “Open in Preview”.
Finale will spool the print data to Preview.
While viewing in Preview, hit ⌘S to Save.
In the Save dialog box, in the Quartz filter pop up menu, choose “Create Generic PDFX-3 Document”.

User avatar
Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6604
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:14 am

musicus wrote:I just click on the file and it opens. I'm not sure but I think that means Preview…
To find out, go to Finder, and select the PDF file.
Hit ⌘I (Command-I) to open the Info window.
Near the bottom of the Info window you can see - and set! - which program that is the default program for opening PDF files.
You will probably see that the default program is Preview.
You can use the Info window to change the default to Adobe Reader.

Another way to find out:
Double-click the PDF file to open it.
When it has opened, you can see the name of the opening program (probably Preview) in the top left corner of the screen.
In the Dock you can see the program’s icon, and under the icon you can see a light spot, indicating that the program is launched and running.

musicus wrote:…I am not opening up Adobe Reader (which I don't know how to use anyway) and then opening the PDF…
To open a specific file in a specific program you can drag the file onto the program’s icon.
You can e. g. drag a PDF file onto Adobe Reader’s icon.

musicus wrote:…If I do the steps you suggested, what does that do in effect?
Because of the Quartz filter the PDF file will have a slightly different data structure, and the PDF file should display correctly in both Preview and Adobe Reader.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

musicus
Posts: 824
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2003 11:12 pm
Finale Version: Finale v26
Operating System: Mac

Post by musicus » Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:37 pm

Back from vacation, so I can hopefully get to the bottom of this problem. Thanks for your replies. Now, when I open up a PDF file it clearly is opening in Preview. I can see that Preview is in the dock with the little light underneath. However, when I search for Adobe Reader on my computer, I do not see any such thing. There are a number of Adobe files (including uninstaller and some other things beginning with "Adobe") but no Adobe Reader. I do have an Adobe Photoshop trial version that has expired, so I don't think this is operative. Can it be that I have no Adobe Reader on my computer, and if so, how can I make the comparison you suggested? If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the Preview might be giving me a view of the Finale file that is not as accurate as what the Adobe Reader might show. (Or is it the other way around?) For example those dotted lines after the 8va sign. In Preview, I can see those dotted lines. But when I emailed that PDF file to my local copy place, it printed out without those dotted lines. After a few emails to them, finally it printed out correctly, but I'm not sure why. I am hoping to solve this problem so I don't encounter it again. I have lots of PDFs from Finale which may be affected by this. Is the “Create Generic PDFX-3 Document” any different from what I see in Preview, and if so, might it not also print out incorrectly? Thanks.
Peter Thomsen wrote:
musicus wrote:I just click on the file and it opens. I'm not sure but I think that means Preview…
To find out, go to Finder, and select the PDF file.
Hit ⌘I (Command-I) to open the Info window.
Near the bottom of the Info window you can see - and set! - which program that is the default program for opening PDF files.
You will probably see that the default program is Preview.
You can use the Info window to change the default to Adobe Reader.

Another way to find out:
Double-click the PDF file to open it.
When it has opened, you can see the name of the opening program (probably Preview) in the top left corner of the screen.
In the Dock you can see the program’s icon, and under the icon you can see a light spot, indicating that the program is launched and running.

musicus wrote:…I am not opening up Adobe Reader (which I don't know how to use anyway) and then opening the PDF…
To open a specific file in a specific program you can drag the file onto the program’s icon.
You can e. g. drag a PDF file onto Adobe Reader’s icon.

musicus wrote:…If I do the steps you suggested, what does that do in effect?
Because of the Quartz filter the PDF file will have a slightly different data structure, and the PDF file should display correctly in both Preview and Adobe Reader.

User avatar
Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6604
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:51 pm

musicus wrote:…Ωwhen I search for Adobe Reader on my computer, I do not see any such thing. There are a number of Adobe files (including uninstaller and some other things beginning with "Adobe") but no Adobe Reader. I do have an Adobe Photoshop trial version that has expired, so I don't think this is operative. Can it be that I have no Adobe Reader on my computer, and if so, how can I make the comparison you suggested?…
Adobe Reader is a free download from Adobe’s web site.
It may very much be possible that you don’t have Adobe Reader installed on your computer, but the PDF file format has become an industry standard, and Adobe Reader is installed on all computers (well, almost all computers).


musicus wrote:…If I understand you correctly, you are saying that the Preview might be giving me a view of the Finale file that is not as accurate as what the Adobe Reader might show. (Or is it the other way around?)…
It may be possible that Preview gives you a less accurate view of the PDF file, or it may be possible that Adobe Reader is less tolerant for different versions/variations of the PDF file format.
I don’t know, and it really doesn’t matter.
What matters, is that your local copy place probably uses Adobe Reader when opening and printing PDF files.
I always use Adobe Reader when proof-reading PDF files, and it has never given me unexpected surprises like the one you got.
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

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