🚀 go-pugleaf

> I seem to recall that several people have posted replies to printer/PDF
issues
> that include phrases, like "make sure you're using the latest Adobe PPD
file".

I would phrase that as "make sure you're using the correct PPD file for
your version of Acrobat". Acrobat 4 should use "Adist4.ppd" and Acrobat 5
should use "Adist5.ppd". I don't think Adobe makes updates to these files,
so that you would have to go searching for the latest version.

To check which PPD file was used to create your Acrobat Distiller printer
instance, you have to open the Printer control panel, select the printer
(hopefully there's only one called Acrobat Distiller), and check the
various Properties for this printer. Exactly where to look varies from
one version of Windows to another, and from Acrobat 4 to 5. In one of
the tabs/dialogs, the top item in a list is called "AdobePS Acrobat
Distiller...". Select or right-click that item and select "About...".
There you'll find the PPD filename and version.

> I do lots of FM installations but I don't recall ever being prompted for a
PPD
> selection when installing the Distiller printer instance or any printer
driver.

No, the prompt never mentions "PPD file". What you get is a dialog listing,
by default, the "Generic Postscript" driver, which you should never use.
There's a button there to browse for a "printer", but it's really a PPD
file you're browsing for. The driver installer program looks for PPD files
in the folder you browse, reads the PPD files and presents a list of printer
names instead. It's trying to be helpful, I guess...

To correctly install the virtual Acrobat Distiller printer instance, you
need to run the AdobePS driver installer/setup utility, called Universal
Driver Installer 1.0.6 in its latest incarnation, downloadable from
Adobe's site. (Don't use the Printer Wizard part of Windows...)
When you encounter the dialog I mention above, you need to browse to the
Acrobat installation directory (or somewhere else on your system) to find
the AdistX.ppd file. If you don't have it, for some reason, you need to
download that PPD file first from Adobe's site.

Hope this helps,


--
/Thomas Michanek, FrameMaker/UNIX/MIF expert
http://go.to/framers/