Any known issues using cutepdf with the online cb? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Any known issues using cutepdf with the online cb?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
baronspam
Apr 08, 2011 0:25:07 I have spend more than an hour trying to get some character sheets converted to .pdf files. I normally use cutePDF for this. I have tried it from two differnent computers. In some cases it would not generate a pdf at all, in others it was a blank document. Are there any known issues with cutePDF and the current CB? I went as far as to uninstall and reinstall cutepdf and it still would not work. Has anyone had similar problems?
#2
pruano
Apr 08, 2011 9:37:33 I use the free version of PDF Redirect, and dont have any problem (still have to set to letter format, though, stupid A4 CB bug).
#3
TheMadmanX3
Apr 08, 2011 10:09:44 doPDF works, but prints rather large files. Any print to pdf function will likely have some problems because, as far as I can tell, the online character sheet prints to an image first. You're essentially printing giant jpegs.
#4
thespaceinvader
Apr 08, 2011 11:29:26 I think the major issue is simply file size. If your computer doesn't have the memory to spool them, you won't be able to completely print them.
#5
lordomega
Apr 09, 2011 20:53:44 I use Solid PDF Creator to print as PDF. It does a good job and I haven't had any issues of incomplete prints or such. Only draw back, and that is probably due to the file size, is it takes about 5 minutes (roughly) for it to complete the print to PDF.

Solid PDF Creator is free to use.
#6
jstengler
Apr 09, 2011 22:38:04 I've noticed that cutePDF can take a while to "print" the character sheets
#7
_Mithreinmaethor_
Apr 10, 2011 0:00:35 You need to set the settings for cutepdf to 300 dpi or 144 dpi
#8
ZaranBlack
Apr 11, 2011 10:37:03
I have spend more than an hour trying to get some character sheets converted to .pdf files. I normally use cutePDF for this. I have tried it from two differnent computers. In some cases it would not generate a pdf at all, in others it was a blank document. Are there any known issues with cutePDF and the current CB? I went as far as to uninstall and reinstall cutepdf and it still would not work. Has anyone had similar problems?

I've had this same problem. I think we would have to reduce the quality of the print to make it work but I have not tried it. I just went back to the offline builder and printed it through there. I really wish problems like this would get fixed on their end instead of me having to find work arounds months after release.
#9
drnick
Apr 12, 2011 12:18:38 CutePDF no longer comes with Ghostscript which it needs for some PDF/Postscript stuff. I've seen it resolve a lot of issues with the CB when people install it. It can be found here: www.ghostscript.com/
#10
WolfStar76
Apr 14, 2011 16:43:18 I've been printing PDF character sheets with Nitro PDF Reader. Despite the word "Reader" in the title, it does full PDF printing for free, and without any watermarking to announce "THIS IS A TRIAL" or anything of the sort.
#11
Ruike
Apr 15, 2011 19:39:48 I've been using CutePDF and have only had a problem once, where it saved an empty pdf. Printing it again and saving over it fixed it.

The problem with it taking a long time to print has to do with window's printing not CutePDF as far as I can tell. The reason it takes so long is that the PDF printer tricks windows into "printing" the postscript data which is in its simplest form, uncompressed printer language. It's like a bitmap image that saves everything about every pixel compared to a jpeg, which is a compressed image format and is only a fraction the size of the bitmap. PDF printers have to take the postscript data which can be several megs for a document this size and compress the data and strip out unnecesary information to get it to the managable size you'd expect from a PDF. Depending on the way this is accomplished programmingwise it can take quite a bit of computing power and thus time. Some converters may be faster or slower because of that and of course your system specs affect it as well. Also make sure you aren't opening the pdf until its done forming it or windows will lock it while its being written to causing more problems.

The ghostscript thing was a secondary link on their website when i got CutePDF, not bundled with it but it was available. Just make sure you get it if you don't already have it.
#12
pruano
Apr 20, 2011 9:51:56

The problem with it taking a long time to print has to do with window's printing not CutePDF as far as I can tell.

More like the culprit being the online CB, that sends 300MB+ (some have reported a 1GB job) to the printer; that did not happened in the offline CB, where the jobs rarely passed 100MB, in my experience.

Depending on the computer and the program, it may not be able to handle such a load.

#13
windlane
Apr 20, 2011 15:32:47 This has happened with my computer too (the blank PDFs). I'm working on a Mac, so the option to print to a PDF is built in. I was not having this problem before the update yesterday.
#14
Duskweaver
Apr 21, 2011 12:45:27
Depending on the computer and the program, it may not be able to handle such a load.

Yup. Trying to print a level 21 character to PDF caused my computer to have a nervous breakdown. A 2.19GHz processor and 1GB of RAM is apparently nowhere near enough to handle it.

Speaking of which, is it really necessary that the CB needs half a gig of RAM just to be open in my browser, even when I'm not actually using it? Or, for that matter, to use 98-100% of my computer's processor capacity for up to half a minute every damn time I click on anything?
#15
bannoniii
Apr 21, 2011 22:44:43 I am having the same problem, with CutePDF just not responding when I try and print to it. So annoying!
#16
phoffman
Apr 22, 2011 2:19:21 i7 920 @ 2.9ghz with 6gb of Ram running windows 7 64bit.

With cutePDF to 144dpi and utilizing the new Print Rituals I can only get about 8 pages of rituals before it won't finish the rest. An Epic level wizard can have quite a few.

Perhaps there is a limit on the amount of memory that cutePDF will try to use when spooling, I will check things out. But i have been able to pring huge PDFs before with over 100 pages. Perhaps it is a silverlight thing limiting the amount of memory it can hold.

At this point A list of the rituals with their book and page is better, back to doing it the "manual way"

#17
_Mithreinmaethor_
Apr 22, 2011 12:14:35
I am having the same problem, with CutePDF just not responding when I try and print to it. So annoying!

If you are using CutePdf you want to make sure you have it set to 144 DPI. If you leave it at 600 DPI it will continue to try to print a HUGE file
#18
Duskweaver
Apr 22, 2011 14:22:09
If you are using CutePdf you want to make sure you have it set to 144 DPI. If you leave it at 600 DPI it will continue to try to print a HUGE file

That fixed the PDF printing problem with my level 21 character. Thanks!
#19
phoffman
Apr 23, 2011 17:16:19 Just read that Silverlight 4 is 32bit and therfore its process cannot take over 2gb of memory which includes the printing. This is causing the very large raw files to reach 2gb spooled and if there is any excess it just ends the process.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 baronspam Apr 08, 2011 0:25:07	I have spend more than an hour trying to get some character sheets converted to .pdf files. I normally use cutePDF for this. I have tried it from two differnent computers. In some cases it would not generate a pdf at all, in others it was a blank document. Are there any known issues with cutePDF and the current CB? I went as far as to uninstall and reinstall cutepdf and it still would not work. Has anyone had similar problems?
#2 pruano Apr 08, 2011 9:37:33	I use the free version of PDF Redirect, and dont have any problem (still have to set to letter format, though, stupid A4 CB bug).
#3 TheMadmanX3 Apr 08, 2011 10:09:44	doPDF works, but prints rather large files. Any print to pdf function will likely have some problems because, as far as I can tell, the online character sheet prints to an image first. You're essentially printing giant jpegs.
#4 thespaceinvader Apr 08, 2011 11:29:26	I think the major issue is simply file size. If your computer doesn't have the memory to spool them, you won't be able to completely print them.
#5 lordomega Apr 09, 2011 20:53:44	I use Solid PDF Creator to print as PDF. It does a good job and I haven't had any issues of incomplete prints or such. Only draw back, and that is probably due to the file size, is it takes about 5 minutes (roughly) for it to complete the print to PDF. Solid PDF Creator is free to use.
#6 jstengler Apr 09, 2011 22:38:04	I've noticed that cutePDF can take a while to "print" the character sheets
#7 _Mithreinmaethor_ Apr 10, 2011 0:00:35	You need to set the settings for cutepdf to 300 dpi or 144 dpi
#8 ZaranBlack Apr 11, 2011 10:37:03	I have spend more than an hour trying to get some character sheets converted to .pdf files. I normally use cutePDF for this. I have tried it from two differnent computers. In some cases it would not generate a pdf at all, in others it was a blank document. Are there any known issues with cutePDF and the current CB? I went as far as to uninstall and reinstall cutepdf and it still would not work. Has anyone had similar problems? I've had this same problem. I think we would have to reduce the quality of the print to make it work but I have not tried it. I just went back to the offline builder and printed it through there. I really wish problems like this would get fixed on their end instead of me having to find work arounds months after release.
#9 drnick Apr 12, 2011 12:18:38	CutePDF no longer comes with Ghostscript which it needs for some PDF/Postscript stuff. I've seen it resolve a lot of issues with the CB when people install it. It can be found here: www.ghostscript.com/
#10 WolfStar76 Apr 14, 2011 16:43:18	I've been printing PDF character sheets with Nitro PDF Reader. Despite the word "Reader" in the title, it does full PDF printing for free, and without any watermarking to announce "THIS IS A TRIAL" or anything of the sort.
#11 Ruike Apr 15, 2011 19:39:48	I've been using CutePDF and have only had a problem once, where it saved an empty pdf. Printing it again and saving over it fixed it. The problem with it taking a long time to print has to do with window's printing not CutePDF as far as I can tell. The reason it takes so long is that the PDF printer tricks windows into "printing" the postscript data which is in its simplest form, uncompressed printer language. It's like a bitmap image that saves everything about every pixel compared to a jpeg, which is a compressed image format and is only a fraction the size of the bitmap. PDF printers have to take the postscript data which can be several megs for a document this size and compress the data and strip out unnecesary information to get it to the managable size you'd expect from a PDF. Depending on the way this is accomplished programmingwise it can take quite a bit of computing power and thus time. Some converters may be faster or slower because of that and of course your system specs affect it as well. Also make sure you aren't opening the pdf until its done forming it or windows will lock it while its being written to causing more problems. The ghostscript thing was a secondary link on their website when i got CutePDF, not bundled with it but it was available. Just make sure you get it if you don't already have it.
#12 pruano Apr 20, 2011 9:51:56	The problem with it taking a long time to print has to do with window's printing not CutePDF as far as I can tell. More like the culprit being the online CB, that sends 300MB+ (some have reported a 1GB job) to the printer; that did not happened in the offline CB, where the jobs rarely passed 100MB, in my experience. Depending on the computer and the program, it may not be able to handle such a load.
#13 windlane Apr 20, 2011 15:32:47	This has happened with my computer too (the blank PDFs). I'm working on a Mac, so the option to print to a PDF is built in. I was not having this problem before the update yesterday.
#14 Duskweaver Apr 21, 2011 12:45:27	Depending on the computer and the program, it may not be able to handle such a load. Yup. Trying to print a level 21 character to PDF caused my computer to have a nervous breakdown. A 2.19GHz processor and 1GB of RAM is apparently nowhere near enough to handle it. Speaking of which, is it really necessary that the CB needs half a gig of RAM just to be open in my browser, even when I'm not actually using it? Or, for that matter, to use 98-100% of my computer's processor capacity for up to half a minute every damn time I click on anything?
#15 bannoniii Apr 21, 2011 22:44:43	I am having the same problem, with CutePDF just not responding when I try and print to it. So annoying!
#16 phoffman Apr 22, 2011 2:19:21	i7 920 @ 2.9ghz with 6gb of Ram running windows 7 64bit. With cutePDF to 144dpi and utilizing the new Print Rituals I can only get about 8 pages of rituals before it won't finish the rest. An Epic level wizard can have quite a few. Perhaps there is a limit on the amount of memory that cutePDF will try to use when spooling, I will check things out. But i have been able to pring huge PDFs before with over 100 pages. Perhaps it is a silverlight thing limiting the amount of memory it can hold. At this point A list of the rituals with their book and page is better, back to doing it the "manual way"
#17 _Mithreinmaethor_ Apr 22, 2011 12:14:35	I am having the same problem, with CutePDF just not responding when I try and print to it. So annoying! If you are using CutePdf you want to make sure you have it set to 144 DPI. If you leave it at 600 DPI it will continue to try to print a HUGE file
#18 Duskweaver Apr 22, 2011 14:22:09	If you are using CutePdf you want to make sure you have it set to 144 DPI. If you leave it at 600 DPI it will continue to try to print a HUGE file That fixed the PDF printing problem with my level 21 character. Thanks!
#19 phoffman Apr 23, 2011 17:16:19	Just read that Silverlight 4 is 32bit and therfore its process cannot take over 2gb of memory which includes the printing. This is causing the very large raw files to reach 2gb spooled and if there is any excess it just ends the process.