Issue generating PDFs from MS Office 2003 (Word, Publisher) and Vista

Sorry...PDF's, not PRF's...typo! =)

Hi,

Using Acrobat 5 in Vista may well be a/the problem.
(Distiller is installed with Acrobat a part of the Acrobat package).

[url]http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/vistasupport.php[/url]
[url]http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=333780[/url]

Be well...

Well, I Googled it, there was some kind of solution that I tried the other day, and now it's not working for whatever reason...here is what it said:

I've found a workaround for this. I had exactly the same problem using Acrobat 5 with Word 2002 under Vista (but worked fine under XP).

The workaround is to "print to file" and then manually run it through Acrobat Distiller.

This is what I do:

- In Word select "File | Print" and pick the Acrobat Distiller printer. Also check the "Print to file" box. Click "OK".

- In the subsequent dialog box enter the file name you wish to save the file as and click "OK". This will generate a PostScript file with a .prn extension (or you can pick "All Files" and manually enter a .ps extension).

- Now, manually start Acrobat Distiller. You might find a shortcut to this in the main "All Programs" list. If it isn't there you can double click the executable file. Mine is located at C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 5.0\Distillr\acrodist.exe.

- In Distiller, select File | Open and pick the file you created earlier. (You may have to pick "All files" in order to see the .prn extension.) Click "Open".

- Distiller will now probably ask you for a destination file name. Enter it and click "Save". Distiller then creates the PDF.


That's it. The workaround is actually quicker and simpler than it looks all written out above.

This probably works for the other MS Office apps in the suite as well.

Thanks,
AB

With your method you get the equivalent of a sheet of paper. You lose alot of the interactivity that Acrobat can autamically provide through conversion or applying some additonal work. Further, you may find at a later date that even this method might not work. I still use Acrobat 5, but I need version 7 to post directly to SharePoint because Acrobat 5 does not support LDAP, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, directories.

Yah, i think I already found that it doesn't work after a matter of a few days...so do I just update Arobat Distiller 5 with a newer version and is this a free update or cost?
Thanks for your time,
AB

Hi AB,
To obtain a Distiller release that is compatible with Vista you will have to purchase a new license for Acrobat. You need Acrobat 8, updated to 8.1.2 or 9.

Current commercial release is, of course Acrobat 9. Through one of the discount software venues, on line, you may be able to buy Acrobat 8.

Distiller (retail/consumer release) is bundled with Acrobat (not to be confused with Adobe Reader). It is not released by Adobe as a stand alone application. The other, available Distiller is a server version; so, you want the retail release.

I believe that there is no direct upgrade path from Acrobat 5 to Acrobat 8 or 9.

Be well...

Thank you Baby Blue. Your work around works like a gem. I'm using acrobat 5 on windows 7. Thank you.