Streamline printing of PDF documents

Downloading the file won't strip the metadata. I don't see how the metadata could be an issue, and unless you have some special server print setup the students are already printing from thier desktops. Navigating to a PDF, from a web browser causes the browser to load Acrobat/Reader browser add-in, and then the PDF into Acrobat/Reader. Printing from here is the same as printing from the stand alone Acrobat/Reader.

However, making the students download the files first will slow them down and probably reduce the average network trafic, and the load on the printer.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]

Is there some other reason that the print time is taking so long from what evidence I have given? Is there some best practices technique you would recommend? Thanks.

There are so many reasons why printing could take a long time. There could be issues with rendering a particular file, the print settings can cause the same file to print a different speeds, the network could be bogged down, the computer the printer is attached to could be busy or short of memory. The printer could be overloaded. You'll need to debug the issues in your environment. That's what the IT guys are for.

But you could start out by doing some simple tests. For example, when the network is quite do print tests of different PDFs. Using the stand-alone Acrobat/Reader and the browser. This will give you a baseline for guaging the slowness at peak time.

Thom Parker
The source for PDF Scripting Info
[url=http://www.pdfScripting.com]pdfscripting.com[/url]

The Acrobat JavaScript Reference, Use it Early and Often
[url=http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php]http://www.adobe.com/devnet/acrobat/javascript.php[/url]

Then most important JavaScript Development tool in Acrobat
[url=http://www.pdfscripting.com/public/34.cfm#JSIntro][b]The Console Window (Video tutorial)[/b][/url]
[url=http://www.acrobatusers.com/tutorials/2006/javascript_console][b]The Console Window(article)[/b][/url]