Printing pdf file with Printers unit produces ps file instead
lazarus / 31-LCL

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jalphonse · 2016-05-02 17:54

Hello,

I work with Lazarus 1.6 for Windows 7.
I wish to print into a pdf file, using the installed Adobe printer.

For some reason, my program creates a Postscript file instead of the
expected pdf file.
This is my trial pocedure:
PrintDialog1.Options:=[poPrintToFile];
if PrintDialog1.Execute then with Printer do
begin
  BeginDoc;
  Canvas.Font.Name := 'Courier New';
  Canvas.TextOut(100, 100, 'Hello Lazarus!');
  EndDoc;
end;

Thanks,
jalphonse

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tk · 2016-05-02 19:25

Maybe you should not call PrintDialog1.Options:=[poPrintToFile];?
Did you also check if Printer.PrinterIndex really matches your
selected printer?

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jalphonse · 2016-05-02 21:15

Quote from: tk on May 02, 2016, 09:25:10 pmMaybe you should not call
PrintDialog1.Options:=[poPrintToFile];?
Did you also check if Printer.PrinterIndex really matches your
selected printer?

If I do not call PrintDialog1.Options:=[poPrintToFile], no file is
created.
I checked PrinterIndex (=3) and PrinterName (=Adobe PDF). This seems
correct to me.

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jalphonse · 2016-05-15 14:59

Quote from: jalphonse on May 02, 2016, 07:54:06 pm...
using the installed Adobe printer (...) For some reason, my program
creates a Postscript file instead of the expected pdf file.
...

I eventually found the answer myself:
FileName has to be empty and Title set to the name of the output file
(e.g. Printer.Filename:=''; Printer.Title:='file'). This is mandatory
in order to create a pdf file using the Adobe PDF printer.

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tk · 2016-05-18 15:40

Quote from: jalphonse on May 02, 2016, 11:15:14 pmIf I do not call
PrintDialog1.Options:=[poPrintToFile], no file is created.

A PDF printer should IMHO always produce a PDF file, that's why I've
suggested this.
However, I don't know Adobe PDF printer, been using another PDF
printers.
Important is that your fix works for you.

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jalphonse · 2016-05-20 09:47

Quote from: tk on May 18, 2016, 05:40:07 pmA PDF printer should IMHO
always produce a PDF file, that's why I've suggested this.
I agree with you.
I have no idea about why under certain parameters I get a postscript
file. However, looking into the Properties of the Adobe PDF printer,
several fields indeed refer to Postscript options.

To be more specific, here is the result of the various combinations
of  Printer.Filename and Printer.Title:
Filename empty + Title non empty: ok, pdf file generated, name of file
corresponds to Title
Filename non empty + Title empty: opens a window asking for file name,
postscript file generated
Filename empty + Title empty: no file generated
Filename non empty + Title non empty: opens a window asking for file
name followed by postscript error

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rvk · 2016-05-20 09:57

When you're using poPrintToFile, isn't the whole Adobe PDF-creation
procedure then bypassed? Adobe PDF printer uses a Postscript driver to
create a file (itself) and in the process after that the file is
converted to a PDF. (That's also how other PDF-printers work)

What happens if you leave Filename empty + Title non empty and remove
the poPrintToFile? If the PDF-file then also correctly created? In
that case you should never use poPrintToFile yourself because you
instruct the Postscript driver to skip the post-process part and just
output its raw content to file (and that's just postscript-code).

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jalphonse · 2016-05-20 14:30

Quote from: rvk on May 20, 2016, 11:57:51 amWhen you're using
poPrintToFile, isn't the whole Adobe PDF-creation procedure then
bypassed? Adobe PDF printer uses a Postscript driver to create a file
(itself) and in the process after that the file is converted to a PDF.
(That's also how other PDF-printers work)

What happens if you leave Filename empty + Title non empty and remove
the poPrintToFile? If the PDF-file then also correctly created? In
that case you should never use poPrintToFile yourself because you
instruct the Postscript driver to skip the post-process part and just
output its raw content to file (and that's just postscript-code).

Thanks for the information about the pdf printers.

The poPrintToFile itself is not a problem: it only displays the
checkbox "Print to file", unchecked. If I check it, then the "whole
Adobe PDF-creation procedure then bypassed" as you explain.