[xep-support] Can't print XEP output PDF files on HP 8100

From: Susan Korgen (skorgen@intersystems.com)
Date: Tue Nov 04 2003 - 12:42:47 PST

  • Next message: Nikolai Grigoriev: "Re: [xep-support] Can't print XEP output PDF files on HP 8100"

    I have been using the XEP tool for about 6 months.

    There are about 400 pages of PDF documentation that I have
    created using XEP from XML source files that we also process
    with DocBook to create online documentation.

    All has been quite well until today.

    Today for the first time one of my users reported that he could not print
    one of my PDF files. He was using an HP 8100 printer. I normally test
    on the HP LaserJet 4 and HP LaserJet 4M that are near my desk, and the
    PDF prints beautifully there. Others have successfully printed this output,
    although not very many different printer models have been tried.

    In general I have assumed that the XEP tool created valid, printable PDF
    that I could
    give to customers without fear, as long as it didn't issue me any errors
    when I ran it.
    (And it didn't)

    However, when I tried to print to this HP 8100 that my user also tried,
    my PDF file blew up just like his did. I tried 3 of my PDF files from XEP
    and all of them blew up after about 10-15 pages (approximate depending
    on the file). The same files printed fine when I tried them again on the
    HP LaserJet 4 and HP LaserJet 4M. Is XEP incompatible with the more
    modern HP 8100? That doesn't make sense!

    After that I took one of my PDF file from XEP, one of those that blew up
    after 10 pages on the HP 8100, and I printed it to the Acrobat Distiller
    instead
    of to a physical printer. The result was a PDF file that looked "grainy"
    onscreen
    but that printed beautifully on the HP 8100. This is just an observation, and
    not a workaround for us, because customers need our PDF output to look good
    onscreen as well as when printed.

    I now have 3 PDF files created by XEP that reliably "blow up" on the HP 8100.
    Maybe it is coincidence, but regardless of exactly on which page the files
    "blow up" it is at a place immediately after the title of a figure that
    consists
    of a GIF file, coincidentally the first GIF file that is referenced by the
    XML document.
    (I have tested this by deleting some figures from XML, running XEP, and then
    printing the PDF output on the HP 8100 again.) The figure title prints but the
    figure does not and then the following message appears (in each case, 3
    different
    files, slightly different numbers for the dimensions but the message
    template is
    always the same; here is what it always tells me):

    ERROR: typecheck
    OFFENDING COMMAND: filter

    STACK:

    /LZWDecode
    -dictionary-
    -filestream-
    -filestream-
    -mark-
    /_Filters
    [0 255 ]
    /Decode
    8
    /BitsPerComponent
    [527 0 0 -450 0 450 ]
    /ImageMatrix
    450
    /Height
    527
    /Width
    1
    /ImageType
    -mark-
    -savelevel-

    The error message appears at the top of a sheet of paper that
    comes out following the page on which the illustration was supposed
    to be printed, but wasn't. The last thing on the failure page
    (the page just before the error message) is the title of the figure.

    Am I reading too much into this connection to figures? Or does this
    error message (shown above) have something to do with GIF format?

    The XEP tool never complains while generating this PDF file,
    and many printers do work in successfully printing this PDF file.

    We are basing customer deliveries on this technology, so I need
    an explanation and a solution ASAP. Thanks very much,
    Susan

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