Margins outside printable area of page...but the printer is virtual!

[DocA]

Hi,

In Word, I've got a document that uses a "postscript custom page size" of 8"
x 11". The margins are all 1".

In the Printers panel, I opened the Properties for Acrobat Distiller
(virtual printer) and
created a "postscript custom page size of 8" x 11" i.e. the same as my page
size in Word.

I then tried printing the document to the Acrobat Distiller printer instance
to make a prn file. When I did so, I got the message "The margins are
outside the printable area of the page". I don't understand how a virtual
printer can possibly have a non-printable area of the page. I would have
thought that I could create margins of 0" if I wanted to.

I don't have any problems printing postscript files using this custom page
size with FrameMaker.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Adrian

 

[Carey Gregory]

I then tried printing the document to the Acrobat Distiller printer instance
to make a prn file. When I did so, I got the message "The margins are
outside the printable area of the page". I don't understand how a virtual
printer can possibly have a non-printable area of the page. I would have
thought that I could create margins of 0" if I wanted to.

Yes, virtual printers often do have unprintable margins. Usually not
because they actually need them like hardware printers do, but because some
apps calculate page sizes incorrectly if the margins are zero. Setting
small unprintable margins prevents failures in those apps.

Any ideas?

As I recall, PDFWriter will let you set zero margins.

 

[DocA]

Thanks Carey.

I'm actually setting margins of 1"! Even the most demanding apps must surely
cope with this! Also, I don't get the "do you want to FIX margin size"
message at the moment of setting margins. (However, I do receive such
messages when setting very small margins using A4 or Letter page sizes with
the Acrobat Distiller printer instance).

Cheers,

Adrian

 

[DocA]

SOLVED!

Apparently, there is a problem with the "Postscript custom page size".
Instead of editing this custom size in the Printing Preferences for Acrobat
Distller, you have to create a new form of the size you want using "Server
properties" for the printer (I never knew this command existed before!).
More details below, taken from Adobe.Acrobat.windows forum.

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice!

Adrian
====================================
The solution posted below should work on most machines, but the results
could vary.


1.. Start by going to Start > Settings > Printers and select the Acrobat
Distiller printer. Then choose File > Server Properties.
2.. Select "create new form" and enter the desired values and give it a
name.
a.. Note: Normal users will not have sufficient rights to change or to
add a new form. Make sure you are logged in with sufficient (power user)
rights.
b.. Another note is that if your custom page size is in a landscape
orientation, enter the values as if it were a page in portrait orientation.
At print time do not forget to change the page orientation to landscape in
the Distiller printer properties in the file > print menu) This new page
size should now be available to the Distiller printer. Check this by
right-clicking the Acrobat Distiller printer and select properties and the
"device settings" tab. If it's not, then click the Port tab, select the PDF
port, and click "Apply".
c.. You can also change the page size by right-clicking on the Distiller
printer, and then Printing Preferences ("Document Defaults" on NT) followed
by the Advanced button.



3.. In Word (or any other application), choose File > Print and select
Acrobat Distiller as a printer. Then click Properties > Advanced, and select
the newly created custom page size. Click ok and print to Distiller, or
close the printer dialog box. Then use the PDFmaker to create the PDF. (MS
Word, Excel and PowerPoint only)
a.. For Word users, if you find that the resulting PDF reflows into more
or fewer pages, try the following:
1.. Before creating the PDF, choose File > Print and change the
printer to the Distiller printer. Now close the print dialog box and keep a
close eye on your document, you'll notice that it will shift. Check the
document for any unwanted changes, and then create the PDF.
2.. One way of preventing the above to happen is to navigate to Tools

Options > Compatibility tab. Deselect the option "Use print metrics for

Layout".