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Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:10 pm
by amorris
After having worked fine for some time, I have recently run into trouble when exporting an OpenOffice Writer file to PDF.
Whether I use the button on the menu bar or file--export to pdf, the command freezes the program (I get the infinite spinning wheel).
I have reinstalled the program and both my operating system and the program are up-to-date. Any ideas on how to address this?

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 6:23 pm
by acknak
If OO suddenly starts acting strangely, it can often be cured with a fresh OO settings profile. This just means exiting OO, renaming (or removing) the folder where OO stores all its settings, then restarting OO. It will then create a new settings profile folder.

For details, see: [Tutorial] The OOo user profile

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:17 pm
by amorris
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I tried renaming and removing the settings profile folder but I still encountered the error.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:24 pm
by acknak
From your description, I assume the freeze occurs with more than just one particular document, right?

I'm moving your topic to the Mac troubleshooting area of the forum; hopefully someone with more Mac knowledge will have a suggestion for you.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:35 pm
by John_Ha
I think Writer on a Mac uses a different method to produce a PDF when using File > Export as PDF ..., compared with clicking the PDF icon. See Re: [Solved] Exported PDF / Typographic Ligatures / "fi", "f which says:
Apple's Overview of Quartz 2D says Quartz 2D is a feature of Mac OS which can be called by any application and can be used to create a PDF file. Perhaps AOO on Mac uses its own PDF creator for File > Export as PDF ...; but uses Quartz 2D for the Save as PDF ..., icon.
Quartz 2D is a two-dimensional drawing engine accessible in the iOS environment and from all Mac OS X application environments outside of the kernel.

You can use the Quartz 2D application programming interface (API) to gain access to features such as path-based drawing, painting with transparency, shading, drawing shadows, transparency layers, color management, anti-aliased rendering, PDF document generation, and PDF metadata access.
Search for other posts with [url=http:\\x.x.com]export pdf mac[/url] (you must have one word of 4 or more characters).

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 8:59 pm
by MrProgrammer
Hi, and welcome to the forum.
amorris wrote:Any ideas on how to address this?
On Mac OS X try File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF.

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can select the green checkmark icon at the same time.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:07 pm
by amorris
MrProgrammer wrote:
amorris wrote:Any ideas on how to address this?
On Mac OS X try File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF.
I can still save as PDF but this is different than export to PDF. One problem I've had using print to PDF instead of export is that embedded links will not work.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:09 pm
by amorris
acknak wrote:From your description, I assume the freeze occurs with more than just one particular document, right?
Yes, the freeze occurs with all the documents I have tried.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:13 pm
by amorris
John_Ha wrote:I think Writer on a Mac uses a different method to produce a PDF when using File > Export as PDF ..., compared with clicking the PDF icon. See Re: [Solved] Exported PDF / Typographic Ligatures / "fi", "f which says:
Apple's Overview of Quartz 2D says Quartz 2D is a feature of Mac OS which can be called by any application and can be used to create a PDF file. Perhaps AOO on Mac uses its own PDF creator for File > Export as PDF ...; but uses Quartz 2D for the Save as PDF ..., icon.
Quartz 2D is a two-dimensional drawing engine accessible in the iOS environment and from all Mac OS X application environments outside of the kernel.

You can use the Quartz 2D application programming interface (API) to gain access to features such as path-based drawing, painting with transparency, shading, drawing shadows, transparency layers, color management, anti-aliased rendering, PDF document generation, and PDF metadata access.
Search for other posts with [url=http:\\x.x.com]export pdf mac[/url] (you must have one word of 4 or more characters).
Thanks for your response John. Neither method (File > Export as PDF or clicking the PDF icon) are working currently so even if they are different, they are both broken! I read the topic you linked to but I could not find a fix for my problem.
I scoured the forums for days before submitting my post but if anyone can find a fix in a previous topic, please send it my way!

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 3:40 pm
by John_Ha
1. Try to create a PDF with this document.

2. Try to create a PDF from another application on your Mac - it will probably use Quartz.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 6:56 pm
by amorris
Thanks again for the ideas John.

I was able to export the test document to a pdf with no problem.
I was also able to export a document to a pdf from Microsoft Word with no problem.

But OO still freezes.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 7:55 pm
by Joco
MrProgrammer wrote:Hi, and welcome to the forum.
amorris wrote:Any ideas on how to address this?
On Mac OS X try File → Print → PDF → Save as PDF.

If this solved your problem please go to your first post use the Edit button and add [Solved] to the start of the title. You can select the green checkmark icon at the same time.
Thank you for this, have the issue with pdf exporting

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 1:00 am
by John_Ha
amorris wrote:I was able to export the test document to a pdf with no problem.
I was also able to export a document to a pdf from Microsoft Word with no problem.

But OO still freezes.
That therefore sounds like a problem with the specific .odt file you are exporting. Do you have any images with transparency as I think that causes problems?

Can you upload a problem .odt file here (128kB max) or to a file share site so someone can have a look at it.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 2:33 pm
by amorris
Yes, it seems to be affecting only files that I created recently. I went back to old files and was able to successfully export to pdf.
I attached a file that causes OO to freeze when I try to export to pdf.

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 2:45 pm
by John_Ha
Chapter 3 Project.odt exports to a PDF without problems for me.

What happens if you just wait for, say, two minutes when it freezes. Does it then work?

Re: Export to PDF - Troubleshooting help

Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2017 9:43 pm
by lgusaas
amorris wrote:Yes, it seems to be affecting only files that I created recently. I went back to old files and was able to successfully export to pdf.
I attached a file that causes OO to freeze when I try to export to pdf.
I had not problem exporting to PDF on my Mac. It Exported immediatly.

What settings do you use to export to PDF