[Solved] Saving in pdf format returns a blank pdf document

[Peter A]

Hi, I am using Open Office 3.1 on Windows Vista Home Premium. Here is the problem (Writer): Saving a document in pdf format returns a blank pdf document, the number of pages is correct though. Other formats seem to function alright. Appreciate suggestions - Peter A

[Hagar Delest]

Very strange!

Can you make a dummy file that is exported as blank and upload it (see: How to attach a document here). Upload also the PDF, it could help.

[Peter A]

Hi,
thanks for adressing the problem. I hope I uploaded the files correctly. The file is the one I am currently working in. Very strange indeed. I don't even know where to look for correction.

Sincerely,

Peter

Psychological tests construction.odt

(24.28 KiB) Downloaded 732 times

Psychological tests construction.pdf

(2.22 KiB) Downloaded 706 times

[RoryOF]

I D/Led your .odt file and when I changed it from Read Only to Read Write I was able to open it in OO3.1, then to Export as PDF, using the default settings. This PDF file then opened in Adobe Reader 9.1. Looks like it might be a settings problem of some sort. More later

[TheGurkha]

Ditto. Exports as expected.

Psychological tests construction.pdf

Exported as PDF.

(58.29 KiB) Downloaded 709 times

[RoryOF]

The uploaded PDF file from the OP is the wrong size. It ir 2.2KB, whereas my good PDF is 58Kb. Also, no fonts are embedded in it.

[Peter A]

Hi everybody! Thanks for all help so far. I downloaded the new pdf file, and it looks fine even on my screen, except for the fact that the note in the original odt file is omitted. I don't have the faintest why this is so. If there are any measures I can take to get the pdf function functioning I'd appreciate info in the form that any idiot can handle , i.e. where in Writer should I do what? I don't know how the document became Read Only - I looked up it's properties (right click on document --> properties) and there the option Archive is checked, but not the Read Only option... Appreciate further help - Peter

[RoryOF]

The document became read only through the process of uploading and downloading. This is not unusual and need not cause any worries. sometime this afternoon (about 1600 UTC) I'll list the Export to PDF settings so you can check them against yours, in case they have become changed.

[RoryOF]

As promised, here are the settings from my Export as Pdf, which worked. I show only the checked items.

General Tab:
Range - All
Reduce Image resolution 300 dpi
Create PDF Form
Submit format FDF
Export Bookmarks

Initial View Tab
Panes: Page Only
Open on page 1
Magnification: default
Page Layout: Default

User Interface Tab
Window Options: Display document title
Transitions: Use transition effects (checked but greyed out)
Bookmarks: All bookmark levels

Links Tab
Cross document links: default mode

Security tab:
Nothing set.

[Peter A]

Hi -

thanks for the swift reply and the extensive info on settings. I will check my settings against the ones suggested and see what happens and come back to tell on how things turned out in my PC. - Have a nice day, Peter

[tn@BeWo]

Hi Peter
I think you're aware that the export to PDF, in contrast to other exports, is a way of "printing" the document to a file. So the printing settings are crucial for the output. These may differ on your machine from those used by the "testers", who cannot reproduce your problem.

[Peter A]

Hi, I did not get around to testing the suggestions made so far yet, but I was curious to about the new entry. Does this mean that a prgm like Bullzip Printer (which is a PDF printer) could interfere with the Writer attempt att printing pdf? What are the correct printersettings in that case? - I will be around after doing some testing and report if I find anything that gives further clues. - Thanks for the new input. Have a nice day, Peter

[TheGurkha]

No, as far as I know the export to PDF from OOo does not use any printing facilities, it creates the file itself directly.

[NickSothick]

I now have the same problem as PeterA. Any further suggestions?

[Hagar Delest]

I now have the same problem as PeterA.

What do you mean by "now"? It worked before and not anymore? Any specific event just before it stopped working?

[tn@BeWo]

What are the correct printersettings in that case?

Hi Peter
As I think this refers to my post, here a clarification:
It has nothing to do with printing facilities, it just won't export what you see in "Normal" or "Web" View, but takes what you see in the Print (or "Page") "Preview" ("File" menu, "Print"... group).

[NickSothick]

What do you mean by "now"? It worked before and not anymore? Any specific event just before it stopped working?

I mean it has worked in the past and now it doesn't, precisely when it stopped working I cannot say. I can't think of any significant event but then I'm probably looking at a timeframe of a couple of weeks. I've now un-installed Open office and re-installed and the problem is still present. The problem is exactly as described earlier i.e, the export occurs and everything appears to be fine in that the pdf document is created with the correct number of pages and the correct mix of landscape and portrait pages but all the pages are blank.

[tangocharliebravo]

After years of OOo Writer exporting to PDF with no problem now in last two weeks it fails if the odt uses Times New Roman or Arial fonts. It seems no matter what settings I use in the Export PDF box the end result is a docname.pdf with nothing in it. When this docname.pdf file is opened with Adobe Reader 9 it says, "Cannot find or create the font 'Helvetica'. Some characters may not display or print correctly."

However, if I will change the oridinal odt document fonts to Cordova font then the PDF export works fine!!

Here are my notes as this has developed and the settings I've used:
Problem with OOo 3.2 beginning about end Jan. 2011

PDF export creates a blank docname.pdf file when original OO doc uses Times New Roman or Arial fonts. No matter what settings are used in the Export dialogue screen the output is still an empty docname.pdf file. Current settings of last failure are:

Export PDF settings are as follows:
General tab:
Range: All
Images: Lossless compression or JPEG compression 80% (makes no difference)
General:
PDF/A-1a checked or unchecked makes no difference
Tagged PDF checked
Export Bookmarks checked
Export automatically inserted blank pages checked

Initial View tab
Panes: Page only
Magnification: default
Page layout: default

User interface tab
Window options: display document title and Bookmarks: all bookmark levels

Links tab only Cross-document links default mode checked

Security tab nothing checked all grayed out

[tangocharliebravo]

Just discovered OOo 3.2 Calc has exact same problem in all aspects. But, Font change to Cortoba (possibly others too, don't know yet) makes Export PDF work. So what is it about Cortoba that makes this work when Arial and Times New Roman fail? All OOo installation re-downloaded and re-installed as of 2011-02-05.

[RoryOF]

A first suggestion: this is on a Linux (Ubuntu) system. It seems as if the PDF maker is not finding a substitute defined for Arial and Times New Roman.
Why not use Synaptic to install msttcorefonts to get the standard MS fonts package?

In making your PDF, do you have "Embed standard fonts" checked (First screen of Export as PDF). You may need to set up a replacement table under / Tools / Options / OpenOffice.org / Fonts for the 13(?) standard fonts if they are not installed on your computer. Start with Arial and Times New Roman.

[tangocharliebravo]

Using Synaptic I can find no such package as "msttcorefonts" but I did find "ttf-mscorefonts-installer" and it is installed. I wonder if for some reason OOo 3.2.0 is not working with ttf-mscorefonts-installer package since this problem is both in Writer and Calc.

In my first screen of "Export as PDF" there is no such option as "Embed standard fonts". I only have the options I listed above in the first post of this problem. But I did try checking PDF/A-1a in the General section as I understood that was to do about the same thing. It did not work.

I am trying to figure out how to do that replacement table option. I had looked at it and basically said to myself - Ugh, ugly fix, hope I don't have to try that!

[tangocharliebravo]

SOLVED -- way to go RoryOF

I told Synaptic to reinstall ttf-mscorefonts-installer and guess what - an check box came up for me to accept the user license. It was unchecked. I checked it and a bunch of fonts began to be installed and everything is working great now.

Synaptic last night failed to check the Accept license box that pops up and doing the reinstall is what it took.

[RoryOF]

I think you are probably using the Ubuntu version of OpenOffice. I use the vanilla (Oracle) version, from www.openoffice.org, and that might explain the difference in PDF option screens - now I remembewr (I think!); OOo 3.3 offers the option to embed the "standard" fonts, which I think was not available in 3.2.

[donald30i]

Hi everybody,
Can someone please help me with my problem? After I saved as .pdf my material it opens as a blank page. Can I recovery that page?

[omarrash]

I have also had the problem with underlying frame cells appearing in any pdf I save. It has applied in open office, libre office, and even Microsoft Office using Play on Linux on my laptop running OS Linux Mint 17.

If there is any way to hide or otherwise change the colors of table frame cells, it would be most helpful.

I have a table in office which must constantly be updated and saved to pdf, and it is not feasible to take a screen shot of the table and update the image each time. It would be time cumbersome and not efficient.

As others have noted, I only see the table frame outlines when I change the shading of the underlying table. On green or gold shades, the faint white lines appear; they do not appear on white cells.

If there is a way to "turn off" the underlying frame cell lines, or to make their color inherit the border shading of the table in the FOREGROUND (instead of the page background), I believe that would provide a universal solution for many, like the OP and myself, who require aesthetically pleasing documents and functionality. It would be a great step forward in allowing open source to be competitive for professional use.

Thank you for reading, considering, and offering suggested solutions / workarounds / core updates that may help.

With peace,

- Omar