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pdfFactory / pdfFactory Pro - Frequently Asked Questions

How do I upgrade to pdfFactory Pro?

What is an embedded font?

Can the contents of PDF files be edited?

What types of fonts does pdfFactory support?

Does pdfFactory preserve URL links in documents?

What version of PDF do you support?

How do I remove the margins in pdfFactory?

How do I combine documents into a single PDF?

How do I control the quality of the graphics?

What is the difference between Acrobat and pdfFactory?

Does pdfFactory work with Citrix Metaframe?

Installation fails. How do I install pdfFactory using the Add Printer Wizard?

Why is the Send button missing?

Why are my PDFs smaller than the original document when printed?

How do I convert a number of files to PDF without opening and printing each of them?

How do I get technical support?

How do I upgrade to pdfFactory Pro?
If you have been using pdfFactory and wish to upgrade to pdfFactory Pro, or if you have been using an Version 1 of pdfFactory and wish to upgrade to the Version 2, contact our office on 1300 886 673 within Australia (0800 886 673 within New Zealand) and we will arrange this upgrade.

What is an embedded font?
An embedded font is embedded directly into the PDF file. Using embedded fonts guarantees that the reader of the PDF file will see the original font, regardless of whether or not they have the font installed on their system. In general, it is not necessary to embed fonts since a close match to the original will be substituted if it is available on the computer where it is displayed.

Can the contents of PDF files be edited?
Yes, they can, but only with the full Adobe Acrobat product, not the Adobe Reader. In order to prevent editing, PDFs must be encrypted. Fortunately, this is very easy to do with pdfFactory Pro.

What types of fonts does pdfFactory support?
Only TrueType fonts are supported. pdfFactory supports Asian fonts and non-ANSI character fonts such as Hebrew, Greek, and Central European. Version 2.43 and later now support Type 1 fonts.

Does pdfFactory preserve URL links in documents?
pdfFactory Pro supports URLs in standard such as http://, file:// and standard email addresses. It does not support links that contain anything other than a fully spelled out URL or file designator.

What version of PDF do you support?
pdfFactory supports PDF 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 or 1.5 depending upon the requirements of the document. We try to use the lowest version possible in order to maximize Acrobat Reader compatibility.

How do I remove the margins in pdfFactory?
Margins can be removed from the pdfFactory properties in the printers folder. Right click on pdfFactory and select Properties (Win9x) or Document Defaults (NT) or Printing Preferences (2K/XP) and set the pdfFactory margins to 0.

How do I combine documents into a single PDF?
pdfFactory will automatically combine documents for you once the pdfFactory screen is displayed. Just keep printing to pdfFactory and the preview display will update when new print jobs are received.

How do I control the quality of the graphics?
Try turning off the image downsampling in pdfFactory preferences in the Printers folder. Set the quality of graphics by using the JPEG slider control in the Graphics tab in the pdfFactory preferences in the Windows printers folder. Turning off downsampling can also help improve graphic quality.

What is the difference between Acrobat and pdfFactory?

Even if you own the full blown Acrobat product, pdfFactory is very useful for the following reasons:

offers the ability to seamlessly combine multiple print jobs (even from separate applications) into a single PDF file
has a Send button to email a PDF to someone without having to Save As and type a file name
provides a better font embedding UI
allows the preview of jobs before freezing into PDF format, and the ability to delete pages
all print jobs are automatically saved for future use (especially useful for transient content like Web page searches, ecommerce receipts, emails that get deleted, etc.)
in most cases creates smaller files than Adobe Acrobat (not guaranteed)

Does pdfFactory work with Terminal Server/Citrix Metaframe?
Yes, it does. Please see our Server Edition information for more information.

Installation fails. How do I install pdfFactory using the Add Printer Wizard?

In some cases the installation of pdfFactory fails to properly install the driver in your Printers folder. When this occurs, pdfFactory must be installed from the Printers folder using the Add Printer Wizard.

Windows XP/2000 (requires Administrative privileges)

extract all the pdfFactory files into a temporary folder on your hard disk, e.g. c:\fptemp. Winzip can extract files from either an EXE or a ZIP archive and is available for free at http://www.winzip.com.
uninstall any existing version of pdfFactory on your system:

Using the Start menu, Run, type the command "c:\fptemp\setup /uninstall" (without the quotes) to uninstall. Do this even if the pdfFactory printer is not visible in your Printers folder, because it will clean up any remaining traces from an unsuccessful installation.

Make sure to reboot your system after uninstalling, before you proceed with the new installation.
After rebooting, run the command "c:\fptemp\setup /inf" (without the quotes). This will create the INF files necessary to perform an Add Printer Wizard installation.
open the Printers folder
from the File menu, run the Server Properties command
click on the Ports tab
check if the port FPP1: appears in the list of ports. If it does, click Cancel and skip the next 5 steps.
click the Add Port button, then click New Port Type
when prompted for a folder name, enter c:\fptemp and click OK. If you get a Windows "Hardware Installation" warning about Windows Logo testing, just click "Continue Anyway".
in the list of printer ports, make sure that FPP1: is highlighted, then click New Port
click Close to dismiss the "Printer Ports" dialog
click Close to dismiss the "Print Server Properties" dialog
in the Printers folder, double click the Add Printer icon
click Next on the initial Welcome screen
select Local Printer as the printer location. Make sure that the "Automatically detect and install my Plug and Play printer" is NOT checked. Click Next to continue.
select FPP1: from the list of printer ports, then click Next
when presented with a list of printer choices, select Have Disk, then enter c:\fptemp and click OK
select FinePrint pdfFactory from the list of available printers and click Next
if Windows asks if you want to "Keep existing driver" or "Replace existing driver", choose "Replace existing driver"
when prompted for a printer name, accept the default name "FinePrint pdfFactory" and click Next
do not share the printer
do not print a test page
click Finish to complete the wizard. If you get a "Digital Signature Not Found" message, just click Yes to continue. If you get a "Hardware Installation" warning about Windows Logo testing, just click "Continue Anyway".
after the printer installation is completed, you will need to logoff Windows and re-logon (click the Start menu, then select Shut Down) once before you use pdfFactory.

Why is the Send button missing?
The Send button is removed when pdfFactory cannot initialize MAPI. This could happen if the email client you are using is not MAPI compatible or if the default email client is not configured. To configure the default email client, open Internet Explorer, to go Tools, Options, Programs and select your email client.

Why are my PDFs smaller than the original document when printed?
This is because Acrobat Reader is scaling the document. To resolve this, uncheck all the scaling options in the Copies and Adjustments section of the Acrobat Reader print dialog box.

How do you convert a number of files to PDF without opening and printing each of them?

Open the printers folder in the Windows Start menu and set pdfFactory as the default printer.
Open the pdfFactory properties and turn off the dialog box display.
Open a Windows folder containing the files and group select them.
Right click and select the "print" menu.

This will print all the files to pdfFactory. pdfFactory will create a PDF file in the autosave directory for each file.

How do I get technical support?
First make sure you are using our latest version before you send a tech support request. We are constantly improving the product and fixing problems.

You can email us at support@avalanche.com.au for technical support. Please indicate the following in your request:

your operating system
pdfFactory version number
whether the pdfFactory preview is correct or not
the applications you are using
a copy of the original application file if appropriate