Can't generate a .ps file

[Michael_Galvin@adobeforums.com]

Mac OS 9.2.2 G4
Acrobat 5.05
Adobe PS Driver 8.7 & 8.8
Adobe Illustrator 9.2.2

I'm trying to generate a .ps file from an Illustrator doc. I've chosen the
adobe ps driver in my chooser but when I access page setup, there is no
distiller option ppd to choose from. I keep getting this Create Adobe PDF
thing. Does anyone know what I need to do to get the Distiller ppd to show
up in the Adobe PS driver dialogue box?

P.S. I had it working once before but that was before I had to clean out my
system and reinstall everything. Thanks much.

[A_K_Noorian@adobeforums.com]

Do you have an item named Distiller.ppd anywhere in your system? I think you need that in your Preferences > Printer Descriptions. Also, some applications require that you have the .ppd in your Application (Illustrator) folder.

[Michael_Galvin@adobeforums.com]

On 8/28/04 10:44 AM, in article [email]3bb5ad2c.0@webx.la[/email]2eafNXanI,
"A_K_Noorian@adobeforums.com" <A_K_Noorian@adobeforums.com> wrote:

> Do you have an item named Distiller.ppd anywhere in your system? I think you
> need that in your Preferences > Printer Descriptions. Also, some applications
> require that you have the .ppd in your Application (Illustrator) folder.

Thanks A.K.

I don't have a distiller.ppd file in my printer preferences folder but I do
have a 20k distiller doc. In fact, I have no .ppd files installed in my
system anywhere. Have I overlooked installing something when I cleaned out
my system and reinstalled everything? This is most perplexing. Any
assistance you can offer will be most appreciated. Thanks much.

Michael

[Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com]

Gavin - go to Acrobat/Distiller/Xtras/
You will find a file there called 'Acrobat Distiller'
move this to: System folder/Extensions/Printer Descriptions
Re-start Illustrator and then try again ...

Jon

[Michael_Galvin@adobeforums.com]

On 8/28/04 1:17 PM, in article
[email]1F5E17D645315BAAF195B8ECFE2727EC@in.webx.la[/email]2eafNXanI,
"Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com" <Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com> wrote:

> Gavin - go to Acrobat/Distiller/Xtras/
> You will find a file there called 'Acrobat Distiller'
> move this to: System folder/Extensions/Printer Descriptions
> Re-start Illustrator and then try again ...
>
> Jon

Thanks Jon:

I did what you suggested but no luck. I reinstalled Acrobat 5.0 and did the
update to it (5.05?). I reinstalled the Adobe PS driver 8.8 too. I launched
Illustrator, went to the chooser and chose the Adobe PS driver 8.8, went to
page setup and got a dialogue box that doesn't include a custom page option.
This driver adds a lot of junk to my desktop too. I have icons now for
'Create Adobe PDF', 'Virtual Printer', and 'Acrobat PDF'.

All I really want is the ability, once again, to choose the Adobe 8.8 PS
driver, go to page setup and get the dialogue box with the custom page
size/s option and the print to file option with the distiller ppd.

Could I be missing some Apple components here? Or have ones turned on that
should be off?

I'm in the process of putting together a digital portfolio and so I need the
custom page size option badly.

Any help here will be much appreciated. Thanks. Michael

(I do not have an actual printer to choose in the Chooser as my printer
crapped the bed a few days ago. The only items to choose from in my chooser
are Adobe PS, Laser Writer 8, Apple Share.)

[Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com]

Michael,

The problem here is that so many of us are running OSX and do not have
many classic (OS9) applications to hand ...

Might I suggest the Illustrator forum to find expertise regarding the
postscript menu ... and if you then have problems with Distiller/PDF
then return here ..

Jon ;-(

[Michael_Galvin@adobeforums.com]

On 8/28/04 6:09 PM, in article
[email]679E3B885438E082D06C1835D1893632@in.webx.la[/email]2eafNXanI,
"Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com" <Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com> wrote:

> Michael,
>
> The problem here is that so many of us are running OSX and do not have
> many classic (OS9) applications to hand ...
>
> Might I suggest the Illustrator forum to find expertise regarding the
> postscript menu ... and if you then have problems with Distiller/PDF
> then return here ..
>
> Jon ;-(

Thanks Jon. I'll check out the Illustrator forum, but this problem of being
unable to choose the distiller ppd occurs with all of my software. I can
choose the distiller ppd in Quark but when I go to print a .ps file, I get
all of these virtual printers and page set up for them doesn't have a custom
page size option. Just last week I had all of this functionality at my
fingertips before a major hard drive failure. Now I don't. I just wish I
knew what was wrong here. It is making a major negative impact on the work I
need to do. Thanks again.
Michael

[Aandi_Inston@adobeforums.com]

Applications often have their own folders where they look for PPD
files, as well as the system's Printer Descriptions folder. It sounds
as if you have the Distiller PPD only in QuarkXPress' folder.

Aandi Inston

[Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com]

Interesting point about Quark's ppd folder. Worth going to UTILITIES and
PPD-MANAGER to ensure the path is set to Systemfolder/Extensions/printer
descriptions/

Once you have this confirmed/set then can you use the ppd file in the
PRINT / SETUP menu? You should do ......

Jon

[Michael_Galvin@adobeforums.com]

On 8/29/04 5:09 AM, in article
[email]671F8D766C368033158F5902DA745037@in.webx.la[/email]2eafNXanI,
"Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com" <Jon_Bessant@adobeforums.com> wrote:

> Interesting point about Quark's ppd folder. Worth going to UTILITIES and
> PPD-MANAGER to ensure the path is set to Systemfolder/Extensions/printer
> descriptions/
>
> Once you have this confirmed/set then can you use the ppd file in the
> PRINT / SETUP menu? You should do ......
>
> Jon

Thanks Andi, thanks Jon.

Quark is reading the distiller ppd from Systemfolder/Extensions/printer
descriptions/. And in Quark's Page Setup dialogue box, I choose the
distiller ppd from the pull down list of Printer Descriptions. When I click
on the Page Setup button in the lower left hand corner of this dialogue box
what pulls up is the Adobe Postscript Driver (8.8.0 [301]) dialogue box, but
the distiller ppd is not there. I can only choose from Create Adobe PDF,
Acrobat PDF, or Virtual Printer. The Create Adobe PDF option does include a
custom page setup box. This is good thing (somehow I must have overlooked
this). But the problem is, I can't print to file a .ps doc for later
distilling (with custom settings) because the distiller ppd is not an
available option to choose in the Printer Descriptions box.

Whether this is a work-around or not remains to be determined but I've
discovered that if I go into the job options for distiller and modify and
save a default setting, i.e. Print(1), I can choose that option from the PDF
Settings box in the Create Adobe PDF dialogue box. I am accomplishing the
same thing here as I would had I been able to save the file as a .ps doc to
distill later with custom settings. The only problem with this is that I
repurpose my .ps files to suit various media. Because I can now not print to
file a .ps doc, I must, instead, determine my settings beforehand in
distiller and generate pdfs right then and there. This is not the most
convenient workflow for me and I would much prefer the ability to choose the
distiller ppd in the Adobe Postscript Driver 8.8.0 (301) dialogue box under
printer descriptions.

So, the question is: How do I get the Adobe Postscript Driver 8.8.0 (301)
dialogue box to offer the distiller ppd as a choice under printer
descriptions?

If you've read this far, thanks so much! I've tried to be as detailed as
possible (boring as all out, isn't it?) to eliminate any chance of
misunderstanding. I'm pretty sure if you go through the above slowly it will
all make sense. And by the way, everything I've described above holds true
for Illustrator and other software I've installed. Thanks much.

Michael

[Michael_Galvin@adobeforums.com]

On 8/30/04 2:53 PM, in article [email]3bb5aec2.12@webx.la[/email]2eafNXanI,
"Larry_G._Schneider@adobeforums.com" <Larry_G._Schneider@adobeforums.com>
wrote:

> Michael,
>
> You have to have a PostScript printer in order to print to a file. If you
> don't have a printer hooked to your computer now you will have to use the
> Virtual Printer installed by Adobe PS 8. Adobe PS wants to see a Vitrual
> Printer on your Desktop. Period. If it doesn't see one, it will create a new
> one. To create a .ps file for printing, select the Virtual Printer on the
> Desktop. In the Printing menu at the top of the screen, select Change Setup.
> In the first box, select change and navigate to the Acrobat Distiller PPD
> (should be in your System/Extensions/Printer Descriptions folder). Select this
> file and close the window. Now select the Virtual Printer and do a Cmd-L to
> make it your Default Printer. In AI, select the file you want the .ps file
> from and go to Page-Setup. Select Paper size and you will have custom sizes
> available. You can even have a borderless PDF for Web display purposes. Then
> print to file and distill.
>
> Larry

Unbelievable; thank you so much Larry.

I don't quite understand how not having a non-postscript printer hooked up
(which my recently departed Epson 1520 was) eliminates the option of
choosing the distiller ppd (and subsequent custom page choices) In the
Adobe PS 8 window. These were available before when this non-postscript
printer of mine was hooked up. Regardless, through your instructions I am
able, once again, to generate .ps files, which is fantastic. Thanks a
million. I shall copy and paste this over to the Acrobat forum where a
similar thread is underway.

Thanks again Larry. And thanks again to all who've been of assistance here
and at the Acrobat forum.
It is much appreciated.

Michael

[Michael_Galvin@adobeforums.com]

On 8/30/04 2:53 PM, in article [email]3bb5aec2.12@webx.la[/email]2eafNXanI,
"Larry_G._Schneider@adobeforums.com" <Larry_G._Schneider@adobeforums.com>
wrote:

> Michael,
>
> You have to have a PostScript printer in order to print to a file. If you
> don't have a printer hooked to your computer now you will have to use the
> Virtual Printer installed by Adobe PS 8. Adobe PS wants to see a Vitrual
> Printer on your Desktop. Period. If it doesn't see one, it will create a new
> one. To create a .ps file for printing, select the Virtual Printer on the
> Desktop. In the Printing menu at the top of the screen, select Change Setup.
> In the first box, select change and navigate to the Acrobat Distiller PPD
> (should be in your System/Extensions/Printer Descriptions folder). Select this
> file and close the window. Now select the Virtual Printer and do a Cmd-L to
> make it your Default Printer. In AI, select the file you want the .ps file
> from and go to Page-Setup. Select Paper size and you will have custom sizes
> available. You can even have a borderless PDF for Web display purposes. Then
> print to file and distill.
>
> Larry

Unbelievable; thank you so much Larry.

I don't quite understand how not having a non-postscript printer hooked up
(which my recently departed Epson 1520 was) eliminates the option of
choosing the distiller ppd (and subsequent custom pages choices) In the
Adobe PS 8 window. These were available before when this non-postscript
printer of mine was hooked up. Regardless, through your instructions I am
able, once again, to generate .ps files, which is fantastic. Thanks a
million. I shall copy and paste this over to the Acrobat forum where a
similar thread is underway.

Thanks again Larry. And thanks again to all who've been of assistance in the
various forums.
It is much appreciated.

Michael