Question

Printing PDF's Creates Large Print Jobs

Asked by: dsvxaey

Whenever I print a PDF file to any given printer, the size of the print job is larger than the original file.  For example, a 10MB PDF prints to a 50MB print job.  This becomes a concern when printing in a terminal environment.  Is there any way to optimize/prevent this so that the print job is closer to the original size or smaller?

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Asked On
2009-08-04 at 11:17:09ID24625668
Tags

PDF Printing Large Jobs

Topics

Adobe Acrobat

,

Printers

,

File Compression Utilities

Participating Experts
2
Points
250
Comments
16

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Answers

 

by: hatheharikenPosted on 2009-08-04 at 11:44:35ID: 25016823

the 10 mb pdf is understandable by the adobe reader, but not the printer.

the printer understands a very different set of data.
these data (the large ones) are basically PDLs - or data made under the guidelines of the Page Description Language. not to be confused with Printer Description Language.
PCL, PostScript, LiDiL are only some of the PDLs in the market.

while the data that is spooled to the printer will ALWAYS be larger than the source files, there are some tweaking you can do to reduce the size:

1) change the driver. example - If using a PCL5 driver, upgrade to PCL6 or even PS or PS2.0
2) many printers (like Canon IR3320i) support direct PDF printing. if you can tell me the make and model of your printer, i can tell you whether it has the feature, and if so, how to access it.
3) upgrade your network - to hasten the data transfer to the printer.

in my opinion, 50 mb is not a very large size. in the commercial environment, print sizes can span upto 750mb and beyond without creating a network bottleneck.
if you could describe your network topology

your printer may have an embedded print server which you may not be utilising. please let us know the make and model of your printer.

cheers!
hathehariken.

 

by: hdhondtPosted on 2009-08-05 at 03:41:20ID: 25021863

A 10MB PDF is a large one, and I would certainly expect it to grow to 50MB or more when sent to the printer. At that size, it probably includes a number of large images. PostScript printers are best suited for images. With PS, the image size sent to the printer is independent of the printer's resolution. Nevertheless, the entire image is sent, so the size can't be reduced (with PCL it can even increase!) and the PS protocol normally converts the image to 7-bit ASCII characters, so the print file is always larger than the original. If your printer/driver supports binary PS, you can halve the image size.

As hathehariken suggests, a printer that supports PDF directly is probably your best bet.

 

by: dsvxaeyPosted on 2009-08-05 at 07:31:57ID: 25023860

I will try the PostScript driver for my printer and reply back with the results.  How can I tell if the printer supports direct PDF printing?

 

by: hatheharikenPosted on 2009-08-05 at 08:14:14ID: 25024365

---How can I tell if the printer supports direct PDF printing?
by telling us the manufacturer and the model number of your printer. :)

cheers!
hathehariken.

 

by: dsvxaeyPosted on 2009-08-05 at 12:36:05ID: 25027192

It's a Brother MFC-8460N.

One thing that might be worth rementioning is that these prints are through Terminal Services.  Will that affect the print job?

 

by: hatheharikenPosted on 2009-08-05 at 13:06:17ID: 25027531

i am not very conversant with terminal services, but i dont think thin client computing will affect this issue.

the data available oin the internet on your printer is very sparse.
i have information from http://www.brother-usa.com/MFC/modeldetail.aspx?PRODUCTID=MFC8460N&tab=spec which says it supports the HTTP protocol on IPv4.
just type in the ip address of your printer in your browser.

you MAY reach a server frontend for the embedded print server.
search around, and there MAY be a place for selecting a PDF or a PS file and uploading to the printer for printing.

call it a hunch, but the chances of this printer having a PDF print support should be very low.

if PDF printing in BULK quantity is a requirement in your workflow, consider getting a Canon IR3300n or a Canon IR3320i.
almost no breakdown, prints perfectly and very low running cost

cheers!
hathehariken.

 

by: hdhondtPosted on 2009-08-05 at 16:19:26ID: 25028923

I'm not 100% certain, but I doubt very much that the Brother supports PDF printing.

If you decide on a new printer, any HP and Xerox printers/copiers support PDF printing too.

 

by: dsvxaeyPosted on 2009-08-10 at 07:12:41ID: 25060037

I also have a Xerox Phasor 8560.  Does that support direct PDF printing?

 

by: hatheharikenPosted on 2009-08-10 at 13:15:03ID: 25063620

yes it does.

http://www.office.xerox.com/latest/85AAR-02.PDF
have a look at page 8. the last line.

the InternetServices page can be opened by typing in the IP address of the printer from within your browser.
navigate to the PDF upload section and browse and upload your PDF file to the printer.
thats it. the printer will now print the selected number of copies.
based on your printer firmware version you may or may not have the ability to set the number of copies - the default is one.

cheers!
hathehariken.

 

by: dsvxaeyPosted on 2009-08-11 at 19:36:30ID: 25075309

Is there anyway to setup the file copy as an actual printer?  The problem I can foresee is training end users to upload files from a Terminal session.  It would be easier for them to have a printer object setup to do the file transfer.

 

by: hatheharikenPosted on 2009-08-12 at 00:48:38ID: 25076463

nope. that is not possible.

the user must enter the file location from within the browser.

it does not matter, whether the user are based on a thin client system.
Browser -> Printer URL -> Upload File -> get copies from printer.
i dont think this cant get any easier.

of course you can create an HTML object (a form) that will reside on the user's desktop that will submit the file to the printer.
this way the users will not have to go to the printer's InternetServices page and lessen the probabilities to mess up...

the user will simply open the form and select the pdf file and click on submit. thats it.

cheers!
hathehariken.

 

by: dsvxaeyPosted on 2009-08-13 at 07:58:40ID: 25089060

I've tried uploading a PDF to the printer via the web page, but I get an error message.  The message is as follows:

This printer is not configured to support direct PDF printing.
Please use Adobe Acrobat to print your PDF file.

I went through all the settings and can't see where there is an option to turn this feature on.  Any ideas?

 

by: hatheharikenPosted on 2009-08-13 at 11:42:23ID: 25091478

your error indicated the printer is not enabled for PDF printing.
call your local Xerox Tech to enable it.
they will come in and update the print server software.
this operation takes around 30-45 minutes.

it is beyond the scope of this discussion and your access to specialised tools/software to teach you how to do it.

cheers!
hathehariken.

 

by: dsvxaeyPosted on 2009-08-21 at 10:08:08ID: 25153733

Is there any way I can do the upgrade myself?  I hate to rely on a technician to do it.

 

by: hatheharikenPosted on 2009-08-21 at 10:18:20ID: 25153824

no. you cant do it yourself.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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