PDF output

[Gryndehl]

What do I need to do to get PDF output working. I downloaded and installed the PDF utility but when I try to use it, it thinks it hasn't been downloaded.

[rob]

It sounds to me like it was installed in a way that isn't accessible. Let's try to isolate exactly what's going wrong and then we can figure out how to fix it.

First, open up Windows Explorer (aka File Manager) and navigate to the folder where the PDFCanvas tool is installed. By default, it will be installed into a "PDFCanvas" folder beneath the "Program Files" folder for Windows. The location of this folder varies based on which version of Windows you are running. For example, it might be the following:
"C:\Windows\Program Files\PDFCanvas"

If you can't locate the file yourself, you can try using the Search mechanism of Windows to find it. Search for the file "pdfcanvas.dll". If you still can't find it, then something failed with the actual installation. Depending on your security settings, you may need to run the installation with Administrator privileges to get it to work properly.

I'll assume you can find the PDFCanvas folder. Within that folder, there is a program named "pdftest". Double-click on this file to run the test. If it is successful, a new file named "test.pdf" will be created in the same folder. Once the file shows up, double-click on it and you should see a simple test PDF within Adobe Reader. This means everything is installed properly.

If the file doesn't appear, then it's probably a security issue. Try running the "pdftest" program with Administrator privileges. This is achieved by right-clicking on the program and selecting the "Run as Administrator" option on the menu. If it fails to work, then you probably need to re-install the PDFCanvas utility with Administrator privileges. If it does work, then Hero Lab needs to be launched with Administrator privileges.

You can modify Hero Lab to always be launched with Administrator privileges. You can also try running HL in "compatibility mode", which may also solve the problem. Both of these are accomplished by right-clicking on the shortcut you use to launch HL. Select the "Properties" option and then click on the "Compatibility" tab. You can permanently change the compatibility mode and whether to run as Administrator on this tab.

Hope this helps...

[Gryndehl]

Thanks, that fixed it (the security issue)

[Dragoon-Darkfire]

Since this is already about a problem I'm having. I can't get any of the PDF's I save to work in Hero Lab.

Every time I save a hero lab PFD I keep getting this same message.



And Adobe Reader keeps saying they're corrupt. I've downloaded and re-installed it 5 times now and each time it's the same problem.

What the hell's going on here?

[rob]

Have you gone through the steps that I outlined above? If not, then please do so as that will hopefully shed light on what is going wrong. If you have, then please let us know how you have everything configured (e.g. compatibility and such).

This particular issue is something the Colen is going to need to investigate, since that's code he's significantly more familiar with than me. However, I'm sure he's going to want to know whether all the basics check out and how you have all the pieces configured. So providing that info will hopefully speed up the process when Colen looks at this stuff (hopefully on Monday).

[Dragoon-Darkfire]

Originally Posted by rob

Have you gone through the steps that I outlined above? If not, then please do so as that will hopefully shed light on what is going wrong. If you have, then please let us know how you have everything configured (e.g. compatibility and such).

This particular issue is something the Colen is going to need to investigate, since that's code he's significantly more familiar with than me. However, I'm sure he's going to want to know whether all the basics check out and how you have all the pieces configured. So providing that info will hopefully speed up the process when Colen looks at this stuff (hopefully on Monday).

I doubt administrative privileges are a problem as I'm the only one who uses this computer and I'm the administrator.

I also ran that test bit and the test PDF it made was also corrupt. So I think I'll either have to re-install Hero Lab outright or get stuck without the ability to print PDF's for a while.

[chiefweasel]

I am having this same problem. It seems to have started with the 3.3 patch. Don't know if that helps anyone.

[rob]

If the test PDF is failing, then the problem has *nothing* to do with Hero Lab itself. Something is wrong with the PDFCanvas tool. You should try reinstalling PDFCanvas and this time please make sure you *force* it to use administrator privileges, just in case. Doing that at least eliminates any possibility of something getting stuffed up due to privilege issues. Also be sure to run the test program with administrator privileges, just in case that is a factor.

[Colen]

Chiefweasel, are you getting exactly the same error as Dragoon-Darkfire? With exactly the same error message?

Dragoon-Darkfire and chiefweasel, have you both tried forcing the test program to run in administrator mode? What happens?

Also, do either of you have any chinese / korean / japanese / other similar language support installed on your computers? If so, for which languages?

[Dragoon-Darkfire]

Originally Posted by Colen

Chiefweasel, are you getting exactly the same error as Dragoon-Darkfire? With exactly the same error message?

Dragoon-Darkfire and chiefweasel, have you both tried forcing the test program to run in administrator mode? What happens?

Also, do either of you have any chinese / korean / japanese / other similar language support installed on your computers? If so, for which languages?

Again. I don't think administrative privileges are the problem since I'm already an administrator on the computer.

I DO have Japanese installed on the computer however...