I'm not just a book author; I also design and typeset books. I use PageMaker 7.01 to typeset the pages, and then export them as a PDF file.
The Problem
Distiller is the software that takes the .ps file (PostScript format) generated by PageMaker and converts it to PDF format. Sometimes, Distiller refuses to do the conversion, and provides clearly-worded error messages that help me pin down the problem almost immediately:
%%[ Error: typecheck; OffendingCommand: get ]%%
Stack:
0
/DeviceGray
/DeviceGray
0
-mark-
%%[ Flushing: rest of job (to end-of-file) will be ignored ]%%
%%[ Warning: PostScript error. No PDF file produced. ] %%
I write in bitter sarcasm. The only part I understand is: "No PDF file produced."
I have complained to Adobe, and Distiller 7 makes a minor step towards clarity: it now tells me the page number with the error. Perhaps Distiller 8 or 9 will be able to tell me the nature of the problem. I am sure that a corporation worth US$14 billion could hire a programmer to do that.
A Solution
Anyhow, I have found a workaround to Distiller throwing up and refusing to complete the conversion:
1. Identify the page range containing the error.
2. Remove those pages from the document temporaibly. In my case, I leave out the chapter file from the book list. Alternatively, slide the text boxes off the edge of the problem pages.
3. Convert the rest of the document to PDF.
4. Realign the problem pages, and output them separately as another PDF file. I find that the range of problem pages often convert to PDF without problem.
5. In Acrobat Pro, use the Document | Insert Pages command to combine the two PDF files into one.
Another Solution
Another thing that makes Distiller throw up are images pasted directly into PageMaker documents from PaintShop Pro.
The workaround is to save the images in PaintShop Pro as TIFF files, and then use Ctrl+D to insert the images in the PageMaker document.
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