I am having some problems creating PDFs with Scribus. The book is 251
pages in length. (I didn?t see the FAQ about recommended page limits until I
started looking for solutions to my problems.)
First the short version:
One day I produced a PDF of my Scribus file using CutePDF and everything
went smoothly. The next day, after making some minor changes to the file, I
made another PDF using CutePDF and it took more than 9 hours and there were
errors in the final product. Every attempt to produce a PDF of that file using
Cute PDF since has met with the same unsatisfactory results.
Now the long version, which hopefully includes all the relevant data:
I prepared a PDF using Scribus, it was 31.1MB. After viewing the PDF on my
computer to make sure it was in order, I submitted it to Lulu and ordered a
proof copy. A few days later I received an e-mail from Lulu that the PDF could
not be printed and that it caused their diagnostic program to crash. Then I
created a new PDF using CutePDF (it came out to 88.9MB), submitted it to Lulu,
and ordered my proof copy. This time it printed with no problem.
I proof-read the book and found some errors so I edited the file and
printed a new PDF through CutePDF, it took a little under half an hour. I
scrolled through the PDF to make sure everything looked right, and it did
overall, but I did noticed a few mistakes I had missed, so I changed them and
printed a new PDF (over-writing the previous one since the changes made were
minor). This time it took more than 9 hours to produce the PDF and it was
150.1MB (I didn?t note the size of the PDF I was over-writing). When I viewed
the PDF, three pages came up with an error and would not display. I figured
the error might have something to do with over-writing the previous PDF, so I
tried again, saving it to a new location, but with the same results: 9+ hours
to print, 150.1MB, and the same three pages producing errors.
The book is divided into three parts, the three pages that produced errors
are the cover-pages for each of the three parts. They each consist of a
graphic of the book?s title and a line of text introducing the book-part, and
the standard master page. The same title graphic appears on the title page,
which has not caused any noticeable errors. These graphics were added after
the first proof copy I had made, but before the last successful PDF I made (the
one that I over-wrote). I did not alter any of these pages (including the
master pages) between the last good PDF and the first bad PDF.
I was able to print each of the book-part cover-pages to PDF individually
and replace the erronious pages in the book. The patched together PDF can be
viewed without errors; I am still waiting to see if Lulu can successfully print
it, however.
But even if it dose print successfully, I do not want to have to take 9+
hours to produce the PDF for each new revision and have to paste new pages into
it on top of that, especially since I know it can be done in less than half an
hour. What could have happened between the last good PDF and the first bad
PDF? I did not install any new software or change any setting on my computer
until after the problems started. Then I downloaded and installed the newest
versions of CutePDF and Ghostscript (the versions I had been using sere several
years old), and I uninstalled and reinstalled Scribus (I have been using the
newest version), but that has not improved the situation.
I tried cropping down the file into smaller parts, the first being 44 out
of the total 251 pages. It took 15 minutes to produce a PDF with CutePDF, and
the one book-part cover-page that was included in the 44 pages produced the
same error. While it was a lot faster, relatively, that printing the entire
file, the size was proportionate to the 150.1MB total of the bad PDFs rather
than the 88.9 of the good PDF.
I also re-tried creating a PDF using Scribus? built in PDF utility and it
seemed to function. But since Lulu couldn?t print the previous PDF generated
by Scribus I decided to print the PDF from Adobe Reader through CutePDF, and
the program froze up.
Then, back in Scribus, I deleted the pages that generated the errors and
tried to create a PDF through CutePDF and the program froze up.
I'm afraid the file may have gone corrupt, since all the software seems to
be working alright. I hope someone will be able to help me get things working
the way they were.
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