PDF print directly to printer share

[Matt Klein]

Hi All -

I couldn't decide if this topic should go under printing or PDF's. I finally decided to start in PDF's.

Many printers, when setup as shares, will allow you to simply copy a PDF file directly to the share and the printer will then print it.

I have this working great as long as the pdf being copied to the share is not a pdf that was created by FileMaker.

As a test, I created a blank layout and then typed a paragraph of text. I then duplicated that text twice and applied different formatting to it in each instance:

Instance 1 is just plain text with a combination of upper and lowercase characters.

Instance 2 is just plain text with all characters being uppercase.

Instance 3 is the same as Instance 2 except that the text is Bold.

The only one that prints properly when the file is copied directly to the share is Instance 2.

In Instance 1, only the upper cased characters print. All lower case characters printing as boxes.

In Instance 3, all characters printed as boxes.

If I open the same PDF in Acrobat Reader and then print it to the printer, it prints just fine.

If I copy a PDF not created in FileMaker directly to the printer share, it prints just fine.

The problem only exists when copying a PDF created in FileMaker directly to the printer share.

The goal here is to automate printing of a PDF from inside FileMaker.

Any ideas?