Save as PDF - change PDF Version?

[Grey Loki]

Hi folks,

I've got a script, the majority of which is running fine. The only issue now is the PDF creation - here's what happens.

A PDF is created, and opens fine. It gets sent out to a client, and only some clients can open it - others are unable to. However, if you use the 'Save PDF' option from a print dialogue box (as opposed to the Save PDF script step), the PDFs can be read fine.

I've had a quick look at the files using Linux/OSX's 'file' command. Here's what i've found:

1.3 - saved from print dialogue

1.4 - saved as v5+

1.5 - saved as v6+

1.6 - saved as v7+

The number on the left is the version of Reader for which the PDF which was printed. As you can see, PDFs with version 1.3 (which is compatible with Adobe Reader v4 and above) are the most readable. As I change the PDF version within the script step's options, you can see the version number increase, which also changes the compatability. It seems that several of our clients are still running Adobe Reader v4 without updates. Telling them to update their reader isn't really an option.

What I want to know is, is it possible to make it so that in addition to saving as a compatible PDF for Reader versions 5, 6, and 7, there is some hack or config file edit I can perform which will also allow Filemaker (which I think uses the Adobe PDF Print Engine, or whatever it's called) to generate PDFs compatible with Adobe Reader v4?

Thanks,

Loki

[IdealData]

The "Save records as PDF" script step does allow you to specify the version via Specify Option/Options/Document.

[Grey Loki]

The "Save records as PDF" script step does allow you to specify the version via Specify Option/Options/Document.

That only allows me to specify versions 5, 6, and 7. I want to use version 4 PDFs.

[benwiggy]

If FM can't do it, then it might be necessary to automate a process outside of FM that does this. Are you using OS X, or Linux? Read the man page for "cupsfilter" on OS X.

(Each PDF version is a superset of the previous version. So the language is otherwise unchanged, except for the additions that Adobe adds for new features in its products. However, Adobe products check the version number, which is an easy way to test for features required, even though those features might not be used.)