Print to PDF in Firefox creates non-searchable PDF - please help

[Adam]

Firefox 3.6.28 / Windows XP

Print to PDF (of some web pages) in Firefox creates non-searchable PDF.
Here's a problem link ...
http://course.ucsc-extension.edu/modules/shop/index.html?action=section&OfferingID=1532219&SectionID=5270686

The problem does not occur with IE but I prefer to find a fix for Firefox.

Any ideas?

[Jeremy Nicoll - ml mozilla support-firefox]

"Adam" <adam@no_thanks.com> wrote:

>Firefox 3.6.28 / Windows XP
>
>Print to PDF (of some web pages) in Firefox creates non-searchable PDF.

Does this not depend on the configuration of whichever virtual printer app
you use to do PDF generation?

--
Jeremy Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

[Gnus2Me]

Yes, it absolutely does! Print to PDF is not a native function of
Firefox, or XP.

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Adam" <adam@no_thanks.com>

I had no problems searching within a PDF that I printed to PDF, generated
from your referenced web page, using PDFCreator on SourceForge.


--
Dave
Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

[Lu Wei]

On 2012-3-26 8:00, Jeremy Nicoll - ml mozilla support-firefox wrote:
> "Adam" <adam@no_thanks.com> wrote:
>
>> Firefox 3.6.28 / Windows XP
>>
>> Print to PDF (of some web pages) in Firefox creates non-searchable PDF.
>
> Does this not depend on the configuration of whichever virtual printer app
> you use to do PDF generation?
>

I printed the page using Firefox 11 and Ghostscript pdf and get the same
result as OP. Ctrl+U reveals that page is loaded through a script. If
that is the cause, then it is a bug of Firefox.
--
Regards,
Lu Wei
PGP key ID: 0x92CCE1EA

[Dave Pyles]

Jeremy Nicoll - ml mozilla support-firefox wrote:

> "Adam"<adam@no_thanks.com> wrote:
>
>> Firefox 3.6.28 / Windows XP
>>
>> Print to PDF (of some web pages) in Firefox creates non-searchable PDF.
>
> Does this not depend on the configuration of whichever virtual printer app
> you use to do PDF generation?
>

I just tried this with both Firefox 11 and IE9 both using Primo PDF with
the same settings to create the PDFs and indeed the OP is correct.
Firefox seems to be sending images of the page to the PDF printer and
IE9 appears to be sending text to it.

I just tried it again using Corel PDF Creator as the printer with the
same results.

Dave Pyles

[Adam]

"Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:ffudnY5utaQzJPLS...@mozilla.org...

Thanks (to all) for your response, I am using Acrobat 8 Pro (default config)
for PDF generation.

[Fred S *****]

Hi,

I have Primo PDF installed and used it on the noted web site - it is
searchable and works just fine here.

Fred

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Adam" <adam@no_thanks.com>

Verified your results with Acrobat 9 Professional v9.5.0.

I then tried print to a PostScript file via an Adobe Distiller PPD. Converted the .PS to
PDF via Acrobat and GSView32. Both with the same results, the PDF content is treated as a
graphic.

Acrobat could not perform OCR on that PDF as well.

PDFCreator is the winner.

[Dave Pyles]

Not quite. I downloaded and installed PDFCreator and tried it and got
the same result, graphic in the PDF.
Dave Pyles

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Dave Pyles" <dnp...@user.invalid>

You are right. It happens in FF v3.6.28 but not from FF v11.

[goodwin]

"Lu Wei"<luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:ffudnY5utaQzJPLS...@mozilla.org...

> I printed the page using Firefox 11 and Ghostscript pdf and get the same
>result as OP. Ctrl+U reveals that page is loaded through a script. If
> that is the cause, then it is a bug of Firefox.

how do you figure that to be?

[md5]

I have FF 11 on WinXP Pro. When I print a webpage to pdf using this free pdf
printer driver: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
And I the open it in Adobe Reader, it is searchable. It makes me thing the
problem is with the Ghostscript driver, but I'm not sure.

"Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:ffudnY5utaQzJPLS...@mozilla.org...

[Lu Wei]

On 2012-3-26 14:05, md5 wrote:
> I have FF 11 on WinXP Pro. When I print a webpage to pdf using this free pdf
> printer driver: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp
> And I the open it in Adobe Reader, it is searchable. It makes me thing the
> problem is with the Ghostscript driver, but I'm not sure.

Are you sure that it is searchable in the "body" text, i.e., the text of
the "description" section? The "frame" text is searchable here too.

[Lu Wei]

An excerpt from Ghostscript's help:
"
Ghostscript PDF Printer Description

To assist with creating a PostScript file suitable for conversion to
PDF, ghostscript includes ghostpdf.ppd, a PostScript Printer Description
(PPD) file. This allows some distiller parameters to be set when a
PostScript file is generated.

Windows XP or 2000

To install a "Ghostscript PDF" printer on Windows XP, select the Windows
Control Panel, Printers and Faxes, Add a Printer, Local Printer, Use
port FILE: (Print to File), Have Disk..., select the directory containg
ghostpdf.ppd and ghostpdf.inf, select "Ghostscript PDF", Replace
existing driver (if asked), and answer the remaining questions
appropriately. After installing, open the "Ghostscript PDF" properties,
select the Device Settings tab, set "Mimimum Font Size to Download as
Outline" to 0 pixels.

To set distiller parameters, select the "Ghostscript PDF" Printing
Preferences, then the Advanced button. The PDF settings are under
"Printer Features".
"

That printer will print to a PS file, which could be converted to PDF
using ps2pdf.bat.

[goodwin]

On 03/26/2012 12:55 AM, Lu Wei wrote:
> On 2012-3-26 13:20, goodwin wrote:
>>
>> "Lu Wei"<luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:ffudnY5utaQzJPLS...@mozilla.org...
>>
>>> I printed the page using Firefox 11 and Ghostscript pdf and get the same
>>> result as OP. Ctrl+U reveals that page is loaded through a script. If
>>> that is the cause, then it is a bug of Firefox.
>>
>> how do you figure that to be?
>

<snip insrall instructions for ghostscript>

Those instructions do not indicate any Firefox bug.

[md5]

Well, I am not sure what you mean in distinguishing one part from the other.
I certainly believe that I searched for a word within the body of text in a
pdf document made with that driver from an arbitrary website. Is there a
particular website which you would like me to print and test with? How would
I look at a document in Adobe Reader to see what part of it is the "frame"
text, anyway? Maybe you should try that driver to see whether it works out
for you. Thanks.

"Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:1IidnVMyo871gu3S...@mozilla.org...

[Lu Wei]

I misunderstood. No, its just my speculation that maybe Firefox treat
that script-loaded parts wrongly and makes it as picture in the PDF. No
evidence. And since several people has posted that they have no problem
with that page, maybe I am wrong and it should be PDF printer's bug.

[Lu Wei]

On 2012-3-27 3:22, md5 wrote:
> Well, I am not sure what you mean in distinguishing one part from the other.
> I certainly believe that I searched for a word within the body of text in a
> pdf document made with that driver from an arbitrary website. Is there a
> particular website which you would like me to print and test with? How would
> I look at a document in Adobe Reader to see what part of it is the "frame"
> text, anyway? Maybe you should try that driver to see whether it works out
> for you. Thanks.

Maybe I am wrong in using words like "frame" or "body". Just search the
word "Description" in that PDF and see if it can be find.

As to the driver, CutePDF's page says: "Requires PS2PDF converter such
as Ghostscript (recommended)."

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid>

I get different results when I use FF v11 vs. FF 3.6.28 using the same
software. Something is different in the rendering in FF v3.6.28

[goodwin]

On 03/27/2012 07:04 AM, David H. Lipman wrote:
> From: "Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid>
>
>> On 2012-3-26 23:56, goodwin wrote:

<snip>

>>>
>>> Those instructions do not indicate any Firefox bug.
>>
>> I misunderstood. No, its just my speculation that maybe Firefox treat
>> that script-loaded parts wrongly and makes it as picture in the PDF. No
>> evidence. And since several people has posted that they have no problem
>> with that page, maybe I am wrong and it should be PDF printer's bug.
>>
>
> I get different results when I use FF v11 vs. FF 3.6.28 using the same
> software. Something is different in the rendering in FF v3.6.28
>

That would be a function of the pdf plugin, would it not?

I think I read somewhere in the past that FF was planning to render pdf
files itself but it doesn't do it yet. Or maybe I dreamed that...

Anyway, I'm not a pdf guru by any means and use Adobe reader with linux,
not windows, but I don't see where FF has anything to do with the OPs issue.

[md5]

"Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:QYydnZjhi7DDK-zS...@mozilla.org...

> On 2012-3-27 3:22, md5 wrote:
>> Well, I am not sure what you mean in distinguishing one part from the
>> other.
>> I certainly believe that I searched for a word within the body of text in
>> a
>> pdf document made with that driver from an arbitrary website. Is there a
>> particular website which you would like me to print and test with? How
>> would
>> I look at a document in Adobe Reader to see what part of it is the
>> "frame"
>> text, anyway? Maybe you should try that driver to see whether it works
>> out
>> for you. Thanks.
>
> Maybe I am wrong in using words like "frame" or "body". Just search the
> word "Description" in that PDF and see if it can be find.
>
> As to the driver, CutePDF's page says: "Requires PS2PDF converter such
> as Ghostscript (recommended)."

Yes, it is searchable. Yes, you need to follow the instructions on that
page for obtaining ghostscript and install it first. I did it and it
works.Or get it here:

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/

[David H. Lipman]

From: "goodwin" <jeff.g...@att.net>

No. It is not a PDF Plugin. It is a print-to-file PDF format Print Driver
and independent of the Browser.

[Adam]

"David H. Lipman" <DLipman~nospam~@Verizon.Net> wrote in message
news:epWdndX1OI0HZezS...@mozilla.org...

Thanks (to all), I will post to another newsgroup then.

[Adam]

"Adam" <adam@no_thanks.com> wrote in message
news:p8ydndrrkM5oiO_S...@mozilla.org...

Looks like I misunderstood David Lipman's previous post (dated 3/27/2012
10:27 AM) ...

"David H. Lipman" <DLipman~nospam~@Verizon.Net> wrote in message

news:DI2dnTza2YVdre_S...@giganews.com...
> From: "Adam" <adam@no_thanks.com>
>
>> Host OS: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
>> Guest OS: Windows XP Pro SP3 (via VirtualBox)
>> Browser: Firefox 3.6.28
>> PDF Writer: Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional / PDF Plug-In for Firefox
>>
>> The following was originally posted to "mozilla.support.firefox" ...

>>
>> Print to PDF (of some web pages) in Firefox creates non-searchable PDF.

>> Here's a problem link ...
>> http://course.ucsc-extension.edu/modules/shop/index.html?action=section&OfferingID=1532219&SectionID=5270686
>>
>> The problem does not occur with IE but I prefer to find a fix for
>> Firefox.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
>

> To add to Adams question, I will state my findings previously provided in
> his initial query in the Mozilla Firefox news group.
>
> If printed to Adobe Professional v9.5.0 or PDFCreator or to a PostScript
> file and distilled to a PDF from Firefox v3.6.28 the PDF is rendered as a
> graphic and is not searchable.
>
> If printed to PDFCreator from Firefox v11 the PDF is searchable.
>
> I believe this to be a FF v3.6.28 rendering issue.

>
> --
> Dave
> Multi-AV Scanning Tool - http://multi-av.thespykiller.co.uk
> http://www.pctipp.ch/downloads/dl/35905.asp

I also believe that the problem is due to whatever the browser is
sending to the PDF writer/generator.

Also, separately, why did the "mozilla.support.firefox" newsgroup have to
be in a special "news.mozilla.org" account? <sigh>

[Ron Hunter]

In the strict sense, FF just prints. Your printer driver is what does
all conversion tasks related to making the print output into a PDF file.
You might check with the company you downloaded the PDF printer driver
from to see if there are settings you can change to make it work
properly, but I can't see how FF could affect that.

[David H. Lipman]

From: "Ron Hunter" <rphu...@charter.net>

> In the strict sense, FF just prints. Your printer driver is what does all
> conversion tasks related to making the print output into a PDF file. You
> might check with the company you downloaded the PDF printer driver from to
> see if there are settings you can change to make it work properly, but I
> can't see how FF could affect that.

Firefox renders the data and then sends it to the print provider.

Firefox v3.6.28 and Firefox v11 produce different outputs using the same PDF
Print Provider.

[Keith Nuttle]

On 3/27/2012 7:30 PM, David H. Lipman wrote:
> From: "Ron Hunter" <rphu...@charter.net>
>
>
>> In the strict sense, FF just prints. Your printer driver is what does
>> all conversion tasks related to making the print output into a PDF
>> file. You might check with the company you downloaded the PDF printer
>> driver from to see if there are settings you can change to make it
>> work properly, but I can't see how FF could affect that.
>
> Firefox renders the data and then sends it to the print provider.
>
> Firefox v3.6.28 and Firefox v11 produce different outputs using the same
> PDF Print Provider.
>

I have been using FF since FF 2. I have searched since this thread
started but somewhere I remember seeing a check box that said something
like Print text as image.

I sorry but I can not find it in FF11, maybe it will ring a bell for
someone else.

[Adam]

"Keith Nuttle" <keith_...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:O72dnUln6J_Fyu_S...@mozilla.org...

Thanks, but most (95%+) PDFs generated (from other websites) are searchable.
I only have problems with webpages from that particular website.

[Lu Wei]

On 2012-3-28 0:19, md5 wrote:
> "Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message
> news:QYydnZjhi7DDK-zS...@mozilla.org...
>> On 2012-3-27 3:22, md5 wrote:
>>> Well, I am not sure what you mean in distinguishing one part from the
>>> other.
>>> I certainly believe that I searched for a word within the body of text in
>>> a
>>> pdf document made with that driver from an arbitrary website. Is there a
>>> particular website which you would like me to print and test with? How
>>> would
>>> I look at a document in Adobe Reader to see what part of it is the
>>> "frame"
>>> text, anyway? Maybe you should try that driver to see whether it works
>>> out
>>> for you. Thanks.
>>
>> Maybe I am wrong in using words like "frame" or "body". Just search the
>> word "Description" in that PDF and see if it can be find.
>>
>> As to the driver, CutePDF's page says: "Requires PS2PDF converter such
>> as Ghostscript (recommended)."
>
> Yes, it is searchable. Yes, you need to follow the instructions on that
> page for obtaining ghostscript and install it first. I did it and it
> works.Or get it here:
>
> http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/

I did a little experiment:

Scene 1: In a nearly fresh system -- Virtualbox WindowsXPSP3, I installed CuteFTP from the page you give, Ghostscript9.04 (since that is the version I have), Firefox 11, print the page given by OP, open the PDF using Foxit reader 5.1.4, and search the word "Description", no results. I speculate that "Description" part is rendered as image -- I have no PDF editor to confirm, so I uploaded the file to this site (hope pastebin of mozilla could support file upload!):
http://uploading.com/files/a4dd1979/Areas%2Bof%2BStudy%2Band%2BCourses%2B_%2BUCSC%2BExtension%2BSilicon%2BValley.pdf/
Hope someone with a PDF editor could analyze it.

Scene 2: In the same system, using same software to do the same thing, except substituting Firefox 11 to IE 8, this time it finds the word "Description" correctly. I uploaded the file created by IE 8 here:
http://uploading.com/files/m34m2f98/Areas%2Bof%2BStudy%2Band%2BCourses%2B_%2BUCSC%2BExtension%2BSilicon%2BValley%2B-%2BIE.pdf/

I think the result above is a strong suggestion that it be a bug of Firefox, although I don't know why Firefox on your machine works.

[Adam]

"Lu Wei" <luwe...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:pKCdnZU2PK4J-u_S...@mozilla.org...

Thanks (to all) for your attention. Sounds like Firefox 11 may not work
either.
So, I will just use IE since it works.

Some interesting stats here ...
http://gs.statcounter.com/#browser_version-ww-monthly-201109-201202-bar


Firefox 3.6 is Mozilla's Windows XP ...
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/firefox-36-is-mozillas-windows-xp/16098

The frequent unnecessary/cosmetic updates/upgrades do not seem very
appealing.

[Ron K.]

Adam on 3/27/2012 9:43 PM, keyboarded a reply:

Using the Web Developer tools built into FF11 I discovered the site has
some malformed HTML that includes improper insertion of CSS without valid
Style: declaration. In addition the linked stylesheet has many style rules
that are being ignored because they are not compliant with expected
standards. The sites webmaster needs to make some repairs.

--
Ron K.
Who is General Failure, and why is he searching my HDD?
Kernel Restore reported Major Error used BSOD to msg the enemy!