Acrobat problems, mostly with margins in Windows XP

[PinkPanther 0]

In need of help ….

 

How do professionals create truly universal PDF templates for printing? For example, PDF templates that one would use to print out Avery labels and such.

 

My problem is as follows: I can create a template to the correct specifications in Adobe Illustrator, and from within Illustrator it prints perfectly. However, when the PDF file is created, the margins are no longer accurate (the document is slightly moved to left, sometimes to the top as well.) It does not matter how I create the file, meaning I have the same problem whether I use distiller or simply save as PDF from within Illustrator. I have noticed the loss of precise margins on ALL PDF documents I create, from MS Word to Adobe InDesign, they are all slightly moved to left.

 

This, of course, makes no sense, since somewhere out there people have figured out a way to make PDF files have the precise margins needed for any given situation; I have downloaded perfectly working label templates in PDF that print exactly as they should; I just have no idea how this precisions is achieved in PDF making, and the help system provided no solution to the problem.

 

I hope someone here can either supply me with an answer or direct to a place where I can do some more research.

 

I have read a few things on Adobe that seem to indicate that these problems only occurr in Windows NT systems, which is why I decided to post here

 

Many thanks,

 

 

 

 

Relevant Specs:

 

Windows XP

Illustrator 10

Acrobat 5 (latest patch applied)

[greypigeon 0]

I don't have a solution but maybe you find something on

http://www.planetpdf.com/

 

The adobe forum is also a great place, you can visit as a guest

Greetz

[PinkPanther 0]

thanks for the reply - I'm posting this update in case anyone is interested ...

 

After much research: there is no way to control margins in a PDF document; this is just an inherent limitation of Acrobat. To make something like templates, the best thing to do is create the document (in whatever software is best for the project) and then use distiller to create the Acrobat file. Then, in Acrobat, use the Object selection tool to select the entire page and try to center it as much as possible.

 

After extensive testing, this procedure makes templates print correctly on many printers with about 85% to 90% success rate. On some printers, mainly HP ones, the variation is pretty big, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't On other brands of printers, it is pretty consistent.

 

Anyway, in case someone was curious, I hope this information helps ...

[nebulus 0]

Quote:

After much research: there is no way to control margins in a PDF document; this is just an inherent limitation of Acrobat. (...)

Yes there's!! Maybe not with Acrobat, but still there's a way to control margins...

I'm not so certain that this is a suitable solution for you, but take a look at:
http://www.miktex.org
http://www.latex-project.org
http://ctan.tug.org/tex-archive/info/lshort/english/lshort.pdf