PDF charts

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Puppo
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PDF charts

Post by Puppo » Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:23 pm

I really like the descendants charts iFamily generates. The chart of my Grandmother&#39s descendants that I had printed for my recent family reunion was a BIG hit, especially at 2.5&#39 x 25&#39!

But now when I try to send a PDF copy of a big chart with pictures in it to a family member who uses windows, they can&#39t read it. The charts read and display fine on my Mac. They seem to be able to read big charts *without* pictures.

Has anyone else had this problem? It&#39s too bad because the charts with pictures are much more personal, I think they involve the viewer more than just the dry data of names and dates.

Tom
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RE: PDF charts

Post by Tom » Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:08 am

I assume you are sending the PDF files using Mail.app. If so, then send the PDF file as an attachment and check the box which sends a Windows friendly attachment.

Hope this helps.
Tom

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Puppo
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RE: PDF charts

Post by Puppo » Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:15 am

Yeah, I was doing that... And, funny thing, when I would burn copies to a CD, and walk the over to a windoze computer, I had the same problem...

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Warwick Wilson
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Post by Warwick Wilson » Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:35 am

I have had this reported by some other cutomers also and have not yet figured out why it happens, is your windows PC using the latest version of Acrobat? I think it is the compatibility between pdf viewer versions where this problem lies.

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Puppo
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RE: PDF charts

Post by Puppo » Sat Aug 15, 2009 12:40 am

I have had success emailing (Mail.app) small PDF charts with pictures, but not large ones... Admittedly the "large" is 25&#39 wide...

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Warwick Wilson
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Post by Warwick Wilson » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:52 am

What kind of size pdf do the 25&#39 wide charts result in? (Megabytes?)

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Puppo
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Post by Puppo » Sat Aug 15, 2009 8:42 am

The file was 2.5 MB, 2 MB compressed. I tried sending both ways...

Liz B.
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PDF charts problem

Post by Liz B. » Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:43 pm

I also love the charts produced by iFamily, especially the Ancestors charts, now with consanguinity to the root person--fabulous! However, some of the charts I produce go back 12-13 generations, and for printing are quite large (24 or 36 inches wide and sometimes 20 feet long). I don&#39t put in photos or other images, but do like to use the Notes feature to show right in the chart the source data and a little bio info. A couple of years ago, the PDF versions would simply not open correctly or print on anything but a Mac; the workaround was to save the PDF as a JPEG. Then the problem disappeared for a while, but as of last week has shown up again, but only for a very large chart (406KB). Converting it to a JPEG doesn&#39t work this time because it is 11.3 MBs (7.7 compressed), too large for any print shop. The PDF opens on non-Apple computers, but looks blank--a white sheet. Smaller charts/PDFs created exactly the same way open just fine. Apple has no explanation or solution.

I upgraded to Snow Leopard a month or two ago, and wonder if the PDF-writing software embedded in it is faulty. Unfortunately, aside from buying Adobe Acrobat at $499, I can&#39t find another solution. Any help? Cheers, Liz B.

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Puppo
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Post by Puppo » Tue Nov 03, 2009 1:32 am

Well, it&#39s some help. Thanks. Its good to know I&#39m not alone.

Liz B.
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PDF charts problem

Post by Liz B. » Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:23 pm

Sorry, my "any help?" was a request for help. Does anyone know why the PDFs are a problem? Yesterday, after several hours at my local Staples print shop I bought the fellow there a bottle of champagne to thank for his patience and persistence. We were able to finally print out one chart but not the largest.
I worked over the weekend to investigate all the Internet fora that deal with Apple and PDFs, and then fooled around with my PDFs: the result is a suspicion the problem may lie in Adobe Reader, which is the software most PCs use to read PDFs (vs. Preview on Macs). Is it possible there is a limit to how large a PDF document can be read by Adobe Reader? Just one idea.
One suggestion offered in one of the fora was to save a large document as a Postscript, then save that as a PDF. Apparently, that process strips out useless data, rendering the PDF file smaller. However, the option of saving as a Postscript doesn&#39t seem to work. Suggestions, anyone?

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