Why do I get "Before printing timeout" error?

staff
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Joined:Sat Dec 15, 2007 4:48 pm
Why do I get "Before printing timeout" error?

Post by staff » Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:37 pm

This message means that the application registered for printing of your document (for example, MS Word) refuses to print the document. Print2Flash waits until BeforePrintingTimeout expires and returns that error in this situation.
The reasons leading to this error usually wholly depend on the printing application. The application possibly displays some kind of message to the user and does not start printing waiting for user's intervention. Or there may be a bug in the printing application due to which it is impossible to print the document altogether.
To check for the possible problems you may try to right click your document in Windows Explorer and choose "Convert to Flash (.swf) using Print2Flash" (or drag and drop the document on the Print2Flash Printing Application window). This should start a process similar to the process used in programmatic conversion and you may check if any windows are shown to users when printing that document. If it is so, this window messages should prompt you what to do to eliminate this problem in the future. However, if the problem persists and printing application still refuses to print the document without user's intervention, there's very little you can do about it. You may try to install another application for printing your documents, e.g. OpenOffice instead of MS Office.
If you notice that the application shows standard Print dialog and waits for the user to press Print button there, you may use PressPrintButton option to press this button automatically without user's intervention.
If you use Automation API and run automation objects under different user account, you should perform the checks mentioned above having logged in to Windows as that user as most of such problems arise because of applications refusing to run under limited user account, displaying messages to the user at first start under that user, etc. To check for such problems, login to Windows using that user account and perform that "right click" (or “drag and drop”) conversions of the documents you experience problems with. If the document is not printed under that account, you should resolve this problem before using Automation API again as automated conversion would experience the same problem.
If the problem is in the message shown to the user at first application start (a frequent case with MS Office), you should launch the application under that user at least once to disable showing that message in the future. Often applications refuse to print if you use a limited user account for Print2Flash Service. Try to specify an Administrator or Power User account in such a case.
If you obtain this error when trying to convert a PDF document and you have Adobe Reader 10 or a later version, make sure that protected mode of Adobe Reader is turned off. If you have Adobe Reader 10, you can accomplish this by launching Adobe Reader, choosing Edit/Preferences from the application menu, switching to General tab and clearing Enable Protected Mode at Startup option. If you have Adobe Reader 11, you can accomplish this by launching Adobe Reader, choosing Edit/Preferences from the application menu, switching to Security (Enhanced) tab and clearing Enable Protected Mode at Startup option.

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