“The document could not be printed.” Adobe Acrobat Reader

Have you received this error - “The document could not be printed.”? This happens on Adobe Acrobat Reader versions 5.0 up through version 6.

You may have tried deleting your printer and reinstalling it. That didn’t work.

You may have tried to uninstall Acrobat Reader, and that didn’t work. You may have tried to “Save as PDF” then print, and that didn’t work either.

There is a simple fix to this otherwise complex problem. The problem is that you are using a “Generic Print driver” maybe PPD.

The fix below was tested and worked on OS X 10.3.9.

To fix this issue, go to the Apple in the top left corner and click “System Preferences…”. When System Preferences is open, click “Print & Fax”. Then select the printer you are having the problem with (probably the printer that is bolded).

Click the “Info” button or click Apple + I to get to the information screen. After you have that open, choose “Printer Model” and then find your printer brand name (HP, Epson, etc). After selecting the manufacturer find the model of your printer and click that driver. If there are two (like there are for the HP LaserJet 2100) choose the first one and see if it worked. If that one doesn’t work, try the second one.

Remember that after you choose the new print driver, you will need to close Adobe Acrobat Reader and then open it again.

Hopefully that should solve your “The document could not be printed.” problem.

Apple Happy Staff