Good first steps in troubleshooting a printing problem are to make sure you have downloaded and installed the latest patch for MapInfo Pro and are using the latest printer driver for your printer/operating system.
If you are seeing issues in your PDF, then try another printer, such as the Microsoft XPS Document Writer (MXDW). If the issue is only happening in PDF, then try selecting and unselecting the Layered PDF option (see Printing to a Layered PDF File).
Seeing Black Boxes Instead of Symbols when Printing to PDF?
If you are printing to the MapInfo PDF Printer, try turning on Enable Postscript Simulation. In the Print dialog box (on the HOME tab, in the Output group, click Print or Create), click the Properties button. In the MapInfo PDF Printer Properties dialog box, select the Advanced Options tab and then select the Enable Postscript Simulation check box.
Having trouble printing text strings for different languages to PDF?
If you are printing Unicode text strings and the strings are not printing correctly, then enable the Multi-language support check box. In the Print dialog box (on the HOME tab, in the Output group, click Print or Create), click the Properties button. In the MapInfo PDF Printer Properties dialog box, select the Advanced Options tab and then select the Multi-language support check box.
Compress the Size of Raster Maps when Printing to PDF Tip
Use one of the image compression options with the MapInfo PDF Printer to select how to compress black and white or color images, or select to remove duplicate images, downsample high resolution images, and disable PNG/JPEG printing. On the Print dialog box (on the HOME tab, in the Output group, click Print or Create), click the Properties button. In the MapInfo PDF Printer Properties dialog box, select the Image Compression tab.
Save New Defaults and Save Time Printing to PDF
Don't select the same setting over and over again when printing to PDF. Save your setting once as the default setting. From the Start menu, select the Control Panel, and click Printers and Faxes. In the Printers and Faxes screen, right-click MapInfo PDF Printer and select Printing Preferences. Make your favorite setting and click OK to apply it as a default when you print to PDF. As an example, turn on Enable Postscript Simulation in the MapInfo PDF printer.
Embedding MapInfo Pro Graphics Tip
When you embed a MapInfo map in another application (such as Word or PowerPoint), click outside the map before you use the Print or Print Preview commands. This allows the container application to take over previewing or printing properly. This is particularly true if you have just made changes to the map you are printing.
Need for Speed When Using Fill Patterns?
Note that fill patterns on the first row of the Region Style dialog box (see next figure) are Windows standard and tend to print faster. The other patterns are bitmaps MapInfo has created for your use. You might want to consider this when you are selecting fill patterns.
1 Use the fill patterns from the first row for faster printing results.
Speed Still an Issue?
If you want to improve printer speed, and your printer has Fast, Normal, Best print quality options, we suggest you select Fast.
If your image is large and you are printing at a resolution of 600 DPI or greater, your image may exceed this limitation. To print the image, reduce the resolution of the printout or shrink the size of the image.
Translucent Raster Maps?
If your map contains translucent layers, then the output converts to a raster image to maintain the translucency during the printing process. This also converts vector graphics and text to raster. To maintain text and raster in the output, you must disable the translucency in the map. However, if you wish to maintain translucency while printing, ensure the map has Enhanced Rendering turned on.
Old Driver Works, New Driver Doesn't
When in doubt, if an older driver worked and the new one does not, go back to the older driver.
Disk Space an Issue?
Make sure you have plenty of temporary disk space, particularly if you are printing large or complex maps or layouts, and especially if they contain raster images and/or translucency.
Printing Globally? Spool Locally!
- To set up local print job spooling, on the Start menu, point to Settings, Control Panel, and click Printers.
- Right-click the printer and choose Properties to display the printer's properties.
- Click the Advanced tab to display the advanced property options.
- Click the Spool Print Documents button and Start printing after last page is spooled button.
Note: If you do not have administrative rights to your computer, you may not be able to use the spooling option. Contact your IT department if you want to make this change to get their support.
- Click OK to save your changes.
Want to improve on what you see in Adobe Acrobat?
Adobe Acrobat has display settings that may affect how you see text, images, lines, and translucency in your PDF. You can change these settings in Acrobat on the Edit menu, by pointing to Preferences and then selecting Page Display. Experiment by selecting and unselecting the Smooth line art, Smooth images, and Enhance thin lines settings to see how they affect your printout.