pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP

Thanks for the report Ivan, but which pdf?.

How to fix this?

 Bug #389182: pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP

Is there a patch or fix that I can download and run?

John Hannah B.A.Hons., M.Sc.

> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:59:04 +0000
> From: <email address hidden>
> To: <email address hidden>
> Subject: [Bug 389182] Re: pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP
>
> How to fix this?
>
> Bug #389182: pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in
> Windows XP
>
> ** Changed in: evince (Ubuntu)
> Status: Incomplete => Invalid
>
> ** Converted to question:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/evince/+question/74686
>
> --
> pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/389182
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “evince” source package in Ubuntu: Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: evince
>
> Single blank page shown in thumbnail, Evince and XPDF. Affects some but not all pdf files while running Ubuntu 9.04.
>
> Some pdf files are multiple pages when viewed in Adobe Acrobat 7.0 under Windows 2000 & XP. All display normally.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> Architecture: i386
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
> ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/evince
> Package: evince 2.26.1-0ubuntu1
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: evince
> Uname: Linux 2.6.28-11-generic i686

_________________________________________________________________
Looking for a new car this winter? Let us help with car news, reviews and more
http://a.ninemsn.com.au/b.aspx?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fsecure%2Dau%2Eimrworldwide%2Ecom%2Fcgi%2Dbin%2Fa%2Fci%5F450304%2Fet%5F2%2Fcg%5F801459%2Fpi%5F1004813%2Fai%5F859641&_t=762955845&_r=tig_OCT07&_m=EXT

what are you doing? why did you converted this into a question? we need a pdf document not convert the bug into a question, please do not do it again. thanks.

This was my first ever bug report on Launchpad. I did not intentionally convert it to a question. If this was something that I did unintentionally then please accept my apologies. I would like to understand how I did it to prevent it happening again.

I have attached the link the the question #74686 on evince in ubuntu for convenience:

https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/evince/+question/74686

    Status: Answered => Solved

Note the "solution" works fine for me which was to install Adobe Acrobat 9 in Jaunty (credit due to actionparsnip for the suggestion).

Evince and XPDF still have exactly the same issue which may still be relevant to others. I also tried to view the same problem pdf files Xubuntu Intrepid, Ubuntu Fiesty and AntiX-M8 all with the same problem so clearly this is not a recent development limited to latest versions in Jaunty.

Dear Ivan,

Thank you so much for your help. I have now installed Acrobat Reader 9 and made it the default program for opening pdf files.

Cheers,

John.

John Hannah B.A.Hons., M.Sc.

> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:41:52 +0000
> From: <email address hidden>
> To: <email address hidden>
> Subject: [Bug 389182] Re: pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP
>
> This was my first ever bug report on Launchpad. I did not intentionally
> convert it to a question. If this was something that I did
> unintentionally then please accept my apologies. I would like to
> understand how I did it to prevent it happening again.
>
> I have attached the link the the question #74686 on evince in ubuntu for
> convenience:
>
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/evince/+question/74686
>
> Status: Answered => Solved
>
> Note the "solution" works fine for me which was to install Adobe Acrobat
> 9 in Jaunty (credit due to actionparsnip for the suggestion).
>
> Evince and XPDF still have exactly the same issue which may still be
> relevant to others. I also tried to view the same problem pdf files
> Xubuntu Intrepid, Ubuntu Fiesty and AntiX-M8 all with the same problem
> so clearly this is not a recent development limited to latest versions
> in Jaunty.
>
> --
> pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/389182
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “evince” source package in Ubuntu: Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: evince
>
> Single blank page shown in thumbnail, Evince and XPDF. Affects some but not all pdf files while running Ubuntu 9.04.
>
> Some pdf files are multiple pages when viewed in Adobe Acrobat 7.0 under Windows 2000 & XP. All display normally.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> Architecture: i386
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
> ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/evince
> Package: evince 2.26.1-0ubuntu1
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: evince
> Uname: Linux 2.6.28-11-generic i686

_________________________________________________________________
View photos of singles in your area Click Here
http://dating.ninemsn.com.au/search/search.aspx?exec=go&tp=q&gc=2&tr=1&lage=18&uage=55&cl=14&sl=0&dist=50&po=1&do=2&trackingid=1046138&r2s=1&_t=773166090&_r=WLM_EndText

no pdf provided, after repeated requests both here and on the question...
closing as invalid

Hi Dimitrios

Given that other people have reported similar problems with Evince I suspect there is a problem but close it if you want to. If I can help identify or solve the problem with Evince then I am happy to follow instructions but it is not a priority for me.

Pedro Villavicencio asked on 2009-06-18 "which pdf?" to which I provided a response via email as follows:

"All my invoices and call logs from my telephone provider 18185.co.uk are pdf files. All appear blank. There are several files downloaded over the past 3 years."

I did not supply a pdf because I was not asked for one and received no further request. The files also contains my account details so it would not be sensible for me to send it anyway. I also reported the problem via 18185.co.uk but received no reply.

A developer may argue that the pdf files I attempted to view were not designed correctly (and they may be correct as far as I know). As I only want to view the content I will continue to use Adobe Acrobat. Unfortunate as I have been migrating to use more open source applications however my priority is using software rather than developing it.

Here is a pdf file that renders correctly in Okular and not in Evince (2.28.1): it gives a blank page except for some bullets and headers.

Thanks for that Timo. The pdf reader that came with linux didn't work, but it was hard to fix, so I downloaded Adobe reader and that worked.

John Hannah B.A.Hons., M.Sc.

> Date: Wed, 2 Dec 2009 22:27:58 +0000
> From: <email address hidden>
> To: <email address hidden>
> Subject: [Bug 389182] Re: pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP
>
> Here is a pdf file that renders correctly in Okular and not in Evince
> (2.28.1): it gives a blank page except for some bullets and headers.
>
> ** Attachment added: "OER_B_BSc_Nsk_0910.pdf"
> http://launchpadlibrarian.net/36350404/OER_B_BSc_Nsk_0910.pdf
>
> --
> pdf files appears blank - were OK in Adobe Acrobat in Windows XP
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/389182
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in “evince” package in Ubuntu: Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> Binary package hint: evince
>
> Single blank page shown in thumbnail, Evince and XPDF. Affects some but not all pdf files while running Ubuntu 9.04.
>
> Some pdf files are multiple pages when viewed in Adobe Acrobat 7.0 under Windows 2000 & XP. All display normally.
>
> ProblemType: Bug
> Architecture: i386
> DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.04
> ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/evince
> Package: evince 2.26.1-0ubuntu1
> ProcEnviron:
> LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
> SHELL=/bin/bash
> SourcePackage: evince
> Uname: Linux 2.6.28-11-generic i686

_________________________________________________________________
If It Exists, You'll Find it on SEEK Australia's #1 job site
http://clk.atdmt.com/NMN/go/157639755/direct/01/

Thanks Timo. The pdf you posted displays correctly for me on Karmic with Adobe Acrobat. I will try Okular with my problem pdf files and report back.

PS I was unable to post my problem pdf files that were a problem for me as they contained personal data. Evince and XPDF still have exactly the same issue for me so prevent me from using these readers. Adobe displays the same pdf files correctly so I expect there is some extra information necessary to display the pdf files that is contained in the (much larger) Adobe reader application absent from the pdf files themselves. This rather defeats the point of portable document format if this guess is correct although it may reduce the pdf file size.

Please excuse the long post but I am not sure which details are helpful for others.

My pdf files from 18185.co.uk still appear blank with Okular however the file Timo posted appears OK. They appear to be created using different PDF Producers as follows:

From my "blank" pdfs
From Adobe>File>Properties>Description menu: PDF Producer Paolo Gios www.paologios.com
From Adobe>File>Properties>Fonts menu: Helvetica Bold & Times Roman Truetype fonts

From Timo's "blank" pdf
From Adobe>File>Properties>Description menu: PDF Producer Adobe Distiller 7.0 (Windows)
From Adobe>File>Properties>Fonts menu: Several core MS Truetype fonts (from Windows)

Just a guess but could this be to do with TrueType Fonts on the Windows platform used to create the original pdf that are not embedded in the problem pdf file or available in Ubuntu? Looking at PDF properties for the files that I can read with any pdf reader they usually have Embedded Fonts while the problem ones do not.

With Okular:
Timo's pdf refers to fonts in /usr/share/fonts/truetype/msttcorefonts/ with the name of the font. I have installed MS core fonts on Ubuntu.
My still blank pdfs refers to fonts in /usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/n019004l.pfb for Helvetica Bold and /usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1/n021003l.pfb for Times Roman.

Now back in Adobe Acrobat:
Looking at my (no longer) "blank" pdf file Helvetica Bold is mapped to Arial Bold and Times Roman to TimesNewRoman. Does this suggest that some readers are better than others at finding fonts that exist on the host system to substitute for unavailable fonts?

I guess a possible work around would be to install the missing fonts however for many people they just wish to get on with more productive work. Sorting out the font substitution so that it works without the original fonts may be a better solution? Any ideas? Happy to try out suggestions.

After a long time with Google I feel this may be a problem with font substitution in Ubuntu rather than specific to pdf files? Problems reported with OpenOffice, Web sites etc poor font substitution. The LIBERATION and msttcorefonts equivalents are already available on my system so either should have worked OK. Adobe Acrobat uses msttcorefonts so appears to do font substitution differently. I have not found a solution yet so any suggestions still welcome on the best next steps on my very gradual migration to open source.

Comments 2, 3, and 4 of bug 616321 are relevant to this bug.

Closing this bug because the reporter is unable to attach the PDF files that cause this bug.