Powerpoint 2008 crashes after generating pdf

[robmilner]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

There have been previous posts on this issue but those are now inactive, so to keep the discussion going . . .

Powerpoint 2008 almost always crashes after generating a pdf version of a handout (via the print dialog) & then opening another program (eg, Acrobat to work further on the generated pdf). Saving the file before going to another program will sometimes prevent the crash. I've reported this as a problem (& I always send the information to MS after the program crashes).

This problem is particularly annoying because powerpoint also kindly reformats the handout headers when the file is reopened (see separate post).

Note that powerpoint 2008 is the only program to exhibit this behavior (including other MS & all Adobe programs etc) & consequently is the most unstable program I currently use.

Thanks!
Rob Milner, Penn State

 

[Nate Hamilton]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

There have been previous posts on this issue but those are now inactive, so to
keep the discussion going . . .

Powerpoint 2008 almost always crashes after generating a pdf version of a
handout (via the print dialog) & then opening another program (eg, Acrobat to
work further on the generated pdf). Saving the file before going to another
program will sometimes prevent the crash. I've reported this as a problem (& I
always send the information to MS after the program crashes).

This problem is particularly annoying because powerpoint also kindly reformats
the handout headers when the file is reopened (see separate post).

Note that powerpoint 2008 is the only program to exhibit this behavior
(including other MS & all Adobe programs etc) & consequently is the most
unstable program I currently use.

Thanks!
Rob Milner, Penn State

Hi, Rob, I have seen this issue but have not been able to reproduce the
problem - as stated by others in the other posts, their are several factors
involved when printing, or saving as PDF, particularly the version of Mac OS
X and the version of the printer driver.

To help you narrow this down:

-What version of Leopard are you running?
-What printer driver are you using when saving as PDF? Adobe PDF, or some
other driver? Also what version of the driver is it?
-Does this occur with any type of PPT file you use or a particular file?
(.pptx, .ppt, etc.) Were these files created on Mac PPT or Win PPT?

--
Nate Hamilton
Microsoft Mac PowerPoint Test Team
v-nahamiATmicrosoftDOTcom

Disclaimer: This posting is provided ³AS IS² with no warranties, and confers
no rights.

 

[robmilner]

Nate:
Thanks for your prompt response. When saving as pdf in most programs I just use my default printer settings, which I generally have set for my (very ancient) HP Laserjet 6MP - the current driver for that is 101001.00 (that's 3+ years old). I tried using Adobe PDF 9.0 as the driver & got the same behavior, although not as consistently. The crash doesn't always occur & I haven't been able to isolate the common factor. Sometimes saving the file after creating the pdf helps.

I'm running 10.5.6 & the files are .ppts created on a Mac.

I create a lot of handouts for teaching purposes (eg, in the 6-slide/page view) with a formatted title & then save as a pdf for distribution online. As I said in my original post, the real problem is not so much the crash, but the fact that powerpoint 2008 reformats the header on the handout when the file is reopened. Coupled with the very inconsistent behavior of tabs in the handout header, makes a straightforward process (in office 2004) an extremely frustrating experience.
Appreciate any advice.
Thanks! Rob