Fix Acrobat Printing Blank Pages or Garbled Text from PDF
Question details
The user needs to resolve an issue where printing a PDF document results in completely blank pages or text that is distorted and jumbled.
- Product
- Adobe Acrobat / PDF
- Device & OS
- not provided
- Scenario
- Attempting to print a PDF document to a physical printer.
- Observed behavior
- The printer outputs blank pages or pages with distorted and garbled text instead of the actual document content.
Verify that your printer has sufficient ink or toner and ensure it can properly print a standard document from another program, such as Microsoft Word or Notepad, to rule out hardware failures.
Use the 'Print as Image' Option
Bypassing the printer's font rendering by sending the PDF as an image is the quickest way to resolve garbled text and formatting issues.
When a printer's memory fails to process the specific fonts or complex elements in a PDF, it will often substitute them with random characters or output blank pages. Printing the document as an image forces the computer to process the text into pixels before sending it to the printer.
Open your problematic PDF in Adobe Acrobat and go to File > Print, or press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac).
In the Print dialog box, click on the 'Advanced' button located near the top of the window.
Check the box next to 'Print As Image'. You can also select the print resolution from the drop-down menu if available.
Click 'OK' to close the Advanced Print Setup dialog, then click 'Print' to send the document to your printer.
Check Document Fonts and Embedding
Garbled text often occurs when the fonts used in the PDF are not embedded in the file, causing the printer to guess the layout.
Update or Reinstall Your Printer Driver
Outdated or corrupted printer drivers can fail to communicate PDF instructions correctly to the printer.
Print PDFs Flawlessly with WPS Office
If your current PDF reader continues to produce garbled text or blank pages, try handling your print jobs using WPS Office. It features a robust, built-in PDF reader that processes complex fonts and layers securely, ensuring your documents print exactly as they appear on screen.
- 1. Install the Software: Download and install the free version of WPS Office from the official website.
- 2. Open the PDF: Launch WPS Office, click on 'Open', and select your problematic PDF document.
- 3. Initiate Print: Go to the 'Menu' button in the top left corner, select 'Print', or press Ctrl+P.
- 4. Adjust Settings and Print: Select your printer, adjust any necessary page sizing, and click 'Print' to bypass the rendering errors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my PDF look perfectly fine on my screen but print out garbled?
This happens because the screen rendering and printer rendering are handled by different processors. Your computer can read the fonts fine, but the printer's internal memory fails to decode the font instructions properly, leading it to substitute random characters.
Does 'Print as Image' reduce the quality of the printed document?
It can slightly reduce the sharpness of the text because it converts vector data (infinitely scalable) into raster data (pixels). However, selecting a higher resolution in the Advanced Print settings will keep the text looking crisp and legible.
Can a corrupted PDF file cause blank pages to print?
Yes. If the PDF was improperly saved, downloaded incompletely, or contains corrupted data streams, the printer spooler may crash or skip pages entirely, resulting in blank output.
Why can I print Word documents but not PDFs?
Word documents send relatively simple text data to the printer, whereas PDFs often contain complex layers, specific font subsets, and vector graphics. If the printer driver is outdated or lacks sufficient memory, it may handle Word files easily but fail on heavier PDF files.
