[xep-support] Can't print XEP output PDF files on HP 8100

[Susan Korgen]

I have been using the XEP tool for about 6 months.

There are about 400 pages of PDF documentation that I have
created using XEP from XML source files that we also process
with DocBook to create online documentation.

All has been quite well until today.

Today for the first time one of my users reported that he could not print
one of my PDF files. He was using an HP 8100 printer. I normally test
on the HP LaserJet 4 and HP LaserJet 4M that are near my desk, and the
PDF prints beautifully there. Others have successfully printed this output,
although not very many different printer models have been tried.

In general I have assumed that the XEP tool created valid, printable PDF 
that I could
give to customers without fear, as long as it didn't issue me any errors 
when I ran it.
(And it didn't)

However, when I tried to print to this HP 8100 that my user also tried,
my PDF file blew up just like his did. I tried 3 of my PDF files from XEP
and all of them blew up after about 10-15 pages (approximate depending
on the file). The same files printed fine when I tried them again on the
HP LaserJet 4 and HP LaserJet 4M. Is XEP incompatible with the more
modern HP 8100? That doesn't make sense!

After that I took one of my PDF file from XEP, one of those that blew up
after 10 pages on the HP 8100, and I printed it to the Acrobat Distiller 
instead
of to a physical printer. The result was a PDF file that looked "grainy" 
onscreen
but that printed beautifully on the HP 8100. This is just an observation, and
not a workaround for us, because customers need our PDF output to look good
onscreen as well as when printed.

I now have 3 PDF files created by XEP that reliably "blow up" on the HP 8100.
Maybe it is coincidence, but regardless of exactly on which page the files
"blow up" it is at a place immediately after the title of a figure that 
consists
of a GIF file, coincidentally the first GIF file that is referenced by the 
XML document.
(I have tested this by deleting some figures from XML, running XEP, and then
printing the PDF output on the HP 8100 again.) The figure title prints but the
figure does not and then the following message appears (in each case, 3 
different
files, slightly different numbers for the dimensions but the message 
template is
always the same; here is what it always tells me):

ERROR: typecheck
OFFENDING COMMAND: filter

STACK:

/LZWDecode
-dictionary-
-filestream-
-filestream-
-mark-
/_Filters
[0 255 ]
/Decode
8
/BitsPerComponent
[527 0 0 -450 0 450 ]
/ImageMatrix
450
/Height
527
/Width
1
/ImageType
-mark-
-savelevel-


The error message appears at the top of a sheet of paper that
comes out following the page on which the illustration was supposed
to be printed, but wasn't. The last thing on the failure page
(the page just before the error message) is the title of the figure.

Am I reading too much into this connection to figures? Or does this
error message (shown above) have something to do with GIF format?

The XEP tool never complains while generating this PDF file,
and many printers do work in successfully printing this PDF file.

We are basing customer deliveries on this technology, so I need
an explanation and a solution ASAP. Thanks very much,
Susan

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