It is one of those days where you wonder why you ever bothered getting out of bed. It is already 8 P.M. and you have been trying to output this one file for ages. The press is waiting and your boss, whodoesn’t know the difference between a PostScript error and the rear end of cow, is getting more impatient every minute. What’s next?

What to do when a PostScript error occurs? Use the information provided on the ‘Basics’ section to determine exactly what PostScript error and offending command you got hit with. Then do one of the following (not necessarily in that order but this seems to be the most logical approach to me):

1. One more go

Take a deep breath, look through the window during a couple of seconds, check all the parameters in the “Print” windows and print again. Sometimes a simple mistake like setting the orientation wrong causes errors.

Have a colleague print the job. He or she may instantly see what you did wrong. Everybody makes a stupid mistake once in a while (I once spent 2 hours troubleshooting a “broken” Macintosh, only to find out the keyboard wasn’t plugged in properly).

This is definitely the first thing to try if no other documents or applications cause similar problems.

2. Divide and rule

Cut the job into smaller pieces. Don’t print those 96 CMYK-pages in one go. Print a couple of pages at the time or even one page and one colour at the time. This makes it easier for both your computer and the RIP to process the file.

Always try this approach if you still have a PostScript level 1 device.

3. Switch everything

Print the job from another computer, from another version or copy of the application used to create the file and try switching drivers.

Always print the file to another PostScript device as well. If the same error occurs, you are at least sure the error is somehow related to your document or the way it is created or printed. The reverse is not true: if a document prints on one device but not on another, this does not mean that that device is unreliable or faulty. The inconsistency may be caused by differences in drivers, memory and hard disk capacity, installed fonts,workflow or PostScript revisions. PostScript aims to be device independent but it obviously isn’t. I always print troublesome files to file and then use Acrobat Distiller to check whether it generates the same error.

Saving elements in a previous version of the applications file format is something that frequently solves problems. Adobe Illustrator is a prime example. If a file containing Illustrator 10 EPS-files is causing problems, open the drawings and save them as Illustrator 8 files.

4. Reset

Reset your computer, the RIP and the PostScript device and print again. This may seem like a stupid thing to do but trust me, it helps especially if you still own a PostScript level 1 RIP or printer.

On PostScript level 1 devices, you should also delete the font cache when PostScript errors occurs.

5. Use the force, Luke

Look up both the error and offending command in the database provided on this site. This may give you a clue as to what to do next.

Check out other sites as well. I entered “PostScript error offending command” in Google and hundreds of interesting pages showed up (Downside: this made me realize this site still has a long way to go). Another alternative is to post your question on the b4print prepress forum.

6. Take a fresh start

Try creating a fresh, clean new page: Open all elements from the page (scans, drawings) in the originating application and resave them, by preference in another format if possible (e.g. save all TIFFs as EPS files). Then update the links to all elements and print again.

You could also try copying the entire content of the page to a blank page in a new document.

7. Dial 0 for ps-panic

Call your prepress supplier. You may have stumbled upon a bug they have known about for ages, but never bothered to tell you.

Sometimes the PostScript error itself points in this direction: something along the lines of “PostScript error: invalidaccess offending command ACMEdict” must in some way relate to the ACME-RIP you bought.

8. Let’s get physical

See if a quick manual workaround can’t get you past the problem. I have had to deal with customers who were actually insulted when I told them to output two separated pieces of film and do a quick dupe on their old contact frame. They would rather waste hours trying to output one shiny film on their newimagesetter than use the frame that served them so well for 10 years.

Of course this is a silly advice if you have a platesetter. One workaround you can try then is to try and RIP the individual element to a file (TIFF, TIFF/IT, EPS) and include it as an image in your file.

A nice overview of troubleshooting tips can be found here.