Error printing to the PDFCreator printer
UPDATE: At this point I don’t really use PDF Creator anymore. It’s free because it’s crap. <cough>spyware</cough>. I’ve switch to using FoxIt Reader. It comes with a PDF printer that functions the same as PDF Creator & then some. You should give it a try.
Description – When printing using PDFCreator you receive an error that says, “An error occurred. Look for technical support in the forums (WWW). Further advice and updates you can find also in the internet (WWW). Error-Nr: 481 (Invalid picture). Modul: modMain. Procedure: StartProgram. Line: 51720.”
Solution – Give the Users group at least Write permission to C:\Windows\Temp.
Categories: Computers
Errors, PDFCreator
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Patrick's Blog 
Thanks. That helped me a lot.
Thanks, it worked 😉
Helped me also. Thanks.
I just have got this 481 error trying to print a Power Point document
I read the solution but did nt succeed to find where do I give write permission ?
could you please detail the path to the proper “user group” windows ?
(I use Vista premium)
@Michel
The path is C:\Windows\Temp. You right click that folder & select Properties. Then select the Security tab. Highlight the Users group then put a check by Write. If the User group is not listed, click Add. Select your local computer then type Users & click OK. Now give the Users group Write.
Changed the security, still getting the error message.
@BryanW
I’m not sure what’s going on then. Try using Process Monitor when the error is generated. Search for any “Denied” entries.
There is a new version of PDFCreator (0.9.9). Since we’ve implemented it we no longer have those errors.
We do have this error with some computers under Windows 7 Ultimate and PDFCreator 0.9.9, so the solution is maybe not entirely in the latest version.
Hi, Same here. Still have the error message with pdf creator 0.9.9 and Vista. No answer from forge on posts about this topic beyond yours.
Now the error occurs again at my company. So the 0.9.9 version didn’t fix the problem.
Same here.. happening all over again with 0.9.9
I can not found the pdfcreator’s folder in C:\Windows\Temp… is it possible?!
I’m not sure what you are asking alex. Please elaborate.
Had error with Windows 7 ultimate. Fix worked perfectly. Thanks!
Thanks a lot!!!
Thanks guys. 😉
Hi,
I have the same problem with the PDFcreator 1.1.0 version, under Vista, except that the concerned line is 51830. I tried authorizing the writing in temp, but I don’t understand why it was working before and does not work anymore ? Do you have a solution for me ? Thanks for your help
Sounds like it may still be a permissions issue. Try running ProcMon (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645)& generate the error again. Look for any “Access Denied” messages that stand out as strange. Have a look at http://www.k-state.edu/its/security/training/2009-4-9/presentations/handouts/Process_Monitor_Tutorial_Handout.pdf for a little tutorial on ProcMon.
thanks Patrick;
changing the settings in user groups works a charm!
strange however that the same task (in Windows 7) should work one day and return an ‘error’ the next
This solution worked great, but instead of C:\windows\temp I had to change the permissions in C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Temp\PDFCreator.
I’m running windows 7.
Thanks for your help.
OOPS! TYPO ABOVE!
Folder to change is:
C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Local\Temp\PDFCreator.
I had this same problem just now. I see from the recent posts here this is still an issue!
I looked at the fix to change permissions on folder (Win7 OS) & was put off by windows alert message-‘are you sure as changing this affects security…blah blah….’
I stopped there – I already have computer problems due in part I think to Windows cockeyed/tricky permissions settings(rant!) & I decided to instead run PDFCreator as administrator. That then worked!
That is a simple fix (right click PDFCreator exe & select & click RunasAdministrator from context menu-easy!).Hope that helps…
The problem has not been solved and changing the temp directory does not help.
Sounds like it may still be a permissions issue. Try running ProcMon (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645)& generate the error again. Look for any “Access Denied” messages that stand out as strange. Have a look at http://www.k-state.edu/its/security/training/2009-4-9/presentations/handouts/Process_Monitor_Tutorial_Handout.pdf for a little tutorial on ProcMon.
When printing using PDFCreator 1.7.2 you receive an error that says, “An error occurred. Look for technical support in the forums (WWW). Further advice and updates you can find also in the internet (WWW). Error-Nr:50003 . Please help me !
I am with Windows XP
@Tsveti I’m not sure. At this point I don’t really use PDF Creator anymore. The developer makes it too difficult to install without crapware being installed as well. I’ve switch to using FoxIt Reader. It comes with a PDF printer that functions the same as PDF Creator & then some. You should give it a try.
Thanks
Fixed PDFCreator Error 75 in Windows XP. Folder C:\Documents and Settings\User_Name\Local Settings\Temp\PdfCreator\Spool has no permissions. Go to Control Panel>Folder Options>View tab and scroll to the bottom – uncheck “use simple file sharing” and the security tab will now appear when you right click properties on the PdfCreator Temp Folder. Now you can set Full Control permissions to that folder and subfolders and PDFCreator will have rights to create temp files.
Thanks a lot
Thanks Thomas.
Simply “delete” this folder “C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Local\Temp\PDFCreator” if you are not comfortable with permissions. It will be recreated by the PDFcreator service afterwards, inheriting the correct permission for your account.
Clearly a permission issue, so when you try “delete” that folder you will be asked for an administrator account. Just provide the administrator account and you’re good to go.
I had a nightmare with this issue (on Windows XP) — I tried everything I saw here and elsewhere, but it kept crashing with Error 75 and the jobs in the queue couldn’t be deleted, and eventually discovered that the problem was that the job files in “C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Local\Temp\PDFCreator\Spool” were un-deletable (“file in use”), even as Administrator in Safe Mode. Finally, when I yet again tried un- and re-installing PDFCreator, I told it to NOT keep my settings and to install in a different folder than usual (I don’t know if this mattered, but I also chose to print in a non-default Profile). I may have deleted the printer again at this point. Anyway, after this PDFCreator was able to finish the jobs and finally work again, after many months!
I have one user, out of 25+ daily users, that gets this error. He gets it roughly once every 3-4 months. The solution has been to restart the PC, and it all works fine for another few months. So, I doubt it’s a permissions thing for him, as he uses it often every day. (And I checked, and his permissions are fine.) After 2-4 months the error will just happen, at any point in the day, and it won’t work again for any document until I restart his PC. And it’s just his PC. All other users, same PCs, same setups, have no problem. (Win 7 PCs)
PDFCreator 1.2.3 – Error Message
An error has occured (Sic). Look for technical support in the forums (WWW).
Further advices and updates you can find also in the internet (WWW).
Error Description:
Error-Nr: 481 (Invalidpicture)
Modul: modMain
Procedure: StartProgram
Line:51830
While it is quite infrequent, it is terrible to put the user in a quandary of either not using the product until he gets to a point where he’s done with everything else or closing everything right then and there and restarting so he can use the product as designed.