Printing problems

I am having no luck with this file and trying to export it to pdf.

Going to and from Print mode takes at least 5 - 10 seconds and when I click on export the whole thing comes to a standstill: all I get is a small window which says “exporting graphic files…” with a blank bar which never fills up. The only way out is to click the X and crash the program.

I am trying to print the part “woodblock & violin”. I have changed the frame layout, and changed the part to show the “default” layout throughout rather than first, followed by default.

Initially when I start the project, and have no change of frames, it prints slowly (5 - 10 seconds), but it does print. It seems to be only after I have added some frames that the problem really gets bad.

When I reopen the program, I can still edit the file, but not print.

What am I doing wrong?
Preliminary - Piano.zip (596 KB)

I had no problems printing or exporting that part… could it be that you’re forgetting to select which layout to print on the upper left side…?

Yes, it defaults to full score, so I click on the part layout on the left hand side as you say. It’s good to know that you can print and export it without problems. Thanks for confirming that.

I dread going to print mode - everything seems to go in slow motion, for instance, click on that layout button and there is no response for 5 - 10 seconds; and it’s the same with all the buttons in that mode. I’ve printed/exported successfully other “simpler” files, and although the response is slow, we’re down to about 2 - 5 seconds before something happens.

I have a Logitech wheel mouse, and I did suspect that if I touched the wheel I was in trouble, but it’s not a very scientific observation.

When I get to print mode the image of the pages to be printed enlarges, then goes back to normal - maybe does this a couple of times.

Anyway, at least if I carry on doing work on this project, I can get someone else to the pdf for me! The file I put up is about the tenth attempt, so I’ve spent some time on this…

Fratveno - could I be a pain and ask if you have any problems exporting this file? Sorry to impose - but it would mean that I don’t have to redo this work.

Thanks
Grade 1 - Piano failed again.zip (602 KB)

Your project exports just fine as a PDF for me, David. We did quite a lot of optimisation work on Print mode between 1.0.10 and 1.0.20: are you definitely running the latest update?

Thanks for that Daniel. Stupidly, I had forgotten that I had installed Dorico on my laptop as well before Christmas, and I just tried the same files on that machine, and yes, it works fine - no delays, no crashes.

I had assumed that because it was my first time experimenting with change master pages and frames, that I had done something to screw things up.

I do have 1.0.20 on both machines, so the problem must be with the way Dorico works on my desktop computer. It is a new one - got it just before Christmas after the old one died. So the specs are good: i7 3.40Ghz - 8GB RAM NVIDIA GTX 1060 - Asus Xonar DX soundcard.

The laptop is a little under that - still i7, but 2.5 Ghz and with 8GB RAM. Basic onboard graphics and sound.

What could be making my installation of Dorico not work as it should on my desktop? Would reinstalling be a good idea? I know that there is an upgrade coming shortly, which I can wait for, especially now I know I can create pdfs myself on my laptop.

From a hardware point of view it sounds like your desktop is more than up to the task of running Dorico. The issue could possibly be caused by using some unusual software, maybe. Do you have any different printing/PDF related software installed on your desktop vs. your laptop?

On my desktop I do have a couple of things that run in the background to do with mouse, sound etc. I just did a restart, and exited the little programs that show up down in the hidden icons in the taskbar: same results.

I do have Acrobat XI installed, which of course does have its own ‘printer’. No other pdf related software though.

Acrobat is not installed on my laptop

EDIT: I have been trying out various things this morning: I disabled those utilities and started Dorico as the only program running. After about 1 minute print mode became responsive and I could do anything - change printer, page range etc, with no delay. Close program and restart - the same delay before print mode became responsive and then I was able to do anythng with it again.

I did notice in task manager, which I was watching during all of this, that while unresponsive the memory crept up from around 100MB to around 140 or so, then immediately dropped back to less than 100MB when the program became responsive. (I have no idea if this means anything )

Then if I leave the program open in print mode but don’t use it there is another wait when I start using it again and the memory climbs again slowly to the 140 mark and the program becomes responsive again.

I doubt that the RAM usage figures are indicative of anything related to why Print mode is slow at first, though I could be wrong. Which printer is chosen by default when you go into Print mode for the first time? Presumably you have the same printers set up on both machines (with the possible exception of Acrobat); perhaps the driver software differs between the two computers?

David, is this only happening in Dorico, or are the same symptoms present when printing from other applications…?

Daniel - I don’t have a printer set up on the laptop. Any files I work on there I access with my desktop via Google Drive and print from there. Mostly I print pdfs on the desktop, either with Acrobat, or, in the case of Dorico, by the export function. Then, if I need hard copy I tend to print the pdf.

Further to my edit - I have had Dorico open all day, and keep returning to it, adding those programs I disabled one at a time and seeing if it made any difference. Now, I can’t make Dorico do what it did before, even though I’ve everything up and running that I had originally. This has me completely baffled. I’ve even opened other files that I had based on that one by ‘saving as’, (grade 2,3 etc), and they all behave as expected.

Sorry, spoke to soon, just opened my grade 1 file to see what printer comes up by default - it is my physical Canon IR2200, but Dorico is totally unresponsive, after 5 minutes at the moment. The MB count is climbing - up to 245MB now and still rising. It’s late here, so will leave it going, and see what happens by morning. Oops, by the time I wrote this the program is working again normally - so that was about 6 minutes from opening the file.


Fratveno - I am mostly using Sibelius for my work at the moment, and doing some small projects in Dorico while I learn how to use it. And apart from the Google browser, that’s pretty much all I’ve been using. Acrobat XI works fine, though I don’t make much in the way of demands from that. I occasionally have Open Office for spreadsheets, and that’s it.

I realise this is a long shot, but have you checked whether there are any updated drivers for your IR2200 available that you might try?

I did find an updated installation package, which I did install, though I think the PCL5 driver was still the same. It made no difference to anything anyway, but worth a shot.

I had a good evening messing around with these files, altering content, changing printers, page range, and all was working fine. Then I went and edited the default master pages, tweaking some frames, and I couldn’t then go to print mode without it freezing. Kind of resigned to waiting if anything might change in the next update, and then going from there. I am still able to edit the files on my desktop which is important, as working in Engrave mode on my laptop’s 13" screen is hell - music the size of a postage stamp… But I can export the pdfs from there - just a bit of a hassle with the dongle going back and forth between the two.

Thanks for all the ideas.

I think that I have found the problem, and the solution to all this. It seems to be due to the fact that I work with two monitors, one of which is landscape, and the one I work mostly on is in portrait mode.

This is what I have found:
If Dorico is active in the landscape monitor and I switch, say from Engrave to Print, I have no problem printing - even if the LH layout panel is open.

If I now close the LH layout panel and move the program to the portrait monitor - I have no problem printing.

If I hadn’t closed the LH layout panel, when I move the program to the portrait monitor - Dorico freezes when I try and print.

If Dorico is active in the portrait monitor, and I go, say from Engrave to Print mode, and the LH layout panel is open Dorico freezes when I print.

If Dorico is active in the portrait monitor, and I go, say from Engrave to Print mode, and the LH layout panel is open, and I am really quick and immediately close the panel, I can print without any problems, I think that I have about 3-4 seconds.

If Dorico is active in the portrait monitor, and I go, say from Engrave to Print mode, and the LH layout panel is closed, I can print without any problems.

All this seems to be consistent behaviour, so it would seem that I am unable to have the LH layout panel open if I want to print and the program is active in the portrait monitor.

I hope this might be possible useful information

You really need to be able to see the left-hand panel in Print mode in order to choose which layout(s) you want to print. It sounds like the problem might be that Dorico can’t create a print preview because of the dimensions of the window. Could you attach a screenshot of how Dorico looks on your portrait monitor in Print mode with the left-hand panel open?

I don’t know if this might be related, but I recall some odd cases with Finale and multi monitor setups. If the landscape monitor is to the left of the portrait monitor and the desktop is arranged so that the bottom of each monitor are aligned (with the landscape being set as primary) the Y coordinates on the portrait monitor which falls above the top pixel of the landscape monitor were interpreted by Finale as negative values, causing certain functions in the program to fail…

I’ve attached a screenshot as requested.

Dorico on portrait monitor 2.png1441×2555 111 KB

We’ve taken a look at this here and we’re unable to reproduce the problem so far. Are you running any other software that could be interfering with your printer settings, or any custom window management utilities, or anything like that?

No, we checked the printer driver before - anyway I can print no problem from my landscape monitor. Windows handles the window orientation - no additional ‘desktops’ or anything like that. Just plain ordinary.

To answer fratveno - landscape monitor is on the left, but the bottoms of each monitor are not aligned.

If you right-click the desktop (or open the control panel Display) and select screen resolution, you get a visual representation of of your monitor setup. You may try to arrange your montors so that the tops align, and see if it makes a difference. It’s just a shot in the dark on my part, but mysteries sometimes require mysterious solutions