Layout 2018 can't export PDF error "There was a problem exporting to this file"

Technical Problems LayOut
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Its happened again!!! after a clean install back in April 2018 plus all updates regularly, layout 2018 has been exporting pdf’s as normal… until I did a number of updates, notably WIN 10 latest roll out, and hardware updates via Dell updates.

I had been avoiding to many updates it in case the export pdf issue would raise its head and it has.

?Q has the pdf export error been solved as I cannot see that it has?

Many appear to have given up as the guru’s working at sketchup team appear unable to replicate it and dont effectively reply…My post (started in Dec 2017) tracked similar issues but the only resolution was to insert a new HDD and install windows all over, and I can see others have resorted to the same. It only happens to a few people, and for some strange reasons only to certain machines, my laptop is still ok as is another desktop, (so far).

I have, as many of the contributors here, gone through the same labourious uninstall /reinstall and yes I have admin rights, -but there must be a software glitch some where it affects exporting of pdf files. I have noticed the following: 1) Adobe has been updated, 2) Win 10 is always updated but the new big update seems to have given the issue, 3) does MS Windows own pdf reader Ms Edge give the conflict/problem when updated? 4) I run Dell machines on Win 10 (all 64 bit big graphics card etc) and some machines I install Dell’s diagnostics and update programs that update things too - could that be a problem?, 6) once it is triggered the export issue affects older versions of Sketchup too so you cannot even use older version to export, 7) I mistakenly also updated microsoft on board graphics card software as well as Nvidia bits too, 8) does anyone running an Apple have this problem?

As pdf export is a vital part of the Architectural business for client and local authorities this issue needs to be fixed, its crazy that I have to go to the laptop to export layout as a pdf or use a third party programme outside layout, it should work from the go or be fixed, this now a long outstanding issue…And I really dont want to have to install wins 10 all over again not to know when it will occur again, come sketchup team please sort it… Samyell daniel.fisher etc you all have my sympathies.

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I don’t have time to go through the full reinstall so I’ve just left it and go to print instead of export to PDF. Its a pain, because the settings are only remembered for the time that your Layout session runs, if you restart LO, you have to re-input the print prefs. But you can get a PDF out of LO this way.

I’ve given up on waiting for a solution from Trimble - I found myself getting more and more wound up by the lack of any feedback and was spending a lot of time writing posts, asking questions and scouring the internet to try to find the solution, to no avail.

Sorry to hear that, after all your effort, the problem has reappeared. It’s very frustrating that this has been dragging on for as long as it has. As you say PDFs are an essential part of the design process…

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Unfortunately Chaz, I gave up long ago. I’ve adjusted the work that I do to utilise SketchUp less and just let my SketchUp pro subscription lapse. I’ll just go on using 2018 and printing as PDF and may look to upgrade if/when I get a new computer and should any future features be of interest.

I’d like to know if SketchUp 2019 layout gives an error code rather than the generic “There was a problem…” message as, at the very least, this would be genuine progress and would progress the support response of being unsure of what has gone wrong. I don’t think I could bring myself to re-subscribe if this feature had not been added, as I’d worry I was signing up for a re-run of this seemingly unresolved issue.

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I did renew and had hoped that the update might solve the issue, but sadly this is not the case :weary:. I does seem ridiculous that we are still in the dark on this after so long…

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Thanks guys for your feedback, its so frustrating and to know that Trimble are not bothering…I am reluctant to move up to 2019 although I have downloaded it (it failed on install for some reason so I have not bothered to try again, it messed up 2018 but think I have sorted that now).

External pdf print/exporters do not displaying/ printing as well when going to print to pdf, does anyone know of any good pdf export programs beside Adobe that may do a good job, - plus be able to adjust pdf size as some local councils want smaller files ?

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Except that’s not true. The y are trying to come up with a solution. There have only been a few reports of this being a problem. PDF export works fine for most users. This makes it a difficult problem to solve. You can assume they don’t care but you’ll be wrong.

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Can it really take this long to sort 18 months and 2 versions seems a long time to me? and why when it happens does it affect every version of Sketchup so you cannot export on older programs either…

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When only a few users have a problem it is extremely difficult to track down what is causing the problem. What other software and hardware do you and samyell have that I don’t have nor do most other users. There’s clearly some interaction that is creating the problem. There are millions of combinations of elements that could be involved. When you can’t duplicate the problem it’s impossible to identify which combination of things is the cause.

What are you doing to help? Have you offered to supply them with a list of other software and settings that you are using? Maybe there’s something they can use to help identify the problem.

Currently you are the only guy in a room of thousands who starts sneezing your head off as soon as you walk in. Something is causing you to sneeze but not affecting anyone else. And you have decided to stay avoid the room until someone else figures out the problem. Without your help, how can they know they’ve found the cause of your sneezing?

Look at mbrightman’s post:

Have you confirmed that you don’t have a similar issue?

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I am not sneezing I have not just come into the room, I did post separately in end 2017, I eventually found my own solution that was complete reinstall after other encountered similar. Reinstalled worked until very recently and I have offered up some possible trip up areas earlier. I though it may have been sorted thats all.

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Since they didn’t make a change to SketchUp/LayOut 2018 recently, what did change on your system to make the PDF stop working. That’s where you need to be looking for a solution.

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Its WIn 10 rolling uprades that appears the problem, ok so its not Sketchup as such I get that, but why it does happen I cannot say, it would be great if you could reinstall Sketchup instead and carry on as normal. Having used skp since version 3, I am well used to it.

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@DaveR -

It may not be the case, but that’s certainly the impression we are being given. To you (who are more connected to Trimble that us) it may be obvious that things are happening with this issue but from where I stand, I can’t see any evidence of progress. Granted it affects a small number of users, but we are all Pro users, using the software professionally and have paid for support which we don’t feel we are being given!

If you look at the length of this thread and take into account the amount of elapsed time, the response from Trimble has been poor to say the least. No one from Trimble has offered any further suggestions or eluded to the fact that a solution is being sout. We (users) ran through some steps provided by Trimble and then heard nothing back. At the beginning, it took several months to even get anyone from the support team to engage with this issue and after feeding back and asking questions we just got no answers or further information.

Myself the other people who have experienced this issue don’t feel that Trimble have dealt with it effectively which has simply compounded the frustration.

You asked about deleting logos - several months ago I confirmed that this issue occurs on a totally blank template document - so yes, I have confirmed that jpgs are not the cause of the problem. Is there something I’ve missed, something else I need to test to confirm this?

You asked what are we doing? Well, everything that Trimble ask us to (provide information, run tests) we are end users, not software engineers and we need SUPPORT. All we can do is provide information and test whatever they suggest - which we have done every time.

No one from Trimble has asked for a list of software - do they want one? No one from Trimble has asked for a list of settings - do they want one? I don’t know - cos Im not in a position to know.
If Trimble need more information from us, why haven’t they asked for it? Perhaps Trimble are on the case with this but, that’s not how its coming across on this thread - which is our only source of information.

My issues started after windows updates, first on one machine and then on a second. I didn’t install anything new, I didn’t change any settings. Let me know how we affected users can help and we’ll do it. I can’t reinstall as I just don’t have the time to and given @chaz_plan’s experience, it sounded like it only worked for a short time anyway.

@chaz_plan - have you tried adjusting the print prefs - you can tweak the paper size and quality. The output seems slightly different to the ‘export’ function but I’ve been using this and found it is an ok work around, if more time consuming.

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There’s no way any software company can be expected to chase operating system “upgrades” that come out at least once a month. Even if they had the manpower and equipment to do it, they’d be forever chasing their tails. By the time they could figure out what the changes in the operating system might break, fix their code, test it, and get it released, there’d already be another Windows update which changes the playing field again. And when the operating system “upgrade” only affects a few random users, how can you first identify what fix is needed and second that the change you made fix the problem?

I’ve been using SketchUp since Version 3, too. I’ve been using LayOut since the first version. Mostly on Windows machines (currently Win 10 Pro) but also on Mac. I’ve never had a problem with PDF exports at all. So what else is different about your system and mine?

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Thanks Samyell I echo your thoughts, and yes I have done everything suggested, and a blank or small layout document falls over. The laptop works ok (for now) maybe its a Nvidia update on the graphics as that may be the difference.
.

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Do trimble want some further information from Chaz on this? As he has had the issue re-occur, what information could he provide now that might help shed some light on this. I can provide information about my system if required but as I’ve had the problem for well over a year and haven’t been able to reinstall, I’m not sure what use that will be - perhaps someone from Trimble can advise?

Good for you! As I’ve said previously, I’m please that everything is and always has worked fine for you but that doesn’t help me / us.

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My point is that we’re running the same version of SketchUp and LayOut but you have problems and I don’t. Since SketchUp and LayOut are the same between machines, it’s not that. What is different? Somewhere in the difference is where the problem lies.

@chaz_plan has difference results with different machines. It works on one but not the other. What is the difference between them? Maybe the graphics drivers as he suggests.

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Yes - but I don’t know how to what difference is important because I’m an end user. What information can we provide to help Trimble to see where the problem lies. Should Chaz and I provide a list of the software on our machines or a list of settings as you suggest? If someone (from Trimble) tells me what information to look for then I’ll go find it but Im totally in the dark here at the moment.

:grinning: I am glad that this isn’t an issue you are having Dave, seriously. I’m just frustrated that its continuing to affect me and a small group of others and am looking for some help. I understand all you have said regarding Trimble resource / endless updates / system differences / number of people affected etc but we have had very little real contact from Trimble over this issue and being able to export PDFs is a fundamental function of what Layout does and what I (and others affected) need to do on a day to day basis. I can’t fix this - that’s why I’ve been asking here…

Attached is a list of all the software installed on my machine, is there anything else that might enable us to compare systems. As mine and Chaz’s are both having issues and yours isn’t, is it worth you sending a list of all the software on your PC so we can see if there are any similarities or differences between the 3 of them. Im happy to put the data into a spreadsheet so it can be compared. I have no idea if this is useful info, I’m just following up on your suggestion Dave. Perhaps someone from Trimble can pitch back in…?

InstallList.txt (30.9 KB)

This link explains how to generate a list of all the programs installed on your PC:

This is a snapshot of the driver info for one of my systems - I also have an Nvidia card

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The point is since SU 2018 rolled out a number of us have had the problems and we cannot go back and use earlier versions as they all refuse to export pdf’s as well since the problem. The very first post on this thread outlines what we all have had.

Its happened since late 2017 when we upgraded SU and probably windows at a similar time. Maybe we should not have upgraded to 2018… I still think its the video drivers or other pdf versions in window/Adobe clashing with the inbuilt pdf program in LO and closing further actions down in an endless loop, but I am no programmer or expert in code or such like only the end user. dmyimcuk suffers the same issues (he may have given up now). I see SU team dip in here occasionally and have even replicated it.

DaveR Please have sympathy and understanding for the people that are having real issues with this small but critical problem, you are lucky but the point is there is a bug on some machines, it maybe outside of Su but it may not, do not be complacent because 99.9% of installs are ok as you may believe.

Samyell and I are trying to help in our limited way but we are not the experts, we can report our findings and make, what I feel, are real pointers to where the issues could be…

Ok time to dig a bit further: Its interesting that Samyell has Nvidia cards as I do, I have used layout on a m1000m card (laptop) and tried it flawlessly with Geforce GTX 1060 6gb card. In system info/ hardware resources/components/display I have noticed the troublesome pc on one graphic card (Nvidia Quadro K4200) and no other cards whereas the other have intel HD Graphics as well. Also adobe reader is installed on the troublesome pc the others dont. Its not much but may help.

Thankyou Samyell I feel you pain and appreciate your help

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:+1::+1::+1:

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I’ll get the same info (installed programmes and graphics card / driver info) from my home system this week…