Crystal Reports look different when printing/viewing via PDF

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Things to check:
  • Synergetic Installation
  • Crystal Reports Editor
  • Page Size/ Orientation/ Colour inconsistencies
  • Text/Font inconsistencies
  • Web Products

Crystal Reports can look different when exporting to PDFs, or viewing via the following methods:

• via Crystal Reports editor
• via Synergetic - Reports Available
• via Synergetic - Print Student Archives
• via Synergetic - Debtor Statements
• via Acrobat - after "Exporting to PDF" in Synergetic
• via Acrobat - after "Archiving Reports to PDF"

This can include:

• increase/decrease in font size
• increase/decrease in spacing between words
• text justification is altered
• incorrect page size/orientation
• format box objects

This can occur for a number of reasons, and can often be due to a combination of different versions locally installed of:

• Adobe Acrobat (can also change depending upon whether Adobe Professional is installed or just Adobe Reader)
• Crystal Reports
• OS version
• 3rd party PDF distilling software
• Printer drivers

Things to check:

Synergetic Installation

Synergetic requires the build installed on the local workstation to be at least 20131114CR11R2. To check, go to Help > About > Setup Version

• If this field is blank Synergetic has not been locally installed on the machine.  This needs to be done as there are other changes/settings deployed upon installation

Crystal Reports Editor

• File > Page Setup
  • "No Printer" should always be checked (then the report uses the default printer to get/set margins)

Page Size/ Orientation/ Colour inconsistencies

• Try changing the default printer - generally a crystal report uses the default printer to get/set margins when generating pdfs
• Check the page size/orientation/margins/Colour settings in both:
  • Default Printer settings (if a Network printer may be set by IT staff)
  • Printer Preferences (set on local machine for current user)
  • Printer Hardware - on occasion can also be set in the 'actual' printer configuration
• Try setting a different Default Printer
• If color documents keep printing in B/W (often with multi-function devices), check that color settings = 'color' (not auto detect), as sometimes print drivers incorrectly determine a PDF is B/W (not colour)

Text/Font inconsistencies

• Ensure Synergetic has been locally installed (as above)

• When using non-standard fonts:. 

  • If the fonts used in a report do not exist on the user's machine, they will be replaced with default fonts (often varying between Operating Systems)

  • If the fonts used are not 'embeddable', they will also be replaced with default fonts

  • ALWAYS check the entire report generation process (from the PC you will use) so you know that the font/layout is not compromised when a PDF is generated

• When exporting to PDF, .otf fonts are not supported
  • https://userapps.support.sap.com/sap/support/knowledge/en/2214614
• Format Box can be replaced with using Lines to draw the Box instead

• Crystal Reports registry keys that can also affect the text produced in a pdf

  • ForceLargerFonts: Font size decreases when exporting a report to PDF format from Crystal Reports (deployed in Synergetic client installation)

    • https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/knowledge/public/en/1220516
      
      

      SAP Knowledge Base Article - 1220516 - Font size decreases when exporting a report to PDF format from Crystal Reports or SAP BI LaunchPad Symptom Font size decrease. Size of the font changed after exporting. Font size reduced when exporting a report to PDF format. Text misaligned, and fonts shrink by approximately 10%, when a report is exported to PDF from Crystal Reports. Text alignment not preserved and font decreased when exporting or scheduling a report to PDF format from SAP BI LaunchPad, or the Central Management Console, or from an application using Crystal Reports SDK. Environment SAP Crystal Reports 2008 SAP Crystal Reports 2011 SAP Crystal Reports 2013 SAP Crystal Reports 2016 SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform 4.0 SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform 4.1 SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform 4.2 Reproducing the Issue In Crystal Reports, create a report off any data source. Add a database fields or text object to the report. Set the font to the desired size. For example: 11 Export the report to PDF format. When opening the PDF document, notice the font size is smaller by about 10% Cause Crystal Reports currently shrinks the font by 10% to prevent any truncation this difference may cause. This behavior is due to the way Windows and UNIX, and therefore Crystal Reports, handles low point size fonts on a low-resolution screen. Text layout in the absence of a printer driver will consistently be rendered differently than in PDF. Resolution To avoid shrinking the font when exporting to PDF format, add the registry key: ForceLargerFonts, and set the value to one (1) WARNING The following resolution involves editing the Microsoft Registry. Using the MS Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems. Use the MS Registry Editor at your own risk. For more information see the SAP Knowledge Base Article 1323322 Open the Microsoft Registry Editor. ( In MS Windows, under the menu Start, select Run, and type: regedit ) In the Microsoft Registry Editor, navigate to the path corresponding to the version of the product used: Crystal Reports 2008: For 32bit version of MS Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF For 64bit version of MS Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF Crystal Reports 2011, 2013, 2016: For 32bit version of MS Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SAP Business Objects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF For 64bit version of MS Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform 4.0, 4.1, 4.2:** HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF Important Note: The last part of the path may not exist. If it is the case, simply add the missing keys. Right click on the PDF key, and select: "New - DWORD Value" Set the DWORD value to: ForceLargerFonts Set the value to: 1 For the change to take effect, restart the application. For Crystal Reports - Close and re-open Crystal Reports. For SAP BusinessObjects Business Intelligence Platform: - Restart the Server Intelligent Agent (SIA) Product Crystal Reports 2008 V1 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2011 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2013 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2016 ; SAP Crystal Reports XI ; SAP Crystal Reports XI R2

       
      

  • Text truncates when exporting a report to PDF format from Crystal Reports

    • https://apps.support.sap.com/sap/support/knowledge/public/en/1835763
      
      

      1835763 - Text truncates when exporting a report to PDF format from Crystal Reports Symptom Text is truncated when a report is exported to PDF format. Export to PDF truncates the text when the option: ForceLargerFonts key is set to: True.When exporting a report to PDF format from Crystal Reports, the text field is wrapped to the next line incorrectly, or truncated. Environment SAP Crystal Reports 2011 SAP Crystal Reports 2013 SAP Crystal Reports 2016 Reproducing the Issue In Crystal Reports, create a report off any data source. Add database fields and text to the report. Export the report to PDF format. When viewing the exported document in a PDF Reader, notice some of the text is truncated. Cause When exporting a report to PDF format, the font size is reduced by default by a small factor in order to avoid truncating text. To retain the font size, it is possible to set the registry key: "ForceLargerFonts", to True. But if the font size is retained, there is the potential to occasionally have text truncated on the right margin. This truncation occurs due to a mismatch of how character widths are calculated between PDF and Microsoft Windows. Resolution The Crystal Reports PDF Export functionnality has been enhanced in Crystal Reports 2011 to incorporate a new algorithm that positions characters precisely to prevent truncation from occurring, while maintaining the correct font size. This algorithm is activated and controlled by two new registry keys: UsePrecisePositioningForText, and TruncationAdjustment To avoid truncating text when exporting to PDF format from Crystal Reports and retain the font size at the same time, add the following registry keys: UsePrecisePositioningForText, and TruncationAdjustment WARNING: The following resolution involves editing the registry. Using the Microsoft Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems. Use the Registry Editor at your own risk. For further information see the SAP Knowledge Base Article 1323322 Open the Microsoft Registry Editor ( Regedit ) In the Microsoft Registry Editor, navigate to the following path: For 64 bit version of MS Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF For 32 bit version of MS Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF Note: If the end of the path does not exist, add the directory. Add the DWORD key: UsePrecisePositioningForText Set the value to: 1 Add the DSWORD key: TruncationAdjustment Set the value to: 2 Restart Crystal Reports, and when exporting to PDF format, the text will no longer be truncated. Important Notes:  The key: UsePrecisePositioningForText, turns on the new functionality when it is set to 1. When this functionality is activated, the registry key: "ForceLargerFonts" is ignored. The "TruncationAdjustment" key controls a width calculation rounding function in the new algorithm and accepts values between 0 and 10 inclusively. The default value of 2 has been tested to sufficiently eliminate most truncation issues. If truncation is still observed, this value can be increased for added granularity. Product SAP Crystal Reports 2011 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2013 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2016

       
      

  • General Reference

    • http://kenhamady.com/cru/archives/2503
      
      

      Reduced fonts when exporting to PDF Wednesday 25 September 2013 @ 12:12 pm   I thought I had written about this before, but apparently I have only mentioned this in forums and never on my own blog. When you export a Crystal Report to PDF, by default Crystal will reduce the fonts by around 5%. Most people don’t notice this, but in some situations this causes problems. The solution requires that you go into the registry and add some keys. Finding where to make the change and what the change should be is a bit tricky because there is an older method and a new improved method. The older method requires that you add the following registry entry called ForceLargerFonts. This is case sensitive. Set the type to DWord and the value to 1 to activate. You add it in the following two places if you are using the CRv12 designer (CR 2008): HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF The number after the word “Suite” will reflect your version. If the “Export” or “PDF” keys don’t exist you will have to add them. Also note that if you are doing app deployment the registry path for the runtime engine might be slightly different (see below). If you are doing this on an IIS server you may have to change the permissions on these keys. The problem with the old method is that it occasionally truncates text on the right side of the page. The new improved method became available in CR 11(XI) SP 5. You can do a web search for SAP document ADAPT00940675 which explains how to use these registry keys: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF\TruncationAdjustment (=2) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF\UsePrecisePositioningForText (=1) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF\TruncationAdjustment (=2) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF\UsePrecisePositioningForText (=1) The settings above enlarge the font and also eliminate the truncation in most cases, and when it doesn’t you can increase the TruncationAdjustment from 2 to 3 (or higher) until the problem is resolved. Last note. If you are using Crystal Reports runtime for Visual Studio 2010, the registry key paths will all start with something like this, but the four keys are the same: HKLM\SOFTWARE\SAP BusinessObjects\Crystal Reports for .NET Framework 4.0\Crystal Reports\… I was part of a group discussion on this topic in LinkedIn. One participant, Mike Wies of CPC Logistics, had trouble finding the appropriate key on his server. He had to install Sysinternals ProcessMonitor to monitor calls to the registry. That finally uncovered the correct key. According to Mike, there are several factors that determine which key will be used, including the Crystal version (BO, SAP BO, Suite xx, .NET) and whether the computer is 32-bit or 64-bit. In a 64-bit environment it will be in the Wow6432Node key.

       
      

    • https://answers.sap.com/questions/177340/crystal-report-export-font-size.html
      
      

      Dell Stinnett-Christy AnsweredApr 17, 2017 at 02:37 PM According to SAP Note 2165260, which is the master list of registry tweaks for Crystal, the base path in the registry for Crystal 2013 is one of the following: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software \Wow6432Node\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\ (on 64 bit OS) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software \ SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\ (on 32 bit OS) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\ For an application that uses the Crystal for VS components, it's one of these: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\SAP BusinessObjects\Crystal Reports for .NET Framework 4.0 - (on 64 bit OS) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAP BusinessObjects\Crystal Reports for .NET Framework 4.0 There are four registry keys that can be used to control the format when exporting to PDF. They are: ...\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF ForceLargerFonts dword:00000001 Fonts shrink by approximately 10% when a report is exported to Adobe Acrobat Format(PDF) UsePrecisePositioningForText dword:00000001 text fields are either truncated incorrectly, or the text is wrapped to the next line incorrectly TruncationAdjustment dword from 1 to 10 To adjust truncation UseCustomEncoding dword:00000000 the file size of the exported PDF is larger. Crystal Reports containg Arabic text displayed incorrectly while exporting -Dell

       
      

    • https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21979769/Crystal-Exports-to-PDF-and-shrinks-the-font-size.html
       

      tekuhne Commented: 2009-03-17 Font size issue with Exporting to PDF This is a common problem for PDF export -- its impossible to get the fonts exactly the same size as they are in CRW... (fonts either come out bigger or smaller) There's a reg key that you can set to help with this issue. The registry path is: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Crystal Decisions\9.0\Crystal Reports\Export\Pdf The key in that path is: ForceLargerFonts Its type is a DWORD. If 0, then fonts are small, otherwise fonts are larger, but clipping problems may occur. I strongly suggest you use so called "large font" by default. If a report uses printer, with "large font" setting PDF would be very close to what displayed in CRW. Also at the programming level, "large font" is definitely the natural way to go. The main problem is that Acrobat does linear scaling of fonts. On Windows, doubling font size (the font sizes here are not the logical size but physical size) does not double the width, with Acrobat, the width doubles. The TrueType fonts have table specifying the range in which widths are not linear, data in other table provides the widths for no-linear ranges. Generally widths are not linear only for small font sizes. When a printer DC is used, font sizes are reasonable big even for small logical font sizes (8pt becomes 600*8/72 - 66 pixels, most glyph widths become linear after 60 pixels. For those don't, the differences are also less visible). In summary, if a report use printer, the "linear font size" issue is not very important. Unfortunately, because CE normally runs as services and services generally have no access to printers (unless something is done explicitly), PDF files generated by CE generally suffers from the "line font size" issue because screen/display DC is always used and it has lower resolution comparing to printer DCs. From time to time, we also suggest people using "no printer" to save address spaces because Windows reserves at least 4MB address for each printer DC created no such memory reservation for screen/display DC.

       
      

Web Products

• With respect to SynWeb and the Synergetic Community Portal, the registry changes required are slightly different due to CR12 or later runtimes being utilised, and these are set under HKLM to take effect with respect to the web sites. There are two values required, as follows
  • [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432Node\Business Objects\Suite 12.0\Crystal Reports\Export\PDF]
    "UsePrecisePositioningForText"=dword:00000001
    "TruncationAdjustment"=dword:00000002
  • The "UsePrecisePositioningForText" key turns on the new functionality when it is set to 1. When this functionality is activated, the "ForceLargerFonts" key ignored. The "TruncationAdjustment" key controls a width calculation rounding function in the new algorithm and accepts values betwen 0 and 10 inclusively. The default value of 2 has been tested to sufficiently eliminate most truncation issues. If truncation is still observed, this value can be increased for added granularity.
  • When the "UsePrecisePositioningForText" key is turned on, there are several side-effects. Exporting to PDF may take slightly longer, but no more than 10% longer. The exported PDF document will increase in size over the standard output and Crystal Reports will consume more GDI resources during the export.