Objects appear as black boxes when printing a PDF from Excel

Question

OK. Stackoverflow... i think this will be a tough nut to crack even for you!

I'm running Windows 7 with Office 2010. I've designed a Userform which users can fill out. The user form consists of a regular Worksheet, Formulas, and some Form Elements (not the active-x kind). All works well until I try to print it as a PDF. Then the Form Elements all appear as black boxes!

I'm using the Microsoft Office Native PDF printer and am required to do so (as i have some code that can be executed).

I've searched the net and only found two threads (here and here) in forums that even discuss the topic. Neither thread had useful answers. One thread claimed that the issue is with Excel (which i believe) and that it disappears with SP2. I have SP2 installed and that does not take care of the issue.

Here is a screenshot of what it looks like:

Does anyone know why this happens and how to solve it?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I found that when this occurs, in some cases you can fix this by altering "Save As" options for the "PDF" type.

1. In the file "Save As" dialog, select PDF under "Save as type:"
2. Click on Options button
3. REMOVE the check from the "ISO 19005-1 compliant (PDF/A)" selection under PDF options (see image)

Note: I am using Excel 2010 v14.0.7153.5000, 64-bit running on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit OS, Service Pack 1