[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

in PDF24 Creator, open the tool "Add page numbers" in the PDF24 Toolbox and enter 19 in the field "Offset". The offset is added to the page number, so the first numbered page gets 20, the next one 21 and so on. With "First page" you choose the page on which the numbering starts. In version 11.31.1 both fields are shown directly in the form; in the next version they are in the dialog "Additional options" behind the cog icon.

In the online tool https://tools.pdf24.org/en/add-page-numbers the field is called "First number", there you enter 20 directly. If you do not see the field, click the cog icon ("Additional options").

Please note: the placeholder for the number of pages ({COUNT} in PDF24 Creator, {CNT} online) then shows the last page number, e.g. 29 for a file with 10 pages. If you only want the page number, use {NUM} as pattern.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

we cannot say whether the Windows update is the cause, we could not check this.

Your version 9.2.2 is from September 2020 and is no longer updated. Version 9 is being discontinued. Please install the current version 11 of PDF24 Creator: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator

• Version 11.29.1 fixed a problem where the PDF printer could not be installed on some systems.
• On Windows Server 2019, the setup installs the classic PDF printer.
• Since version 11.31.0, you can deselect the components you do not need in the installer (Ghostscript, qpdf, Tesseract, OpenJDK, WebView2), so you get an installation similar in scope to version 9.

If the printers still fail after the update, please send us the file C:\Program Files\PDF24\pdfPrnInst.log to forum@pdf24.org. The setup writes it when it installs the printer.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

up to version 11.30, Compress used Ghostscript and qpdf, and PDF24 did not set a memory limit for them. They take as much memory as they need for the file.

Since version 11.31.0, Compress uses a built-in PDFBox compressor by default, which runs in a Java process. Its memory is limited: by default to 80% of the installed RAM, but not more than 8 GB. You can set a lower limit with the registry value jre.xmxCap (string value under HKCU\SOFTWARE\PDF24, e.g. 2g). If a file needs more than that, the compression stops with an error instead of using more memory. The settings are described in the manual: https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#415-registry-settings-related-to-the-java-runtime

Please update to the current version first: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator

A 50 MB PDF normally does not need that much memory. If your system still hangs, please send us the file to forum@pdf24.org so that we can reproduce this.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

this is possible since version 11.31.0. In older versions, the suffix with the dpi, quality and color values was fixed. Now the window "PDF compression settings", which opens when you choose Compress in the PDF24 context menu or in the File Tools, has a field "Save file suffix" (default _compressed).

1. Update PDF24 Creator to the current version: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/creator
2. In "PDF compression settings", clear the field "Save file suffix" or enter your own suffix.
3. Tick "Remember settings", then the value is kept for the next time.

With an empty suffix, the compressed files keep their original names. If a file with the same name already exists in the target folder, PDF24 adds " (1)" to the name and does not overwrite the existing file.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

a link directly to a bookmark is not possible, but you can create a link that jumps to the same place:

• Online: In https://tools.pdf24.org/en/annotate-pdf choose the Link tool and drag a rectangle over the area that should be clickable. In the small window that opens, choose Page and enter the target page number. Then save the PDF. This link jumps to the page, not to a position on the page.

If you want to open the PDF at a bookmark from outside, e.g. from a web page or another document: In https://tools.pdf24.org/en/bookmark-pdf you can give a bookmark a Named destination. Links with #nameddest= and this name, e.g. manual.pdf#nameddest=chapter-2, then open the PDF at this bookmark in PDF programs that support it.

Thank you for the suggestion of choosing a bookmark directly as link target, we will add it to our list.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

yes, with our online tool https://tools.pdf24.org/en/sign-pdf - there are two ways:

• Handwritten signature: After loading your PDF, the signature window opens. You can draw, type, upload or photograph your signature and then place it on the page.
• Digital signature with a certificate: Switch to Sign. Choose a signature with Choose signature… and click the page to place it, or tick Sign without a visible signature. Under Certificate you can choose:

- PDF24 certificate (self-signed): any later change to the document becomes detectable, but PDF programs cannot confirm who signed, as this is not a personal certificate.
- Sign in the browser (key stays local): with your own certificate file (.p12/.pfx) and its password. The certificate file and key do not leave your device.

Optionally you can request a timestamp and enter name, reason and location. The document is signed when you click Save PDF.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

it depends on where you send the mail:

Online tools (tools.pdf24.org): In the form behind Email > To another person you can save your values as a template. Fill in To, Subject and the text once, click Save as new template next to Template and give it a name. Next time select this template in the Template list, and To, Subject and text are filled in. The templates are stored in your browser. The template has to be selected each time, the form always starts with "Default".

PDF24 Creator for Windows: There is currently no setting for a default recipient or text. If you print your documents to the PDF24 printer yourself, you can use control codes (since version 11.31.0): text markers such as @@to:name@example.com@@ and @@sa:Your text@@ in the printed document prefill the recipient and the text of the mail. They are switched on per printer in the PDF24 Settings with Recognize control codes in the printed document. Details are in the manual: https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#62-control-codes-in-printed-documents

Thank you for the suggestion of fixed default values, we will add it to our list.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

the error comes from the PostScript that Acrobat itself creates when printing. With the PDF24 printer, the printing application writes the print data as PostScript, and PDF24 converts this data into a PDF. If the data contains an error, the PostScript error message ends up as a page in the PDF.

The "OFFENDING COMMAND" is 0,7280, a number with a decimal comma. In PostScript, numbers must use a point (like the other numbers in the message, e.g. 0.333496). With a comma it is not a valid number, and the conversion stops at this point. As the error only occurs with Acrobat and only in Protected Mode, it is apparently caused by Acrobat. We recommend reporting it to Adobe as well.

Until this is fixed:

• Keep Protected Mode in Acrobat switched off.
• Or try the option "Print As Image" under "Advanced" in Acrobat's print dialog. Acrobat then sends the pages as images instead of text and vector data. The text in the result can then no longer be selected.
• Or open the PDF for printing with another PDF program, e.g. PDF24 Reader.

If you only want to process a PDF further (merge, compress, remove pages etc.), you do not need to print it to the PDF printer. This can be done directly in the PDF24 Toolbox.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

yes, you can scan directly into the OCR tool, so you don't have to save the document first:

1. Open the OCR tool, e.g. in the PDF24 Toolbox with PDF OCR.
2. Click Add files and choose From scanner.
3. In the window Select source, tick Collect files and then click your scanner. With Collect files, all scanned pages are combined into one PDF when the scan is finished.
4. Scan your pages as usual. The scanned document then appears in the file list of the OCR tool.
5. Choose the language and click Start, then Save files.

If your scanner software can save the scans into a folder, the current version 11.31.1 also offers a Hot folder in the OCR tool: while the OCR tool is open, PDF and image files placed in this folder are recognized and saved automatically.

For PDF files that already exist, there is also the online tool: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/ocr-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

"Error" in the print dialog means that the first job in the queue of this printer failed and blocks the jobs behind it. If it is the PDF24 printer, please check:

1. The PDF24 service must be running, otherwise the printer cannot receive print jobs. You can start it in a command prompt opened as administrator with net start pdf24.
2. Delete the waiting jobs in the print queue of the PDF24 printer. If they cannot be cancelled, restart the computer and try to delete them again right afterwards.
3. Then print again.

More on this is in the manual: https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#131-the-pdf-printer-is-not-working-properly-print-jobs-are-stuck-in-the-print-queue-what-to-do

For PowerPoint you don't need the printer at all: open the PDF24 Toolbox, choose Convert to PDF and add your presentation. PDF24 then uses PowerPoint's own PDF export. Online, the same is possible at https://tools.pdf24.org/en/powerpoint-to-pdf

If the jobs still get stuck, please tell us your PDF24 version and Windows version, and whether printing from another program (e.g. Notepad) to the PDF24 printer works.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

you can do this with the PDF24 Toolbox of the PDF24 Creator:

1. Open the PDF24 Toolbox and choose "Convert PDF to ...".
2. Add your PDF file.
3. Set "Format" to "PDF".
4. Make sure "Embed fonts" is set to "Yes" (this is the default).
5. Click "Convert" and save the result.

The fonts must be installed on your computer. If a font is missing, PDF24 embeds a similar font instead.

If you need all fonts embedded without exception, for example for a print shop or a self-publishing service, choose the format "PDF/A-2" instead. PDF/A requires every font to be embedded, including standard fonts like Helvetica or Times.

If you need the embedded fonts for something else, please let us know what for, then we can help further.

Online, converting a PDF to PDF/A also embeds its fonts: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/pdf-to-pdfa

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

this usually comes from printing a PDF into a new PDF. When you print, the PDF program (here Foxit Reader) creates the print data. The text still looks right, but the information which character each letter shape stands for is often lost, because fonts in PDF files are usually only partly embedded. When you copy text from the new PDF, you then get wrong characters, and selecting text also works poorly.

Our recommendation is not to print the PDF at all, but to save your changes directly:

• Save the file with text and signature directly in Foxit Reader instead of printing it.
• Or add the text and signature with PDF24: in the PDF24 Reader (tool "Sign" for the signature) or in the PDF24 Toolbox with "Sign PDF" and "Edit PDF". These tools add your text and signature on top of the existing page, so the original text stays copyable.

If copying works in the original file but not after saving with the PDF24 Reader or the PDF24 Toolbox, please send us the file to forum@pdf24.org so that we can reproduce this.

This also works online without printing: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/sign-pdf and https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

you can do this with the PDF24 Reader that comes with the PDF24 Creator:

1. Open the bank statement in the PDF24 Reader.
2. Right-click at the entry you want to mark and choose "Insert stamp". (Alternatively, choose the tool "Stamp" in the toolbar.)
3. In "Choose a stamp", select the category "Symbols" and click "Check mark". The check mark is placed on the page.
4. Save the file.

The check mark is fairly large at first. With the tool "Edit" you can click it and make it smaller or move it.

Online, the same works in "Edit PDF" (https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf): choose "Stamp", pick the check mark under "Symbols" and move it into place.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

an electronic signature shows who signed a document and that it has not been changed since. Therefore we do not give instructions for removing signatures.

• If you signed the document yourself, the easiest way is to use your original, unsigned file again.
• If you need an unsigned version of a document that someone else signed, please ask the signer or the sender for it.

If you mean something else, for example a signature image you added yourself and want to change, please tell us how it was added and with which PDF24 tool.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

PDF24 applies the profile of Auto Save to every print job of this PDF printer in the same way, no matter which program printed the document. We cannot find a step in PDF24 that skips the profile when the printed document was a PDF, and there is no setting for it. To find out what happens in your case, we need a few details:

1. Your PDF24 version and the name of the PDF printer you print to (Settings > PDF Printer).
2. The program you print the PDF from (e.g. PDF24 Reader, Adobe Acrobat, a browser). If it is the PDF24 Reader: did you choose the PDF24 printer in the print dialog or "Create new PDF"? "Create new PDF" creates the PDF directly in the Reader without the PDF printer, so the printer's profile is not used.
3. Which settings of CICCIO are not applied, and where exactly in HKLM you set the profile (key and value name).

Please also note:

• To get gray output, "Color Conversion" must be set to GRAY. "Color model" alone does not convert the colors of the document.
• The values under "Resolution" only reduce images that have a higher resolution. Text and vector graphics are not changed by them.

So that we can reproduce this, please send us a PDF where it happens and the PDF that PDF24 created from it to forum@pdf24.org.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

in "Edit PDF" of the PDF24 Toolbox, the texts you add are converted into the PDF when you save. In this step PDF24 looks for the chosen font by its name in the Windows font folder and in your personal font folder and embeds it. If the font cannot be found or used there, another font is used without a message. This is apparently what happens with Dumbledor.

So that we can reproduce this, please send us to forum@pdf24.org:

• the PDF you saved with the wrong font,
• your PDF24 version,
• the exact file name of the font (e.g. ending with .ttf or .otf) and where you downloaded it.

This also works online: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

PDF24 cannot move the content of a page up to close the gaps, or move content from one page to the previous one. The white space is part of the page layout that the email program created when the email was printed.

What you can try:

• Create the PDF again from your email program. Such gaps often come from page breaks in front of tables or images that did not fit on the rest of the page. If the print dialog of your email program offers a smaller scale or smaller margins, more content fits on one page.
• Convert the PDF to Word in the PDF24 Toolbox with "Convert PDF to ..." and the format "Word (.docx)", delete the empty space in Word and create a new PDF from it, for example by printing it on the PDF24 printer. The layout of the email may change a little in the process.
• If smaller text is fine for you: "Pages per sheet" in the PDF24 Toolbox puts 2 pages on one sheet, so 4 pages become 2. The gaps stay, though.

Thank you for the suggestion of a function that removes such empty space, we will add it to our list.

Online tools for this: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/pdf-to-word and https://tools.pdf24.org/en/pages-per-sheet

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

this is controlled by the option Collect files in the window "Select source", which appears before scanning and where you click on your scanner:

• Collect files checked: PDF24 collects all scanned pages and passes them to the PDF24 Creator together as one file when scanning is finished.
• Collect files not checked: each page is passed to the Creator as a separate file as soon as it has been scanned.

Please check Collect files and then click on your scanner. PDF24 remembers this option, so you only need to set it once.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

which tool or program do you use when this bar appears? Please send us the link of the page, or tell us whether the PDF is open in the browser's own PDF viewer or in the PDF24 Reader. Our online tools for annotating had no function for highlighting text at the time of your question.

Since recently, "Annotate PDF" (https://tools.pdf24.org/en/annotate-pdf) can highlight text. The small bar that appears next to a highlight there has a fixed size. Zooming into the PDF does not change it, but the zoom of your browser does: press Ctrl and + to enlarge the whole page including the bar, Ctrl and 0 resets it. A setting for the size of this bar does not exist yet. Thank you for the suggestion, we will add it to our list.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

to find the cause, we need a few more details:

1. Which PDF24 version do you use?
2. What exactly happens when you print to this printer? Is there an error message (please send us the exact text or a screenshot), or does the job never arrive at the printer?
3. How is the printer connected: shared by a print server or another computer (\\server\printer), or directly over the network (IP address)?

If you do not use the current version 11.31.1 yet, please update first. Since version 11.31.0 the PDF24 Reader has its own print dialog with a preview, and since 11.31.1 it also lists printers that are shared by another computer (\\server\printer). If printing still fails there, please try the link "Print using system dialog..." at the bottom of the print dialog. It prints with the Windows print dialog instead.

With the next version, the error message of the Reader will also show the printer name and the Windows error. This will make it easier to find the cause.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

you are not missing anything: PDF24 Creator has no word processor of its own. It creates PDFs from existing documents. "Create blank document" in PDF24 Creator only creates an empty document into which you can drag pages from other files.

To write a new document from scratch, you have two options:

• Write it in any program that can print, for example Word, LibreOffice Writer or Notepad, and print it on the printer "PDF24". The PDF24 Assistant then opens, and you can save the PDF.
• Use the online tool "Write PDF". You write there like in a word processor, with headings, tables and pictures, and then create a PDF: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/write-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

there is no size limit for pages in "Edit PDF", the editor always loads the whole page. If part of a page is not visible, it may be a display problem in the new editor (online since 28 October) with pages that are wider than the visible area; we are checking this. The page itself is not changed by it.

Please zoom out with "Zoom out" until the whole width of the page is visible. "Fit to view" fits the size of the first page.

If text or the border is still missing after zooming out, or if it is missing in the saved PDF, please send us a file where it happens to forum@pdf24.org so that we can reproduce this.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

on 28 October we replaced the online editor with a new one. The old editor is no longer available. Thank you for your feedback, we have already fixed some things since then:

• Text: a single click on the page now places the text box, and you can type right away without holding the mouse button. This was an error in the new editor and has been fixed since 29 October. You can also choose the color and font size before typing. Please reload the page so that you get the current version. If it still does not work after reloading, please let us know.
• Images: an image is inserted with its own proportions, and when you drag a corner, the proportions stay the same. If an image still comes out square, please send it to us at forum@pdf24.org
• Signature: the signature dialog opens automatically only in "Sign PDF", because that tool is meant for signing. You can close it with the ✕. To add text and images without a signature, please use "Edit PDF": https://tools.pdf24.org/en/edit-pdf

If something else is missing or does not work as before, please tell us what exactly.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

unfortunately your post ends after "it appears as:", the picture or text that should follow did not come through.

So that we can look into it, please tell us:

• how the date is displayed instead of 10/13/2026,
• which program you use to pick the date (for example Adobe Acrobat Reader, the PDF viewer of your browser, or a PDF24 tool),
• which PDF24 tool you used to change the form.

So that we can reproduce this, please send us a file where it happens to forum@pdf24.org

You can also check the field yourself: open the form in "Make PDF fillable" (https://tools.pdf24.org/en/make-pdf-fillable) and click the date field. Under "Format" you can choose "Date" and a "Date format" such as mm/dd/yyyy. Then save the form again.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

in the PDF24 Toolbox, "Blacken PDF" saves in two steps:

1. Draw the black boxes on the pages.
2. Click the disk icon "Save PDF" at the top left of the toolbar. This does not save the file yet: PDF24 now creates the blackened PDF. The pages with boxes are turned into images, so the content underneath is really removed.
3. In the next view, click "Save" and choose a file name and folder.

In version 11.31.1 the save dialog suggests the name of the original file, and closing the Toolbox after step 2 does not ask whether you want to save the result. So it is easy to end up with the unchanged original. Please save the result under a new name, for example with "_redacted" at the end, and open that file.

With the next version, the result will automatically be named "<name>_redacted", and closing will ask as long as the result has not been saved.

If the boxes are still missing in the saved file, please send us a file where it happens to forum@pdf24.org so that we can reproduce this.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

thank you for the detailed troubleshooting, it helped. Your setup is fine, this is an error in PDF24 Creator 11.31.0 and 11.31.1. For MSG files, "Convert to PDF" uses Outlook's print command (OUTLOOK.EXE /p). In these versions, PDF24 closed the Outlook it had started before Outlook could print, so no print job arrived and the error message appeared.

This is fixed for the next version. In addition, "Convert to PDF" will then convert MSG files directly through Outlook instead of printing them, and the PDF will get the same name as the MSG file. This needs the classic Outlook for Windows. If that does not work (for example with only the new Outlook), PDF24 falls back to printing as before.

For converting many files without any dialogs, the command line of pdf24-DocTool.exe is described in the manual: https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#11110-convert-to-pdf

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

in the PDF24 Reader (part of the PDF24 Creator, since version 11.31.0):

1. Open the PDF and click Print (or press Ctrl+P).
2. Under Scaling select Actual size. The default is "Shrink to fit (never enlarge)", which makes pages smaller if they are larger than the printable area of the printer.
3. Check that Paper size matches the page size of your PDF, and choose Portrait or Landscape under Orientation if needed. The preview shows the result before you print.

With "Actual size" the page is printed 1:1. Anything that lies in the non-printable margin of your printer is then missing on the paper. At the moment you have to select this option again for every print job.

If you are printing from another program, please let us know which one.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

since version 11.31.0 PDF24 can install two kinds of PDF printer: the new driverless printer for Windows Protected Print, which is used by default on Windows 11 24H2 and later, and the classic PostScript printer. Since 11.31.1 you can choose the kind in the installer under the component PDF Printer: "Driverless (Windows Protected Print)" or "Legacy (PostScript driver)".

If the legacy printer works on your computers, it is a good solution. It works on all supported Windows versions, and later updates keep the kind of printer that is installed. You do not need to uninstall PDF24 to switch: run the installer of the current version again and select "Legacy (PostScript driver)" in the component list. The installer then replaces the PDF24 printer by the classic one. (If Windows Protected Print is switched on, Legacy cannot be selected, because Windows then does not allow third-party printer drivers.)

For several computers:

• EXE installer: /PrinterType=ps
• MSI package: PRINTERTYPE=ps
• For an existing installation, run the following as administrator in the PDF24 program folder: pdf24-PrinterInstall.exe -printerName "PDF24" -defaultPort -upgrade -printerType ps installPrinter

Details are in the manual: https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#63-classic-and-driverless-pdf-printers and https://creator.pdf24.org/manual/11/#71-command-line

A known cause with the driverless printer: if Windows does not allow it to run as a background app (Windows settings, a policy or a tuning tool), every print job fails at once with error 3003 ("problem with the printer setup") and the printer hangs afterwards. The fix for this will come with the next version.

If you would like to keep the driverless printer, please tell us which error message appears when printing and which Windows version you use.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

at the moment there is no setting for this. The Merge documents button in the PDF24 Creator always gives the result a new name ("Document" with a number). The option "Use name of first file for the result when joining files" only applies to the PDF24 Assistant, not to the Creator.

Until this changes, you can rename the merged document before saving: right-click it and choose Change name. The name is then suggested as the file name when you save. Dragging the pages into the row of the first document, as you already do, also keeps its name.

Thank you for the suggestion, we will add it to our list.

[PDF24 Support]

Hello,

you can change existing bookmarks with the same tool: https://tools.pdf24.org/en/bookmark-pdf

1. Open the PDF that contains the bookmarks in the tool. Its bookmarks are shown in the list "Edit bookmarks".
2. To change the text of a bookmark, click on its title in the list, edit it and press Enter.
3. To delete a bookmark, click on its row to select it and then click the Delete button (trash can) in the toolbar above the list. Sub-bookmarks are deleted with it. Delete all bookmarks removes all of them.
4. Save the PDF with the Save PDF button.

Please note that the result is a new PDF that you need to download; the bookmarks in the original file stay as they are.

[Author]

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