6 months with printing problems! Please escalate and fix!

[mjevernote 10]

I first reported the printing problems after the Evernote big rewrite 6 months ago in Oct-2020.And now, it has gotten even worse.

What does it take to escalate this bug fix?

For your troubleshooting, I am attaching one of my notes exported to a .enex file. The PDF should be 9 pages long. I also attach the various ways that the PDF comes out. The problems occur whether I am opening in Preview, creating a PDF, creating an Adobe standard PDF, or an Adobe high quality PDF.

• a page feed often occurs in the middle of the bottom line of text
• hyperlinks are never included
• pdf is missing 1-2 pages, either in the beginning or at the end
• pdf has additional 5 blank pages
• pdf has a 1/4" wide line on the right side of all pages
• the filenames are still not helpful either

Note that If I exit the Evernote app on my mac, the missing page problem remains, but if I reboot my Mac, the first time I print a note to PDF will be good, but after that the missing page problem reoccurs until I reboot my mac again.

My version on MacOS Big Sur 11.3 :

10.12.5-mac-ddl-public (2564)
Editor: v122.1.15818
Service: v1.33.7
© 2019 - 2021 Evernote Corporation. All rights reserved

adobe pdf high quality - file missing pages.pdf adobe pdf standard - file still missing pages - after relaunch evernote adobe pdf standard - file missing pages.pdf Evernote bad printing - export - apr2021.enex preview pdf has 5 blank pages.pdf

[Paul A. 620]

I'm sure this will be very helpful to Evernote. Suggest you open a support ticket and include a link to your post here to ensure they see it.

[mjevernote 10]

darn, i thought this IS the way to report a support problem. I think an evernote chat pointed me to this forum in the first place...

[gazumped 11,664]

5 minutes ago, mjevernote said:

I think an evernote chat pointed me to this forum in the first place...

Support might send you here for general information and ongoing discussion,  but if there's an issue they really have to either fix it or confirm it's something they're looking into for a future update.  If you grab a ticket number from support and post that number back here,  we can ask an Admin (an actual employee) to kick it along for you...

[mjevernote 10]

10 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Support might send you here for general information and ongoing discussion,  but if there's an issue they really have to either fix it or confirm it's something they're looking into for a future update.  If you grab a ticket number from support and post that number back here,  we can ask an Admin (an actual employee) to kick it along for you...

ok, thanks for letting me know. I created a support ticket and cited links for this post, the Oct-2020 post, and another post requesting hyperlinks be included in PDFs.

[PinkElephant 8,103]

Hope they get the message that even in a tool for going paperless, printing is an important ability for many users.

The issue is not trivial, because EN is internally build like a collection of web sites. So the concept of finite pages is sort of foreign, the notes live in an indefinite space. It would be easier to code if we would still be using papyrus rolls.

Hopefully the frameworks they use know how the different OSes treat printing, and support it accordingly.

[Dan Tappin 11]

Same here - printing is inconsistent.  One print will cut off the document title etc.  Every print suits off random parts of the page at the end.. PDF preview looks different than the printed versions.  Perhaps time to just switch to One Note.

LOL the web version of the app prints flawlessly 🤦‍♂️ Questioning why I have the desktop version even installed.

[DWCashman 1]

This needs to be fixed. I want to use Evernote to store my teaching notes I give out to students. As it is, I have to copy and paste it into Word, causing an unnecessary and annoying step. C'mon Evernote. If a basic word processor can do this, Evernote should be able to.

[PinkElephant 8,103]

Sure it needs improvement.

Ever tried to print a web site ? Not that easy, because it knows no page breaks.

Same with EN, which uses the same descriptive HTML code as web sites. This makes it harder to print neatly . Basic text editors use only plain text, and the usual suspects like Word let you first setup the page properties (most often by a preset template), which is then filled with content. EN only knows an infinite page by default.

But sure, printing is a key function, so it should work, even if it takes some coding.

[LHRJim 1]

I too am challenged with printing and/or sharing .pdf versions of my notes, which format correctly. 

I can't believe in the 21^st century it is such a challenge to provide the capability to auto-format content for conventional paper sizes, or at a minimum to provide the ability to add manual page breaks for printing or saving notes to the .pdf format.

[LB Herring 0]

Not renewing premium if not fixed - far to many alternatives at this point. I've been customer for 8 years - I now find EN unusable. 

You've pushed development way over your skis if the printing function DOES NOT WORK AT ALL.

[LB Herring 0]

Great work around - copy & paste my EN docs into word.  MS saves the day!!

[gazumped 11,664]

Just now, LB Herring said:

Great work around - copy & paste my EN docs into word.  MS saves the day!!

- That would have been my standard advice in this sort of situation anyway - use a WP if you want anything but basic styling in your notes, and especially if you want print breaks in sensible places. The editor has always been the electronic equivalent of that spiral-bound notebook you add notes and doodles and generally use to keep scraps of information handy.  I used to use one of those,  and write up my notes 'properly' based on the content.  No-one else would ever read my writing if I showed them a page...

Us users have always pushed for more styling - but take a look at Word's menus, and imagine those being added into an Evernote window. There's a limit to what's possible.  I don't use Evernote to send emails either - there's third-party software which specialises in doing that.  Same with nicely laid-out documents...

[Illy 5]

On 5/3/2021 at 8:47 AM, PinkElephant said:

Sure it needs improvement.

Ever tried to print a web site ? Not that easy, because it knows no page breaks.

Same with EN, which uses the same descriptive HTML code as web sites. This makes it harder to print neatly . Basic text editors use only plain text, and the usual suspects like Word let you first setup the page properties (most often by a preset template), which is then filled with content. EN only knows an infinite page by default.

But sure, printing is a key function, so it should work, even if it takes some coding.

Really! Every web browser prints web sites intelligently without missing off text.

[gazumped 11,664]

35 minutes ago, Illy said:

Really! Every web browser prints web sites intelligently without missing off text.

? You're responding to a months-old comment with no details of your own issue.  If you want to print a web page,  use a browser.  If you want to capture a copy and print it,  use a screenshot.  If you want to save the content as a searchable note - be prepared to compromise on the print quality.  Just sayin'

[PinkElephant 8,103]

It says a lot that basically there are only 3 web browsers left. Sure, there are more "browsers" - but only 3 "engines" that drive browsers. These are Chrome(ium) from Google, WebKit from Apple and the engine that drives FireFox. 2 of the 3 have no restrictions to their development budgets, and if you look at Firefox, you see that they are kept alive by contributions from the other 2 (maybe to avoid antitrust action by authorities).

The web sites build today by CMS systems like WordPress are highly complex, comprising many building blocks filled by different players, not only the website owner. Advertising blocs are auctioned and filled in milliseconds, newsfeeds provide live input, trackers try to follow the user over all sites to which he is surfing, based on tiny embedded pictures or "Like" buttons etc.

Printing means condensing all that stuff into a relict of old, a physical paper page (or its electronic equivalent).

To expect that a company like EN can mimic these browser powerhouses in developing their own solution is a bit - off. Just sayin'

[mjevernote 10]

So you guys brought this issue back to my attention. The problem is still there after reporting it over 1 year ago! Happy Birthday!

Evernote apparently deleted my old support ticket, so I resubmitted with these new PDF examples of the problem. The printing improved a little bit; it seems to be a problem with longer notes. I generated one PDF using the 3-dot Print menu, and the 2nd PDF was generated using the 3-dot Export as PDF menu. Neither output is acceptable to me. The Export to PDF function now scrambles text so that I cannot copy and paste out of my own evernote-generated PDF. I don't even understand why they would make this a "feature".

I used to be a software developer and I used to do a lot of quality testing. I find evernote's level of quality and lack of responsiveness really disgraceful to the craft. It's so sad, because I have paid for and depended on this product for so many years.

example of print PDF - 8 pages nov2021.pdf.pdf example of exported PDF - 12 pages nov20.pdf.pdf

[gazumped 11,664]

7 minutes ago, mjevernote said:

The problem is still there after reporting it over 1 year ago!

You might have gotten there just before - or maybe after - v10 was launched.  No arguments that 10.1 was a severe disappointment - a pale shadow of its former versions;  but I think the team has had a few other priorities since then...

10 minutes ago, mjevernote said:

I find evernote's level of quality and lack of responsiveness really disgraceful to the craft.

Difficult to equate lack of responsiveness with the fact we're now on v10.25 - that's roughly an update every other week since the launch.  I still suspect 'priorities' is the reason this issue isn't resolved - the ability to print nicely in an app that majorly supports paperless working doesn't seem like it would be high on the list.  You could try another support ticket,  or try to reopen the original to get a direct response - or create a feature request to see how many other Forum users feel this is an issue...

[mjevernote 10]

hi @gazumped, let's not argue this, but any function whose output is so bad that it makes that function useless -- well that needs to be fixed. What good is a print function if I can't print what is on the page? What good is a print function that only prints 85% of a document?

And yes, this whole printing problem started with evernote's move to an HTML-based solution. You can go back to my original post and see the number of posters who have bothered to login and complain about losing the ability to print or PDF their notes.

If you have any status with the evernote team, maybe you could point out to them that this is a problem. They already deleted my support ticket once. I shouldn't have to keep resubmitting support tickets.

[gazumped 11,664]

51 minutes ago, mjevernote said:

If you have any status with the evernote team

Sadly,  other than being a mouthy user,  I don't.  And software companies of a sufficient size are like oil tankers - they should respect others' right of way,  but it's best not to rely on their compliance...  I'm not knocking or supporting here - I'm not in any place to do so,  being a proud Legacy user;  v10 has not yet disgraced my Windows laptop,  and probably won't do so for a while yet.  

I can see why Evernote wanted to go for the Electron wrapper - their previous development was a bit of a shambles as separate teams got the best out of different OS's but tried to keep the code working across all of them.  Resetting to one code base was - still is - a gamble,  though it seems to be paying off - evidence the 25 or so updates that happened already,  and the increasingly happy noises coming from many users. 

But there are still some very rough edges,  and Evernote broke their magic wand;  they probably have a list of 1,000 things to fix,  including the print function.  Don't expect any changes soon - although since Evernote don't share what's in their pipeline,  so something could happen in weeks.  Who knows?

Meantime text and image notes can't be magically transferred to PDF,  but there's an easy work-around:  copy paste your content into any word processor,  fix any layout issues there so they stay fixed,  and print from the app as required.  The wp output file can still be attached to a note,  and you can print with pagination and all sorts of stylish bells and whistles.

You maybe shouldn't have to ask them nicely (again) for such a basic option,  but if you don't ask...

[PinkElephant 8,103]

Anybody who wants a more advanced printing option can install a legacy client - which is part of the transition strategy.

In fact I have legacy installed, but less for printing. I am happy about each sheet of paper moved into EN, not out of it …

[mjevernote 10]

Hi @gazumped, I’ve seen that suggestion before, to copy and paste my Note to a word processor. To me, that defeats the whole purpose of using Evernote. 

But it’s interesting to hear they still have 1,000 defect reports from the re-write a year ago. 

[gazumped 11,664]

8 minutes ago, mjevernote said:

I’ve seen that suggestion before, to copy and paste my Note to a word processor. To me, that defeats the whole purpose of using Evernote.

I use a ton of other apps besides Evernote because they do a job that Evernote does not,  or because they do it better.  Image editors, email clients, mind maps, databases, web browsers,  search engines,  word processors... 

Evernote is a place where you can file and find things again efficiently,  and paperlessly - and they've branched out (a little) into organising those things into priorities.  They have never claimed to offer ways to generate more and prettier paperwork,  just like they never offered mind maps or any of the other services I add-in to their core database feature.

15 minutes ago, mjevernote said:

But it’s interesting to hear they still have 1,000 defect reports from the re-write a year ago. 

Absolutely not what I said.  Please don't misquote.  The point was that there's lots of rough edges to resolve;  AFAIK the only thing that can't be worked around yet is a continuing speed issue - and not everyone suffers from that.  They're working through things,  but there's lots left to do. 

[Illy 5]

21 hours ago, gazumped said:

? You're responding to a months-old comment with no details of your own issue.  If you want to print a web page,  use a browser.  If you want to capture a copy and print it,  use a screenshot.  If you want to save the content as a searchable note - be prepared to compromise on the print quality.  Just sayin'

You have not read what I said correctly. I am responding to a post that excuses EN for their total failure to have a working note-printing functionality on any platform, and this for more than a year and despite thousands of complaints; the excuse being that notes are like web pages and it is very hard to print web pages. This latter point is untrue, and because the poster must know this, it is also a lie. (Presumably EN pays people to post propaganda like this; if not, then it is a sad commentary on the ability of people to identify emotionally with institutions that do not care a jot for them.) 

My issue is the same as everybody else on this thread (after all, it is the subject of the thread), and has been detailed to EN thousands of times. I was not posting a support ticket.

[Illy 5]

8 hours ago, gazumped said:

I use a ton of other apps besides Evernote because they do a job that Evernote does not,  or because they do it better.  Image editors, email clients, mind maps, databases, web browsers,  search engines,  word processors... 

Evernote is a place where you can file and find things again efficiently,  and paperlessly - and they've branched out (a little) into organising those things into priorities.  They have never claimed to offer ways to generate more and prettier paperwork,  just like they never offered mind maps or any of the other services I add-in to their core database feature.

Absolutely not what I said.  Please don't misquote.  The point was that there's lots of rough edges to resolve;  AFAIK the only thing that can't be worked around yet is a continuing speed issue - and not everyone suffers from that.  They're working through things,  but there's lots left to do. 

Speed is not the only remaining issue: printing does not work, even basically. Only some fraction of a note is printed, and the top and bottom of this fraction have lines of text cut off vertically. It would seem EN is trying to print a note as an image, which, if true, would be mind-bogglingly incompetent.

Do not set up red herrings: no one is expecting "prettier" paperwork; just a basic print functionality. This is not rocket science: every piece of software on the planet can print except EN. It is like car not having glass in its windows: not its fundamental function, but pretty damned essential. If EN wants beta testers, they should either pay them or make the software free. Or do you want to pay for my account?

I hope you are being paid for defending the indefensible. If not, you should probably be asking yourself why you are so emotionally invested in EN that you are working for them for free as their shill. 

[Illy 5]

21 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

It says a lot that basically there are only 3 web browsers left. Sure, there are more "browsers" - but only 3 "engines" that drive browsers. These are Chrome(ium) from Google, WebKit from Apple and the engine that drives FireFox. 2 of the 3 have no restrictions to their development budgets, and if you look at Firefox, you see that they are kept alive by contributions from the other 2 (maybe to avoid antitrust action by authorities).

The web sites build today by CMS systems like WordPress are highly complex, comprising many building blocks filled by different players, not only the website owner. Advertising blocs are auctioned and filled in milliseconds, newsfeeds provide live input, trackers try to follow the user over all sites to which he is surfing, based on tiny embedded pictures or "Like" buttons etc.

Printing means condensing all that stuff into a relict of old, a physical paper page (or its electronic equivalent).

To expect that a company like EN can mimic these browser powerhouses in developing their own solution is a bit - off. Just sayin'

It is not "a bit off". This is their job! "Evernote's latest valuation is reported to be $1.7 b."

Everyone else can do this!! Nimbus Note can do it, Notion can do it. A working 'export to pdf' would be enough. Stop making excuses.

[gazumped 11,664]

31 minutes ago, Illy said:

I hope you are being paid for defending the indefensible.

Wrong three times.

1. I'm not being paid. My aim here is to help people deal with real-world problems. Complaining that someone else should fix an issue won't help.
2. Evernote's situation isn't "indefensible".  It is what it is.  It may be wrong,  it may be unpopular; but they're unlikely to take further action without good financial or technical reasons to do so.
3. There are easy work-arounds: using Legacy / a word-processor / screenshots / a different note-taking app - without a coherent reason for giving this higher priority Evernote will get around to fixing this when it's most practical to do so.  Meantime reporting issues to Support will give them more data on how seriously to take this issue,  and access to  activity logs so they can understand exactly what's causing it.

 

[PinkElephant 8,103]

6 hours ago, Illy said:

It is not "a bit off". This is their job! "Evernote's latest valuation is reported to be $1.7 b."

Everyone else can do this!! Nimbus Note can do it, Notion can do it. A working 'export to pdf' would be enough. Stop making excuses.

Then tell EN, not fellow users.