Perhaps this isn't a good ServerFault question, but here goes:
We've got some Canon ImageRunner copiers, and the performance is terrible for printing PDF files. For instance I just sent a job that's 11 pages, and it's taking some twenty minutes to print. A page comes out…then it sits there processing…another page comes out…and it sits there processing…and so on. This particular machine is an ir6020.
Some PDFs don't take as long as others, but for the most part they all take a very long time. I've tried the latest drivers, both PCL and PS3. Currently I'm trying the 4.62 drivers from Canon Canada (the latest from Canon USA is 4.55). Our Canon rep hasn't been very helpful. Thankfully we don't print a lot of PDFs…other documents come flying out of the machines nice & quick.
Any suggestions?
Update: I was able to print the current document I'm having trouble with by using the latest 6.62 version of the PCL driver. I don't believe this problem is gone, however, since I've been battling it for a long time, and sometimes the PS3 driver is faster, sometimes the PCL driver is faster. I can't find a pattern.
Best Answer
Sometimes going back to an earlier postscript version, if available, can help.
Mainly, since some PDFs take longer, it could be an issue with rastering (rasterizing?) the graphics of the PDF. You can try enabling or disabling "Print as image" to see if that helps. Also, if a text-only PDF prints quickly, that may be the whole issue. I know in older printers, this could be helped by upgrading memory, but this doesn't appear to be the problem here.
Try printing an image with the Photo and Fax printing wizard of Windows, or something like Gwenview if on Linux, and see if that takes a long time.
It could also be the version of Acrobat you are using. There may be updates available.