google drive FAIL

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
please tell me if there was a way of accessing pdf's from google drive without downloading them.

so today i needed some important pdf's and the night before i decided to upload them to google drive in case i forgot my flash drive. so when i needed the files today i went to an office computer and tried to print them out, but wasnt able to. you cant open pdf's with a pdf reader from google drive, you actually have to download them first (which i didnt want to do onto that computer). you could open and print from and app, but they only have one pdf reader app, and it doesnt work. google drive has a "preview" but it doenst allow you to print a pdf file (instead it prints a weird printout with drive in the background and a minaturized copy of your pdf in the foreground). totally retarded, totally useless....

i ended up going to my car and getting my flash drive
 
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Seven

Senior member
Jan 26, 2000
339
2
76
please tell me if there was a way of accessing pdf's from google drive without downloading them.

so today i needed some important pdf's and the night before i decided to upload them to google drive in case i forgot my flash drive. so when i needed the files today i went to an office computer and tried to print them out, but wasnt able to. you cant open pdf's with a pdf reader from google drive, you actually have to download them first (which i didnt want to do onto that computer). you could open and print from and app, but they only have one pdf reader app, and it doesnt work. google drive has a "preview" but it doenst allow you to print a pdf file (instead it prints a weird printout with drive in the background and a minaturized copy of your pdf in the foreground). totally retarded, totally useless....

i ended up going to my car and getting my flash drive

Yea. It's pretty much useless for PDF's. Same thing applies to dropbox.
 

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
All files on Google Drive are downloaded to your phone or mobile device before they are opened, thats why its called cloud storage.

Never tried printing anything from Drive on my phone though.
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
All files on Google Drive are downloaded to your phone or mobile device before they are opened, thats why its called cloud storage.

Never tried printing anything from Drive on my phone though.

i was trying to print from a desktop. you cant directly open a file with acrobat and thry dont even have one working pdf app
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
26
101
So I'm not sure what you're talking about. I just tested opening a PDF file on my Google Drive on a browser, and then print it out directly without a problem at all.
 

Tsaar

Guest
Apr 15, 2010
228
0
76
So I'm not sure what you're talking about. I just tested opening a PDF file on my Google Drive on a browser, and then print it out directly without a problem at all.

Same here. I just tested it and PDFs directly open in the browser for me.

OP before you make inflammatory thread titles make sure the problem isn't on your end.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=pebkac
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
So I'm not sure what you're talking about. I just tested opening a PDF file on my Google Drive on a browser, and then print it out directly without a problem at all.

cuz youre using chrome which opens pdf's right? that would make sense of why there isnt a pdf app. the computer i had access to only had firefox and acrobat reader.

you arent talking about just opening it up in "preview" mode are you? that doesnt let you print it out i dont think
 
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cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
26
101
cuz youre using chrome which opens pdf's right? that would make sense of why there isnt a pdf app. the computer i had access to only had firefox and acrobat reader.

you arent talking about just opening it up in "preview" mode are you? that doesnt let you print it out i dont think

It was from Chrome but I just tested it from Firefox and it works exactly the same.

Yes, the preview mode has the icon to print at the lower right hand side.

Edit: Here's a screenshot of Google Drive's 'preview mode' for a PDF file. On Firefox. There is a print icon there.

LggjkoO.jpg
 
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OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
It was from Chrome but I just tested it from Firefox and it works exactly the same.

Yes, the preview mode has the icon to print at the lower right hand side.

Edit: Here's a screenshot of Google Drive's 'preview mode' for a PDF file. On Firefox. There is a print icon there.

LggjkoO.jpg

i was trying to print from the file menu and it prints out the mess i described above.

youre saying that the printer icon in the lower right corner will print out properly. when i clicked on that it popped up a warning "this may not display properly" and then it displayed a blurry unreadable pdf file. i couldnt test how it would print out, im out of toner.
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
i just noticed there is a "google drive viewer" that wasnt there yesterday that opens fine but when you try to print it goes blurry again.
 

cronos

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
9,380
26
101
I received that warning on Firefox as well (no warning on Chrome) but the PDF still printed out just fine. I tested two different ones.

I'm guessing your problem is specific to your PDF or related to the setup of the computer you're trying to print from.

Edit: Just wanted to clarify your situation with the 'preview mode': When a PDF file is opened directly on a browser, all PDF operations (including printing) should be done from links within the viewer. Trying to do anything from the browser's menu will just get you a mess (as you experienced). This is standard procedure. Try opening a PDF directly within a browser using Adobe Reader plugin (not Google Drive related) and try to print that page, it behaves exactly the same.
 
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lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
6,674
7
76
I didn't have any problem doing this.
Thread should be renamed: "OBLAMA2009 FAIL".
 

OBLAMA2009

Diamond Member
Apr 17, 2008
6,574
3
0
I didn't have any problem doing this.
Thread should be renamed: "OBLAMA2009 FAIL".
uh, no. it may or may not work but for sure it still has some kinks.when you tell it to print it definitely displays something blurry and totally unreadable. whether it would print out i dont know but for sure thr software isnt fully baked. definitrly a google fail
 

KLin

Lifer
Feb 29, 2000
30,322
642
126
1. Definitely PEBKAC
2. Waiting til the last minute to figure this out isn't google's fault.
3. ...
4. google drive FTW