Stamping Error Checklist – an error occurred while trying to stamp the file

[amin007]

If you are receiving one of the following errors when trying to stamp a PDF file then please go through this checklist which will help you identify and solve the issue:

– An error occurred while trying to stamp the file!

– White screen after you hit the stamp button

– Any error that is preventing you from stamping the file

Preparation: Before you go through this checklist, it is a good idea to make sure that your copy of the PDF Stamper didn’t get corrupted. If you see any indication of an error that mentions the word “corrupt” then just load a fresh build of the plugin to fix that (use the WordPress’s plugin uploader to upload the plugin’s zip file so that files do not get corrupted during the upload):

https://support.tipsandtricks-hq.com/forums/topic/re-install-or-load-a-fresh-build-of-the-plugins

Also, when you install/re-install the plugin it is very important that you upload the plugin using the WordPress’s plugin uploader menu. See our plugin installation video tutorial:

http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wp-pdf-stamper/wp-pdf-stamper-installation-and-usage-video-tutorials-155

Checklist 1) Use a proper PDF creator to create your PDF file (for example any official adobe product will do). Most PDF creators will produce a valid usable PDF file but there are some junk PDF creators out there which does not create a PDF file that adheres to the proper adobe PDF format.

If you used “PDF995” or Open Office to create your PDF file then it should work too.

You can download a properly formatted test PDF file here (in case you want to test):

http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wp-pdf-stamper/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pdf-stamper-sample-ebook.pdf

Simply upload the above PDF file to your server and do a manual stamping.

Checklist 2) Do not password protect the PDF file that you want to stamp as the PDF stamper won’t be able to open the file. The PDF stamper can password protect the stamped PDF file automatically after the stamping (look under the settings menu of the PDF stamper plugin).

Checklist 3) Make sure you have “Copy”, “Edit”, “Modify” etc permission on the original PDF file so that the PDF stamper can make a copy and stamp the file. You can add all the above mentioned restriction to the stamped PDF file automatically (check under the settings menu of the PDF stamper plugin)

Checklist 4) Make sure your original PDF file can be accessed from the browser. If you place the file in some password protected directory then the PDF stamper won’t be able to open it. A simple test you can do is the following:

Take the URL of the PDF file and enter it in your browser’s address bar. Can you view or download the PDF file without any issue? If you can then your PDF file URL is correct.

The PDF file also need to be hosted on your server (where the PDF stamper is installed). PDF Stamper needs to modify the file in order to stamp it and the plugin can only modify files that reside in the same server (modifying files outside of your server is not permitted for security reasons).

Checklist 5) Make sure that you DO NOT have any space(s) in the file name of your downloadable PDF file. It is okay to have spaces in the file name on your PC (example, My eBook.pdf) but remember when you upload this file on your server, it becomes a URL and a proper URL should not have any space(s).

For example, the following is a GOOD URL:

http://www.example.com/my-ebook.pdf

Where as the following is NOT a valid URL (see the space after the word “my”):

http://www.example.com/my eBook.pdf

Remember, “%20” is a white space character so you shouldn’t have those in the file name either.

Checkout Google’s guideline here to learn more on this:

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=76329

Checklist 6) Set the “PDF Stamping Method” setting field’s value to Stamping Method 2. On some servers this alternative stamping method works better. Now try a stamping with this method.

Checklist 7) Check the PDF file’s URL value and Make sure you have used the “http” keyword in your URL value. If you are manually typing the URL then it is easy to miss the “http” keyword.

For example, the following examples are valid URLs:

http://www.example.com/my-file.zip

http://example.com/my-file.zip

Where as the following are not (see how it is missing the “http” keyword?):

www. example.com/my-file.zip

example.com/my-file.zip

Checklist Try placing the PDF file in the “source-files” directory that is inside the WP PDF Stamper plugin then use that URL and see if that makes a difference.

Checklist 9) Use a different “File Path Conversion Method” in the settings of the PDF Stamper. Go to the settings then choose “Method 2” or “Method 3” as the file path conversion method then try a stamping.

Checklist 10) Try resetting the settings to the default values. Hit the “Reset to Default” button in the settings menu of the PDF Stamper plugin then try a manual stamp to see how you go.

Checklist 11) If you have modified the value of the “Destination Directory of Stamped Files” field then there is a good chance that you made a mistake there. Hit the “Reset to Default” button in the settings menu of this plugin to let the plugin recalculate the correct path so you can test a stamping.

Checklist 12) On rare occasions a particular type of server setup may require the “Destination Directory of Stamped Files” to have “777” permission. If you see the error mention anything about a permission issue then try giving the destination directory a “777” permission and then test a stamping.

Checklist 13) Uncheck the “Enable PDF File Encryption” option from the settings menu (if you have it enabled). Then test a stamping.

Checklist 14) If your server has PHP5.4+ then you should use the PHP5.4+ version of the stamper plugin. This version uses some newer functions that are only available in the newer version of PHP. You can test the PHP version of your site using the minimum requirement checker plugin:

https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wp-pdf-stamper/minimum-requirements-for-the-wp-pdf-stamper-plugin-104

Checklist 15) Do the test mentioned here to make sure another plugin is not breaking your site’s functionality under the hood and causing a conflict:

https://support.tipsandtricks-hq.com/forums/topic/test-to-identy-a-conflicting-theme-or-plugin

[wzp]

OpenOffice also creates valid PDF files.

[amin007]

A customer was having a similar issue and contacted us about it. We checked the URL of the PDF file and it turned out that the user was using a wrong URL in the File URL field. The proper URL of a PDF file would look like the following:

http://www.example.com/myfiles/test.pdf

The user was using the following URL as the URL of the PDF file which is wrong (this URL gives a 404 Error):

http://www.example.com/myfiles/test

So, make sure to use a valid URL of the PDF file (you can paste the URL in a browser’s address bar to test that the URL is not giving a 404)

[pctechservices]

An error occurred while trying to stamp the file!

I did used a relative path to the file, and yes, all me server requirements are there, and I can open the file manually on the browser, and the file I use was your own ebook file you provide in your website,

Please help !!

[amin007]

Don’t use relative path because most likely the path is wrong. Please use a full URL and post the URL that you are using in here so I can check it out.

[cflyrun]

PDF Stamper was working fine, with my source file in a special folder in the root directory (and not viewable in a browser). All of a sudden it doesn’t work anymore unless I put the source file in the wp-pdf-stamper source-files directory. Any reason that this might have changed?

When I say “work”, it will say in the manual stamper that it has stamped the file, but when I inspect the file, it’s not been stamped at all. Something is afoot…

EDIT: I’m sorry this got posted in two topics, delete the one where it’s not appropriate, I suppose. I downloaded the supplied PDF test file from the forum, put it in my source-files directory, and tried manually stamping it. PDF Stamper said it successfully stamped the file, but there was no stamp on the generated file.

[amin007]

I will reply to your question in your other thread:

https://support.tipsandtricks-hq.com/forums/topic/stamper-does-not-stamp

[ME]

I’ve read the related posts I can find and worked my way down through number 7 of the checklist, following all the instructions, but each time with the same error, which seems (?) to be indicating that something is missing in the installation?

It says: [path-to-plugin-file] requires a license file

Could someone please help me understand this and what I need to do to get the plug-in to work?

Thank you,

Mary Elizabeth

[wzp]

You may need to have your license key reset. Please follow the advice in this thread…

https://support.tipsandtricks-hq.com/forums/topic/pdf-stamper-says-license-is-invalid#post-6851

[ME]

Thank you for your reply. I have followed the eventual advice, which was to email the information via the contact form. I hope this is what was meant.

Mary Elizabeth

[wzp]

Yes, that is what was meant.

[ME]

Thank you very much.

Mary Elizabeth

[amin007]

I have reset your license key. In the future if you want to move your license key please deactivate the license key from this domain by going to the “Product License” menu.

[ME]

I’m afraid I don’t understand. I didn’t move the license key. I installed it in one place only ever. If there is some indication that I did move it, then that would seem to be a bug?

And the reactivation did not work. I have responded to the email I receive from Ivy. I would appreciate further assistance to get it working.

1. Signed on to WP

2. Reactivated license key.

3. Reset stamping options

4. Tried manual stamping.

Result: Failed with same error message as before.

Thanks very much,

Mary Elizabeth

[wzp]

Minimum Requirements for the WP PDF Stamper Plugin

I know this sounds like a silly question, but does your server meet the minimum requirements for this plugin? The above link also will direct you to a test plugin you can use to determine this.

[Author]

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