Print is greyed out, or the button does nothing, or you get a 'document does not allow printing' message.
This is almost always a permission lock. Sometimes it's a driver problem masquerading as a permission issue.
What's actually going wrong
Print disabled in permissions. The PDF's owner password set print to 'not allowed'. Driver communication failure. The print button works but nothing reaches the printer. Transparency issue. The print starts but produces blank or partial pages (technically a different problem; covered separately).
If the print menu item itself is greyed out, it's permissions. If it's available but does nothing, it's drivers.
The quick fix
For permission locks: if you own the file or have the owner password, unlock the PDF and print. Flint removes the restrictions and prints work normally.
For driver issues: restart your printer, restart your computer, try a different printer if available. Also try the browser route — open the PDF in Chrome and print from there. Browsers' print pipelines often work when native PDF readers don't.
If that didn't work
Last-resort workaround: convert PDF to JPG and print the images. This bypasses every PDF-level restriction and driver oddity. Quality is slightly lower but printing works.
For restricted PDFs where you don't have the owner password, you can't bypass print legitimately. Contact the document's owner for an unrestricted version.
Prevent it next time
Don't apply print restrictions on documents others need to print. Keep printer drivers updated. And if you regularly receive print-locked PDFs, ask senders to share unrestricted versions or to print and post hard copies.
FAQ
Why does my PDF say 'printing is not allowed'?
The owner of the PDF disabled printing in the security settings. Removing the restriction requires the owner password. If you own the file, unlock via Flint. If not, contact the owner.
Can I print a password-protected PDF?
Depends on the permissions set. If 'print' is allowed, yes — enter the password and print. If 'print' is disallowed, you need to unlock the file first (with the owner password) before printing.
Why does my PDF print fine on one printer but not another?
Different drivers handle PDF features differently. Some older drivers can't handle transparency, fonts, or specific compression schemes. Try printing as image, or use a different printer.
Is printing a print-locked PDF illegal?
If you own the file or have permission, no. If the restriction was set by another party to prevent you from printing, bypassing it may violate the agreement under which you received the file. Always ask the owner if unclear.
Most print blocks come off in one step with Flint's unlocker. If it's a driver problem, the JPG workaround always succeeds.