Hoping I can get some ideas on a problem that has been ongoing for several months.
(The problem appearing after a STEAM updated after April-2014, see info on PC#2 below)

See attached screenshots.

Problem: For the past several months on my primary PC which I shall call PC#1 when ever I redeem a game manually via the STEAM Client by inputting a key code the result is a printout that looks like a message created out of cut-up pieces of newspaper at various angles thrown on a black background.

OS on PC#1 Win7 x86

Upon hitting the "Print Receipt" button in the STEAM Client "Gibberish" is printed
when selecting:
1: Create a PDF (With PDF Creator from pdforga)
2: Print to a Microsoft XPS file *.xps
3: Print To network printer.

Now normally I'd say there's something amiss with the printer driver...
Problem with that is I can print PDF's, print to xps, and print physical copies without issue in ALL other apps.

Tired updating PDF Creator, removing /reinstalling network printer

Result= GIBBERISH, GIBBERISH, GIBBERISH.

***********

So I fired up a old PC have which I will refer to as PC#2 running Win7 Pro x64 running a old P4 Cpu which has NOT had Steam Client run on it for several months.

Fired up PC#2, Fired up STEAM (Noticed version was date April ?, 2014 IIRC)

Did NOT allow STEAM to update prior to "Activating a Game thru Steam" and printing a receipt.

Result?

Receipt printed pdf, xps, and printed physical copy P-E-R-F-E-C-T-LY.

UPDATED STEAM. Result? Pdf, xps, and printed physical copy, all GIBBERISH as shown in the attached pic exactly as on PC#1.

Seeing PDF Creator (Pdforge) was a OLD version updated it, tried the xps print function, and tried printing out physical copy after removing network printer, re-installing.

Result? = Gibberish so something has changed in the STEAM Client.
Anyone have any ideas beyond trying another PDF creation app?
(Suggestions on another free pdf app, or configuring PC to use Pdf architect vs PdfCreator welcome.)

Hmmm, Guess I can try deleting PDF Creator, or shutting down the service... maybe it's messing with the printer spooler. Problem with that I have (1) chance per game activated per "test" and app works perfectly with all other apps.

ANYONE READ ANYTHING about this issue?

PS: When you manually active a game on Steam you do not get a e-mail confirmation.

Uninstalled:

PDFCreator
PDF Architect 2
PDF Architect Viewer module

Rebooted (warm boot)

Didn't work.

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Thanks for the info!

Searched on the net on this issue and didn't find any info that was helpful.

Thought the problem was pertaining to some weird driver /PDFCreator bug, until I tried PC #2 which except for the network printer is hardware-wise totally different.

Will be sure to voice my displeasure with STEAM releasing a client in which they broke the print receipt function.

Shows how much testing STEAM does, eh? Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy (NOT) about the day STEAM gets sold off, or goes out of business about them "De-Activating" the STEAM Client and being helpful so far as directing customers to publishers of games purchased to allow continued access to game collection.

EDIT: Upon reading thru the thread linked to above I see the "PRINT RECEIPT" function has been broken since Aug-2014..... right around 4 months and 4 updates have been applied to the STEAM DRM CLIENT and it's still broken.

I bet if STEAM couldn't get any payments for (4) months they'd fix the system that handles that!

Cause of problem is known, but STEAM still prints gibberish so problem hasn't been "fixed".

Question: Anyone have a way to install /copy a version of STEAM older than Aug-2014 back to pc to "RESTORE" to a WORKING version of STEAM?

(Read that as does anyone have the ability to zip up STEAM directory and upload it somewhere MINUS your personal info/games, and or have info on installing a older version of STEAM and being able to force it to bypass the auto update process at first run, and freeze install.)


Anyone?

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Try here: http://www.filehorse.com/download-steam/old-versions/
or here: http://steam.en.downloadastro.com/old_versions/

I think you can always keep the old version on your old system and use it to redeem serials and print, but use your main for playing.

There should be a point where the receipt is shown on the screen (disclaimer: I've never used Steam, but this is how all online retails work afaik). Have you tried just taking a screenshot? At least then it will be human-readable.

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Thanks for the links (BTW second link doesn't work for me Ah, type STEAM in search box,click on link which brings up most recent version, then look on right hand side of page for "All versions" click that!.)

I had run across the first link and downloaded a version prior to the receipt print function being broken.

Upon first run of STEAM CLIENT it proceeded to try to auto-update. Clicked cancel update and was booted back to desktop.


(Maybe I should try with net turned off, is that the trick?)

So far as keeping a old version, I'd be all for that but it's unlikely that is possible as STEAM wants everyone running the same version.
I think for those of us who do not do online gaming in which I can see forcing everyone to run the same client is needed that "customers" should have option to revert to a prior working install /version.

I remember a couple of years ago STEAM "updated" so Valve could tap into the Mac market and it broke probably 80 to 90% of user mods for the Half-Life Series which was keeping peoples interest in that series between episodes.

I think the customer should have the option in single-player games to keep a prior version. What they should have done for the mods was "update" the main game engine, and retain the prior version mods ran on. I forgot the name of the file mods use but a smart programer could have coded the engine to "look" and revert to old game engine for the mods.

Not doing so reminds me of Harley Davidson in the years they almost went broke not saying a thing to those manufacturing Harley Davidson stuff and promoting HD big time, but once Harley Davidson got back on their feet Harley Davidson sent their lawyers in full force after the same people who worked so hard to bring them back. If I remember the story right.

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I have done the screenshots, and yes all the online retails I've ever used show a receipt.

STEAM is the only company I've run across which only allows you (1) try to print a receipt... Seems to me you should be able once logged in to go to transactional history and do a re-print... NOPE, With STEAM this option does not show... I've looked.


RE: At some point receipt should show on the screen.

During a manual activation in which you have entered a serial /key and activate a product on STEAM you have the option to "PRINT" a receipt.
(As a aside STEAM does NOT e-mail you upon a manual activation and once you click the "NEXT" button you cannot do a reprint.)

Contents of receipt are NOT shown prior to print job processing.

Transaction number, etc only appear upon upon completion of printer "printing" the receipt.

August 2014? Steam "update" broke all ability to print a receipt, there's been 4 or 5 Steam "updates" since August and it's still broken:

1: Sending to printer, printing physical hard-copy .
2: To XPS file.
3: To PDF creation app.

None of the print options work, confirmed on separate machines.

Problem is in STEAM CLIENT.

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I keep hoping, with every update, that they might, miraculously, have fixed it, but so far - zilch. In the meantime, my solution is as follows:

1. Print a garbled pdf. An xps should work, too.
2. Open the pdf and select all text (from menu, or CTRL+A)
3. Paste it to a text document.
4. From among the mis-formatted letters, find the name of the product and the transaction confirmation number.
5. Copy those to a text file, record the transaction date too.
6. Edit them into into/over an older, properly formatted, Steam receipt. Or just use the text file, it's just as good :P

Actually, while the layout is totally garbled, the files still contain the text that generally goes into a receipt, so the information is still there. It's a matter of formatting it into a more presentable form.

I was wondering if I was the only one with this problem. And I just stopped printing them, it was too much waste of ink. I don't think they are usefull to anything, they don't contain the key you have used, all the other information are in the profile page I think.....

2015-02-20

Well unless the problem has been fixed in the last day or two, still unable to print proof software activated correctly. (A receipt)

Shows what STEAM thinks of the customers who have made them successful, eh?


PS: On another board someone mentioned that the "data" needed might not be on Steam servers, as posted above and in the thread linked to above data is there, but illegible.

Additionally on PC#2 which had not been connected to the net since prior to Aug-2014 update which killed the print function prior to it updating it would print to paper, to pdf, to xps PERFECT... then just minutes later after the client auto-updated lost the ability to print a receipt for games activated via entering a key code manually.

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Bump:

With the last time Steam updated, I read in the change-log something that looked like they finally took care of this bug, though I can't remember the exact wording.

As I don't buy Steam-keys no more - or at least I try to - I haven't had the opportunity to check for myself, but can someone tell if it's been solved now?

Tip: to check if Steam prints recipes well without the chance of wasting ink. (in Windows) use Microsoft Image Writer and save as .xps instead of printing.