The 'applymask' function is a special DLL that gets loaded from the C:\windows\crystal directory, something not part of Crystal Reports but something we've added. If you get errors attempting to print a report using this function, the reason is that the DLL is not getting loaded properly. I've heard one 'workaround' was to create a new report (which loads the DLLs) then print the report that uses the DLL - then it works.

Does the report run OK from the report designer, rather than from PrintTool? If so, the cause may be that the report contains a feature that is part of the Crystal Reports 8.x feature set. PrintTool by default uses the version 7.0 Crystal Reports print engine. If the engine cannot recognize the feature, it will bail and cause the 'screen flash' you described.