TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Printing PDF graphics From:David Hirschler <DGHirschler -at- AUTOMATEDLOGIC -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 7 Nov 1997 14:58:22 -0500
The Distiller can only handle what you give it. Poor quality or
disappearing graphics could be the result of the file format you are using.
For example, for raster images you might try PCX or BMP rather than TIF, or
for vector images, EPS or EMF rather than WMF or DXF. Since many software
companies purchase import/export filters from other developers, switching
to a different filter may produce good results.
There could be a bug in the filter you are using to export your graphics.
This happened to me with an EMF file produced from Canvas. The drawing
looked great in PageMaker, but in the resulting PDF, half the graphic was
missing. I used a different filter to solve the problem.
I have also seen improved results by switching to a different Postscript
printer driver and PPD file. Try the latest Adobe postscript driver
available on their web site.
Avoid hairlines. Some high-resolution print drivers can make these lines
virtually disappear. You won't see this happen when you make a laser print
of it because the printer's resolution may not be as fine as say, a
Linotronic image setter. Or you could go ahead and use a 600 dpi printer
driver just so the hairlines don't disappear when you make your PS file.
Last resort -- reinstall Distiller. I have seen it become corrupted on
some machines. Reinstalling the software fixed the problem.
----------------------------------
>From: Miark <miark -at- MIJENIX -dot- COM>
>Subject: Printing PDF graphics
>I'm about to smash up my keyboard with my forehead. %^P
>I've been trying to use the PDFWriter driver to print to PDF. I wasn't
using
>the Distiller or it's assistant because I didn't know what the difference
>is. In the online doc a link read, If you want to know the difference,
click
>here. I clicked but it didn't take me there. I figured that there must not
>be such a page after all, but just two minutes ago I discovered that it
does
>exist--you just have to get there by an alternate route. Having now read
it,
>I know that I should be using the Distiller.
>Fine and dandy, except I've already spent a while playing with it. Same
>results. When I turned off compression altogether, it printed well. No
dice
>otherwise, even after trying this morning's suggestions. I still can't get
>graphics (which look great on the screen even at max. magnification) to
>print smoothly. The graphics are 4-bit grayscale, or at least most of them
>are. In FM5, they're 150 dpi. In Distiller, I have resample set to 300.
>Automatic compression is set to ZIP/JPEG Low. Compatibility is set at 3.0.
>So as far as I can figure, there should be no loss on compression.
>I have a level 2 PS printer that's good to 1200 dpi, so I know it's not a
>printer problem. I got all the Acrobat stuff with Frame 5.5, so I know
it's
>the latest version. It must be a settings problem.
>I really don't want to have to buy a new keyboard--help!
>Mike