Re: PDF graphic nightmare

[David Knopf <david -at- KNOPF -dot- COM>]

Tom et. al.,

Most of the problems I've seen with degraded image quality in PDFs result
directly from the three "downsampling" options on the Compression tab in
Distiller's Job Options dialog box. You mention you fiddled with the
settings, but I wonder if you disables these three settings. If not, I
suggest giving that a try.

If you still end up with degraded results in the PDFs, try not scaling the
graphics after you paste them into Word. I'm not sure what razzmadazz stuff
Word 8 does with scaled bitmaps.

Also, are you using the Adobe PS driver on the system you use to generate
the PDFs?

You mention that the text appearance could be better. In my experience,
you'll get the best looking text if you use use only PostScript fonts (no
TrueType). Usually, you'll want to enable "embed all fonts" since most
readers (at least for our projects) don't have too many PostScript fonts
installed!

I don't know of a PDF FAQ (though I'd bet there is one), but there is a news
group. It's comp.text.pdf.

Hope this helps ...

David Knopf
Knopf Online
Tel: 415-820-2356
E-mail: mailto:david -at- knopf -dot- com
Web: http://www.knopf.com

Writing * WinHelp * Web Sites * Training * Consulting
RoboHELP Certified Trainer * RoboHELP Certified Consultant

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues
> [mailto:TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU]On Behalf Of Tom Herme
> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 1998 5:21 AM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: PDF graphic nightmare
>
>
> Fellow Techwhirlers:
>
> My questions are lower in this post, first here's the situation.
>
> I have many bitmapped screen captures in my software manual developed
> using Word 8 (Word 97) that appear just fine on screen and when printed.
> However they appear degraded (both on screen and when printed) after I
> write to Acrobat PDF. By the way, the PDF'd text is acceptable but could
> be better. I attempted to use Distiller but receive the same results
> even when I fiddle with all the settings for resolution, compression,
> etc.
>
> The bulk of the screen captures were developed using these tools and
> this process:
> My display settings are 800 X 600, 256 color. I do a Alt + Print Scrn
> into RoboHELP 4.0's screen capture tool where I clip the image I want to
> use. I then copy/paste into Word 8 (Word 97) and scale as necessary.
> Occasionally I paste the image into Visio 4.0 where I will attach
> callouts prior to pasting into Word and scaling. The callouts appear
> very crisp and sharp, something for which I have no explanation, unless
> the callouts are actually another graphic format.
>
> My questions are these:
>
> (1.)  Has anyone succeeded in making such images as I describe above
> appear clearly in a PDF file, using either PDF Writer or Distiller? If
> so, how did you do it?
>
> (2.) Do I need to redo all screen captures in 600 X 480 at 16 color?
> Would the resulting images in PDF files appear clearer?
>
> (3.) Is there a PDF FAQ somewhere that provides definitive directions
> for working with these graphics?
>
> In searching for solutions to this problem, I find that I'm not alone.
> Many others have these problems. If this is a problem with Adobe, I'd
> like to know. Otherwise if any of you have a usable process, I'd
> appreciate knowing what that is.
>
> Please respond on list and not to me personally. I'm sure there are
> others who would like to see responses.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
> Tom Herme