Math & Science ⇒ ps2dpf too-fat lines in equations

[silvie1072]

Hello all,

I am new to this forums and not all that knowledgeable with Latex in general.
(Edit: sorry, this should probably be moved to the conversion tools section..)

I am about to turn in my PhD, and I need to submit a pdf (with embedded fonts).
I am using WinEdt (v 5.5) with Miktex (2.7) on Windows Vista w/ Cygwin, and have previously generated all my pdfs with dvi2pdf.

Since I need to embed the fonts for my final pdf, I now need to use ps2pdf.

That is where the problem arises:
The ps file looks fine but in the pdf I now have some fractions and even tables where certain lines appear too fat. Not in all equations, just randomly as it seems.
The file seems to print fine, but I need the electronic version to look ok as well.

Instead of ps2pdf with WinEdt I tried to use Adobe Distiller, GSview convert; always the same issue.
I would try pdflatex but all my figures are eps so that's not really an option at this point.
Any help or pointers would be VERY much appreciated!
Thanks so much!

[shadgrind]

See if these options to ps2pdf make a difference:

Code: Select all

ps2pdf -dMaxSubsetPct=100 -dSubsetFonts=true -dEmbedAllFonts=true -dPDFSETTINGS=/printer

[silvie1072]

Thank you for the reply.
I will try using ps2pdf on command line with these commands and see if that makes a difference.

In winEdt, I am already using
-dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=pdfwrite -r600 -dCompatibilityLevel=1.4 -dPDFSETTINGS=/printer -dMaxSubsetPct=100 -dSubsetFonts=true -dEmbedAllFonts=true

in the ps2pdf switches. The embedding is not an issue, that works fine with the ps2pdf, but then the lines in the equations get messed up.

[frabjous]

The TeXlive 2010 version of pdflatex will take eps files, as will XeLaTeX.

Earlier versions will take eps files if you use the epstopdf package.

You can also convert through the epstopdf command line program.

Might be worth a shot if nothing else works.

What viewer are you using, out of curiousity? Does the defect persist if you zoom in or out?

[silvie1072]

Thank you for the reply!

I tried the epstopdf, seems to not want to convert my files, it just hangs;
(Edit: It just worked on a smaller graphic file. Most of my eps are quite large, but I'll keep trying. It definitely does not work "on the fly" with WindEdt or even command line.)

I may try the newer options you mentioned.

Yes, the problem persists when I zoom in, I previously used Acrobat Reader and now a trial of Adobe Professional 9 to view the pdfs.

Thanks.

[silvie1072]

I tried using epstopdf with pdflatex and the lines in the equations now look better, BUT the figure quality is not as good as with the original eps files.

Is that issue solved for the TeXlive 2010 or XeLaTeX you mentioned?

And I looked at the pdfs side by side, the issue with the fat lines definitely remains upon zooming in - at least in some cases (in others it seems to disappear around zoom level 600%) - it seems a very odd issue.

I think I read something somewhere about 'an issue with rasterization of lines"..?

The pdflatex takes care of it but lowers my figure resolution with epstopdf, not an option really..

[frabjous]

I could be wrong, but I think TeXlive 2010 basically works the same as the epstopdf package does; it’s more or less as if epstopdf is automatically called if needed.

I don’t know how XeLaTeX works.

My experience with this stuff is basically nil, but rasterization shouldn’t shouldn’t be an issue with vector graphics. How were your original eps file created? Do they contain raster graphics or vector graphics? If they’re raster graphics, you might have better luck converting to a raster format like jpg or png instead (using ImageMagick or the GIMP or whatever). If they’re vector graphics I don’t know what the issue would be, since epstopdf keeps vectors as vectors and doesn’t rasterize them. The concept of “resolution” doesn’t even apply to vector graphics.

Is the quality worse when printed too? If it’s just a screen thing, then it’s probably just an issue of the way Adobe’s PDF software handles anti-aliasing. You might try some other PDF software (SumatraPDF, FoxIt, GhostView, PDF-XChange, Google Docs, etc.) and see if the differences remain.

[silvie1072]

Thanks for the mention about the viewers. Using Ghostview to view the pdf it looks great, Google Docs has the same issue as Adobe.

I am worried that the document won't make it past the dissertation editor with this problem, since the more common viewers seem to have the issue.

The figures are vector graphics, I'll have to see if the conversion is only a viewing issue but it appears that I lose resolution using epstopdf; viewing with GSview 4.9 the lines look fine for the ps2pdf but the figures done with epstopdf are lower resolution than the ones I produce using ps2pdf...

[CrazyHorse]

Thanks for the mention about the viewers. Using Ghostview to view the pdf it looks great, Google Docs has the same issue as Adobe.

I am worried that the document won't make it past the dissertation editor with this problem, since the more common viewers seem to have the issue.

The figures are vector graphics, I'll have to see if the conversion is only a viewing issue but it appears that I lose resolution using epstopdf; viewing with GSview 4.9 the lines look fine for the ps2pdf but the figures done with epstopdf are lower resolution than the ones I produce using ps2pdf...

the one and only criteria is to print the pdf ...

Herbert

[frabjous]

The figures are vector graphics, I'll have to see if the conversion is only a viewing issue but it appears that I lose resolution using epstopdf; viewing with GSview 4.9 the lines look fine for the ps2pdf but the figures done with epstopdf are lower resolution than the ones I produce using ps2pdf...

Again, the concept of resolution doesn't apply to vector graphics, so I can't understand what you mean. Are you suggesting that epstopdf is converting your vector graphics to something rasterized? It shouldn't.

Can you upload one of these files here; or create a fake one with the same problem?