summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorSiep Kroonenberg <siepo@cybercomm.nl>2013-02-07 21:36:03 +0000
committerSiep Kroonenberg <siepo@cybercomm.nl>2013-02-07 21:36:03 +0000
commitcb3b7cca1b0b066646b30f90ba02f0e61c30dd13 (patch)
tree5c05c238a1d88a233b24f16b7938f47371e65ca5 /Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help
parentd4e04448079e0962ac0d665e41a7a50168c662a0 (diff)
Epspdf updated to 0.6
git-svn-id: svn://tug.org/texlive/trunk@29050 c570f23f-e606-0410-a88d-b1316a301751
Diffstat (limited to 'Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help')
-rw-r--r--Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help283
1 files changed, 135 insertions, 148 deletions
diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help b/Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help
index a1f71180989..9b43bc63c1b 100644
--- a/Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help
+++ b/Master/texmf-dist/scripts/epspdf/epspdf.help
@@ -1,15 +1,32 @@
Epspdf and epsdftk
******************
-This manual is for epspdf, version 0.5.3.
+This manual is for epspdf, version 0.6.0.
-Copyright (C) 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Siep Kroonenberg.
+Copyright (C) 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 Siep Kroonenberg.
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without
modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided
the copyright notice and this notice are preserved. This file is
offered as-is, without any warranty.
+What has changed?
+*****************
+
+Improvements:
+ * Grayscaling should now also work on bitmapped images.
+
+ * Revised multistep conversions, with less risk of losing high-level
+ structure
+
+ * Rewritten in TeXLua, which is a component of both TeX Live and of
+ MikTeX. Command-line use no longer requires an external scripting
+ language.
+
+I have been testing with Ghostscript version 9.05 and 9.06.
+
+For more details, see *note Version 0.6::.
+
1 Usage
*******
@@ -29,8 +46,7 @@ in the box in the upper part of the screen.
1.2 Viewing
===========
-The View button at the bottom of the screen calls an appropriate
-external viewer.
+The View button at the bottom of the screen calls an external viewer.
Windows and OS X: Epspdftk simply tries to use the default Open command.
@@ -43,26 +59,22 @@ for the current file.
1.3 Conversion options
======================
-Grayscaling: Simple color figures can be converted to grayscale.
-Bitmapped data won't be converted. If grayscaling doesn't work even on
-non-bitmapped data, select the "Try harder to grayscale" option. This
-may cause an extra pdf-PostScript roundtrip, but grayscaling may still
-fail.
+Grayscaling: Grayscaling is now done by Ghostscript itself and should
+"just work".
Compute tight boundingbox: This option is only available if a single
page is converted.
Page selection: The only possibilities are selecting a single page or
-selecting all pages. When converting to eps you are restricted to a
-single page.
+selecting all pages. Converting to eps implies selecting a single page.
For general PostScript files, there is no quick way to determine the
number of pages, so the program may not check beforehand whether you
picked an existing page. If you don't like that, convert the entire
document to pdf first - which will be done behind the scenes anyhow.
-Specifying options such as grayscaling or page selection may require
-several roundtrips between PostScript or eps and pdf.
+Specifying options such as grayscaling or page selection may require a
+multistep conversion.
1.4 Converting
==============
@@ -92,16 +104,26 @@ configured outside epspdf.
1.5.2 Options for converting to pdf
-----------------------------------
-Double-check the setting "Target use" under "Conversion to pdf". Choose
-"prepress" for pdfs which are target for commercial printing. This
-option will try to embed all fonts, among other things. Often,
-printshops insist on this. With luck, Ghostscript fonts and system
-fonts will be used for fonts which were not originally embedded.
+Double-check the setting "Target use" under "Conversion to pdf".
+"prepress" is for pdfs which are going to be printed commercially. The
+options prepress, printer and default will try to embed all fonts.
+Often, printshops insist on this. With luck, Ghostscript fonts and
+system fonts will be used for fonts which were not originally embedded.
On the other hand, you may prefer "screen" if file size is a concern.
See also the Ghostscript documentation, in particular Use.htm and
Ps2pdf.htm.
+Specifying anything other than "default" may cause an additional
+conversion step and possibly also loss of high-level structure.
+
+As to pdf versions: this is a trade-off between more features for higher
+versions and better compatibility for lower versions - although even
+version 1.4 is far from bleeding-edge. Converting to a lower version
+may lead to rasterization of vector data and (much) larger file sizes.
+For prepress use, the printshop or publisher may require a low version
+number but otherwise leave this at "default".
+
1.5.3 Options for converting to PostScript
------------------------------------------
@@ -110,41 +132,22 @@ is available. In this case, the conversion will be done by Ghostscript.
Characters may be converted to drawn shapes or little bitmaps so this
is not recommended if the file uses fonts.
-Under Windows, this is also the place to point the program to the
-location of pdftops.exe.
-
-1.5.4 Hires BoundingBox
------------------------
-
-Uncheck the option "Use hires boundingbox if possible" if your
-conversions come out slightly clipped. It has two effects:
- * When converting to pdf, it uses the standard rather than the hires
- boundingbox for page dimensions
-
- * When computing a boundingbox, it adds a small safety margin of 1pt
- to the standard boundingbox, except where it would make any
- boundingbox coordinate negative.
+Under Windows and MikTeX, this is also the place to point the program to
+the location of pdftops.exe.
2 Command-line usage
********************
-epspdf.rb is the backend of epspdftk, but it can also be used
+epspdf.tlu is the backend of epspdftk, but it can also be used
standalone. It shares configuration settings with epspdftk.tcl.
-Under Windows, is strongly recommended to invoke epspdf.rb via a
-wrapper script epspdf.bat on the search path, e.g.
- "PATH_TO_RUBY.EXE" "PATH_TO_EPSPDF.RB" %*
-
-The TeX Live package for epspdf already includes wrappers for Windows,
-both for epspdf and for epspdftk.
+Below, we assume that there is a suitable wrapper or symlink for epspdf
+on your searchpath. This is the case if you installed epspdf as a TeX
+Live package.
The first parameter of epspdftk is interpreted as startup directory for
the file browser.
-From version 0.5.2 on, there is no longer need for a wrapper script
-under Unix/Linux/Mac OS X; a symlink on the searchpath to the actual
-script suffices.
-
Basic usage:
epspdf [OPTIONS] INFILE OUTFILE
@@ -154,41 +157,31 @@ Basic usage:
Typing `epspdf --help' gives you the following summary:
$ epspdf --help
- Epspdf version 0.5.3
- Copyright (C) 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 Siep Kroonenberg
- Convert between [e]ps and pdf formats
- Usage: epspdf.rb [options] infile [outfile]
+ Epspdf version 0.6.0
+ Copyright (c) 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 Siep Kroonenberg
+ Convert between [e]ps and pdf formats
+ Usage: epspdf[.tlu] [options] infile [outfile]
Default for outfile is file.pdf if infile is file.eps or file.ps
Default for outfile is file.eps if infile is file.pdf
- -g, --gray, --grey Convert to grayscale;
- success not guaranteed
- -G, --GRAY, --GREY Try harder to convert to grayscale
- -p, --pagenumber=PAGENUMBER Page to be converted or selected
- -b, --bbox, --BoundingBox Compute tight boundingbox
- -n, --no-hires Don't use hires boundingbox
- -r, --hires Use hires boundingbox
- -T, --target=TARGET Target use of pdf; one of
- default, printer, prepress, screen, ebook
- -N, --pdfversion=PDFVERSION Pdf version to be generated
- -I Ignore pdftops even if available
- (default: use if available)
- -U Use pdftops if available
- (overrides previous -I setting)
- -C, --custom=CUSTOMOPTIONS Custom options for conversion to pdf,
- view Use.htm and ps2pdf.htm from
- the Ghostscript documentation set
- -P, --psoptions=PSOPTIONS Options for pdftops; default -level3,
- don't include -eps or page number options;
- these will be generated by the program
- -i, --info Info: display detected filetype
- -s Save (some) settings
- -d Debug: don't remove temp files
- --gui[=ACTION] Do not use; reserved for GUI
-
- -v, --version Prints version info
- -h, --help Show this message
+ -p, --page, --pagenumber PNUM
+ Page number; must be a positive integer
+ -g, --grey, --gray, -G, --GREY, --GRAY
+ Convert to grayscale
+ -b, --bbox, --BoundingBox
+ Compute tight boundingbox
+ -T, --target TARGET
+ One of screen, ebook, printer, prepress or default
+ -N, --pdfversion VERSION
+ One of 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 or default
+ -U Use pdftops if available
+ -I Reverses the above
+ -s, --save Save some settings to configuration file
+ -d Debug: do not remove temp files
+ -v, --version
+ Display version info and exit
+ -h, --help Display this help message and exit
3 Notes on PostScript and pdf
*****************************
@@ -224,17 +217,10 @@ resolution.
==================
When converting to pdf, Ghostscript handles font embedding differently
-depending on the "Target use" option. For prepress, it embeds even the
-standard fonts, including Times etc. Ghostscript has copies of these
-fonts in case the PostScript file doesn't have them. For screen, it
-doesn't embed standard fonts.
-
-You can embed fonts after the fact by converting pdf to eps or ps, and
-back to pdf, with target use set to "prepress". However, don't try this
-unless you have pdftops.
-
-If target use is set to "screen", then standard fonts will be removed
-instead of added. This option may also cause downsampling of bitmaps.
+depending on the "Target use" option. According to the Ghostscript
+documentation, it embeds all fonts without exception for prepress- and
+printer settings. Epspdf enforces this also for default settings. For
+screen- and ebook settings, standard fonts such as Times may be omitted.
3.3 Eps preview headers
=======================
@@ -252,14 +238,13 @@ file may have a mediabox, a trimbox and various other boxes. Ghostscript
by itself normally converts the PostScript page - which is anchored at
(0,0) - to the pdf mediabox.
-When epspdf or a similar program converts eps to pdf, it adds code to
-move the bottom left corner of the graphic to (0,0) and to set the page
-to the size of the graphic. Anything outside the boundingbox should be
-cut off.
+Conversion from eps to pdf usually translates the bottom-left corner to
+the (0,0) origin and sets the page to the size of the graphic. Anything
+outside the boundingbox should be cut off.
-Both Ghostscript and pdftops have some parameters for setting or using
-these boxes; consult Ps2pdf.htm from the Ghostscript documentation and
-"pdftops -help" or "man pdftops".
+I have seen Illustrator-generated pdf files with negative coordinates
+for the lower-left corner. However, this does not seem to cause
+problems.
3.5 Orientation
===============
@@ -267,26 +252,21 @@ these boxes; consult Ps2pdf.htm from the Ghostscript documentation and
There appears to be no reliable way to set orientation for PostScript-
and pdf files. This may result part of a graphic being cut off after
conversion or even everything falling outside the page / mediabox /
-boundingbox. It may help to change the extension from ".eps" to ".ps"
-before converting to pdf. In this case, let epspdf generate a new
boundingbox.
-3.6 Exporting PostScript from Windows programs
-==============================================
+3.6 Exporting PostScript or pdf from Windows programs
+=====================================================
-Often, the only way to get EPS or PostScript from a Windows program is
-by "printing" to a PostScript file. From some programs, you can print a
-selection. A suitable driver which comes with Windows is Generic / MS
-Publisher Imagesetter. Pay attention to the printer properties: choose
-"Outline" for font downloading and avoid the "Optimize for speed"
-setting for PostScript Output Option. Try e.g. "Archive" instead. These
-options can be found under the Advanced button.
+Microsoft Office 2010 can now export to pdf, either the entire document
+or a selection. This removes a major headache for Windows users.
- Other possibilities are the TpX and wmf2eps programs, which both have
-options to write clipboard contents to an emf file. Wmf2eps uses a
-printer driver in the background. For faithful conversion, pick
-wmf2eps; for subsequent editing, choose TpX. Both programs are
-available from `http://mirror.ctan.org/'.
+As a last resort, you can "print" to a PostScript file. From some
+programs, you can print a selection. A suitable driver which comes with
+Windows is Generic / MS Publisher Imagesetter. Pay attention to the
+printer properties: choose "Outline" for font downloading and avoid the
+"Optimize for speed" setting for PostScript Output Option. In my tests,
+"Encapsulated PostScript" did not look very promising either. Try e.g.
+"Archive" instead. These options can be found under the Advanced button.
4 Bitmapped graphics for LaTeX and pdflatex
*******************************************
@@ -311,13 +291,14 @@ _ImageMagick/convert_
_The GIMP_
This is the premier open source image editing program. It is often
pre-installed on Linux, and is also available for other platforms.
- The GIMP can save in eps format.
+ The GIMP can save in eps- and pdf format.
4.2 Mac OS X
============
Mac OS X's built-in Preview application can read most bitmapped formats
-and save them as .pdf, which epspdf can convert to .eps.
+and save them as pdf or PostScript. In fact, in many cases it is an
+excellent alternative to epspdf.
4.3 Windows
===========
@@ -331,49 +312,36 @@ sam2p is distributed with TeX Live (Windows only), bmeps both with TeX
Live and with MikTeX. Without the `-c' option, bmeps produces a
grayscale image. It produces larger files than sam2p.
-4.3.1 GUI use of sam2p and bmeps
---------------------------------
-
-Create a batchfile `bitmap2eps.bat' with contents
-sam2p "%~1" "%~dpn1.eps"
- (TeX Live) or
-bmeps -c "%~1" "%~dpn1.eps"
- (MikTeX) and place it _e.g._ on your desktop. Now if you drop a
-bitmapped graphic on this batchfile then you will get an eps file with
-the same name as the original, but with extension `.eps'.
+With TeX Live, you can convert to eps by right-clicking an image in
+Windows Explorer and "open" with _bitmap2eps_, which uses sam2p or
+bmeps in the background.
5 Troubleshooting
*****************
-5.1 Grayscaling fails
-=====================
-
-See above, under *note Grayscaling: gray. Epspdf is limited by what can
-be done by the backend tools, i.e. Ghostscript and pdftops. In
-particular, epspdf cannot grayscale bitmapped data.
-
-5.2 Part of the graphic gets cut off
+5.1 Part of the graphic gets cut off
====================================
-Things to try:
- * If the PostScript file was generated with the Windows PostScript
- driver, experiment with the PostScript Output option. Don't choose
- Optimize for Speed.
+If the PostScript file was generated with the Windows PostScript driver,
+experiment with the PostScript Output option. Don't choose Optimize for
+Speed.
+
+5.2 Fonts look ugly
+===================
- * Replace the extension with ".ps" and let epspdf generate a
- boundingbox.
+If Ghostscript has to do the conversion from pdf to ps then text may not
+remain text, but may be replaced by bitmaps. Try to get hold of a more
+recent Ghostscript and of either the xpdf suite or the Poppler
+utilities, both of which include pdftops.
- * Boundingbox calculations may be slightly inaccurate where text is
- involved. If just a sliver is cut off, let epspdf ignore the
- high-resolutuion boundingbox. Command-line option: "-n" or
- "-no-hires".
+5.3 The page has been converted to a bitmap
+===========================================
-5.3 Fonts look ugly
-===================
+This may happen if the page contains features such as transparency which
+are not supported by intermediate formats.
-If Ghostscript has to do the conversion from pdf to ps then text will
-not remain text, but will be replaced by drawn shapes or bitmaps. Try
-to get hold of the xpdf suite, which includes pdftops.
+Set pdf target use and target version both to "default" to avoid
+unnecessary conversions: `-T default -N default'
5.4 Resources for troubleshooting
=================================
@@ -387,9 +355,7 @@ a subdirectory epspdf of `%APPDATA%'. This APPDATA directory may be
prompt and type `echo %APPDATA%', which will produce this information.
The logfile lists all epspdf calls and all Ghostscript- and pdftops
-calls plus error information. "EPCallError" is probably a program
-error. 'EPSystemError" is more likely caused by a faulty file, but may
-be a program error as well.
+calls plus error information.
Temporary files. The temporary files may give clues as well. Uncheck
the button "Remove temp files", or for the command-line version, give a
@@ -404,7 +370,28 @@ file pdftops.txt in the distribution zip.
6 Change history
****************
-6.1 Version 0.5
+6.1 Version 0.6
+===============
+
+The command-line backend component has been rewritten in texlua and
+therefore no longer needs an external scripting language.
+
+Grayscaling is now done by Ghostscript's color options for pdf output.
+This also works for bitmaps.
+
+Croppping of pdfs is now accomplished by running luatex on a suitable
+wrapper file (same method as Heiko Oberdiek's pdfcrop). Such a
+conversion preserves advanced features which might otherwise get lost
+during a PostScript round-trip.
+
+I no longer own a Mac, and therefore no longer try to provide an
+AppleScript wrapper.
+
+The current version has no provisions for custom Ghostscript- or pdftops
+parameters. I may of may not re-add those in a future update. The
+corresponding command-line options are accepted but have no effect.
+
+6.2 Version 0.5
===============
The GUI has been rewritten in Tcl/Tk, removing the dependence on the
@@ -438,7 +425,7 @@ the desired pdf version.
The "-info" option now also prints the number of pages for pdf files.
-6.2 Version 0.4
+6.3 Version 0.4
===============
Hi-res boundingboxes are now supported. By default, conversion from eps