CHAT: OFF-TOPIC: Re: Handwriting (was: Re: CHAT: Coming out of the conlang closet)

On Tue, 2002-06-04 at 21:02, Christophe Grandsire wrote:
> En réponse à Tristan McLeay <kesuari@...>:
>
> >
> > I don't know if it's your fault or mine, but whenever I convert
> > PostScript files from you into PDFs (or get PDFs from you), they look
> > really rather dodgy, even though PS files I generate from LaTeX
> > sources
> > come out nicely nicely. So would I be able to steal the sources off
> > you
> > and generate my own PDFs? (I dislike the interfaces of all the PS
> > viewers out there that I've used, much preferring Adobe's
> > (proprietary)
> > Acrobat 4 for Linux's.)
> >
> > (I imagine the problem is that your computer doesn't have Type 1 PS
> > fonts accessible by the LaTeX-to-PS driver.)
>
> Well, I don't know about that. What do you use to convert your files? dvipdfm?
(I'm not sure if this was addressed to me because although the language
was, some of the content doesn't seem to be. I'll respond anyway
assuming it was.)

I was talking about converting his PS to a PDF, a task which dvipdfm
doesn't do. I simply converted his PS to a PDF by typing 'ps2pdf
grammar.ps'; this normally results in an on-screen readable PDF unless
the original PS was created with Type3 PS fonts, in which case it's
acceptible for printing but not for on-screen viewing.

dvipdfm would be used for converting DVIs to PDFs.

> Indeed if you lack Type 1 fonts it's likely to do a bad job. That's why I use
> PDF995. It can work from any format (in fact, the only thing it does is to add
> a new printer that will make the PDF files, so you can use it from any
> application that can print), makes a great job in embedding fonts (although
> I'll have to add a few more correspondences. But since I don't know exactly
> what fonts I have on my computer, nor what which ones are Acrobat fonts, which
> ones are Type 1 and which ones are TTF, it's difficult :)) ), and is not too
> bad when everything else has failed :)) . The PDF I made from H. S. Teoh's
> grammar file is not extraordinary, but its quality is quite acceptable and it
> doesn't look dodgy at all :)) . For a free product it makes quite a good job.
From the description, it sounds like it's A Windows Thing ('add[s] a new
printer'), which makes it completely useless to me (at least, seeing as
I didn't notice a URI in your previous email pointing to a version you
created---which you are by no means obliged to do, and I don't for a
minute wish to imply that---which means I can't view it's output).

Also, being an Open Source Type Person, I prefer to convert PDFs from
TeX/LaTeX/ConTeXt etc. sources than use someone else's supplied
PSs/PDFs. For example, it means I can use A4 paper rather than 11x8.5"
paper. Not that it really matters most of the time, but for things over
ten pages, I like to print them out and read them on paper. Easier on
the eyes (11x8.5" works on A4, true enough, but it's off-centre and
ruins the whole reason TeX was invented in the first place).

Tristan

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