[texhax] Achieving the optimum quality of rendering

[William Adams]

On Mar 3, 2014, at 11:20 PM, William F Hammond wrote:

> For pdf output I think it's a bit more complicated than that.
> 
> It depends on what is the original format for the image.  You
> want both the image used for pdf output and the image used for
> dvi output to be as close as possible to the original image.
> 
> For example, if the original is eps, then "epstopdf" (found on
> CTAN or in many TeX distributions) will make good pdf for use
> with \includegraphics toward pdf output.
> 
> But if the original image is png or jpeg, then
> \includegraphics will use that with pdflatex (so long as no
> pdf file with the same stem name is present).  

That's why I said:

>> there's no reason not to just make good quality
>> .pdf files for inclusion into your pages

A .pdf will be included and won't have its quality diminished by inclusion into a .pdf generated directly by pdflatex.

It's more efficient, it's more direct, it's simpler and it's elegant (in the sense of scientific correctness).

When you make a .pdf from a pixel file, set the compression appropriate to the file's content --- that's part and parcel of making ``a good quality file''.

When you make a .pdf from a vector image, ensure that the vectors / Bézier curves are preserved (and that the image is not converted into a pixel file)  --- that's part and parcel of making ``a good quality file''.

&c.

William


-- 
William Adams
senior graphic designer
Fry Communications
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.