[pdftex] User Comments

[Ross Moore]

Hello Richard,

On 16/09/2005, at 7:12 AM, Richard J Smith wrote:

> 1.    Please read pdftexlt.pdf first.
>
> 2.    My first comment in pdftexlt.pdf deals with adding a comment  
> to the pdftex manual relating to unexpected graphics rotation  
> during conversion of ps to pdf graphic images.

This is a known "feature" in Ghostscript.
For some time now it has had some  auto-rotate  coding that seems to  
be used
by default.

There are various ways to turn this off;  e.g. by including the switch
    -dAutoRotatePages=/None
within the command to call  gs  (i.e. Ghostscript) in whatever script
or batch-command you are using.

>
> 3.    The second comment has to do with some seemingly anomalous  
> behaviour of pdftex.

If by this you mean the extra space beneath an image converted  
from .ps ,
then again the culprit is Ghostscript, or the way in which you are  
using it.

There are several different kinds of Box (e.g. /MediaBox , /ArtBox , / 
CropBox ,
etc.) that can be specified for a PDF document, such as a single image.
When a file is converted from .eps or .ps it is not always clear  
which of these,
if any, will be set with the  %%BoundingBox  info.
  pdfTeX  just includes the graphic, using whatever Box information  
it finds.
When that information is actually not reliable, you can see bad results
and wrongfully attribute it to  pdfTeX  rather than to an earlier  
process.


In my experience it is usual to check every PDF graphic for the  
desirability
of cropping away excess white-space, before trying to use it within a  
LaTeX
document. This is just a one-time check that can be done after the  
conversion.
Various tools exist to do the cropping, should an image need it.


>
> Richard Smith


Hope this helps,

     Ross Moore


>
> R. J. Smith
> 2159 Country Club Blvd.
> Ames
> Iowa 50014
>
> Tel.  515-292-9295
> FAX   515-294-2255
> rjsmith at iastate.edu
> <pdf.pdf>
> <pdftexlt.pdf>
> <dvi_ps_pdf.pdf>
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross Moore                                         ross at maths.mq.edu.au
Mathematics Department                             office: E7A-419
Macquarie University                               tel: +61 +2 9850 8955
Sydney, Australia  2109                            fax: +61 +2 9850 8114
------------------------------------------------------------------------