PStricks in PDF mode and PostScript feedback

[MicroPress Inc.]

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At 10:51 PM 12/2/98 +0100, you wrote:
>
>    Michael.Vulis> GeX currently works in the PDF output mode and supports
inclusion of
>    Michael.Vulis> encapsulated PostScript (.eps)
>    Michael.Vulis> as well as inline PostScript (PSTricks/PSFrag). 
>
>  Even if this concern only one TeX implementation, and a commercial one,
>it must be interesting for everybody here to have feedback on user
>experiments on PSTricks interaction (of course, questions and support must be
>asked directly to MicroPress, not here).
>
>  Obvioulsy, outside the non up to date online documentation, the lack of PDF 
>integration is probably the main weakness of PSTricks today (nevertheless,

The GeX was written mostly because I could not stand the 3-pass run-around
and wanted something quick to experiment with. PDF backend just happened
to be a very convenient shortcut since with it one  did not have to
re-implement most of the
graphics code in PostScript.

>even if this is rather painful for large documents, just don't forget that it
>is always possible to use the `pst-eps' conversion way, that I shown again
>recently for GIF or JPEG images generation, to generate PNG files from
>PSTricks diagrams, which can be directly inserted in a PDF document using for
>instance pdflatex. 

IMHO, it would be better just to go traditional tex+dvips+distiller route.
Bitmapped images are just too wasteful (while PSTricks usually generate
minimal ps code) and do not look good. Also, if you need to change the
pictures, you will have to rebuild the graphics files.

>On the other hand, I have up to now no idea of what allow
>the dvi to pdf converters).

An irrelevant historic note:
GeX started as a dvi->pdf converter; only when the code was generally
working it was moved to the TeX backend. One reason was that there is 
no point in having dvi->pdf converters: they really add nothing except for
an extra pass (still 2 passes are better than 3 in the tex->dvi->ps->pdf
model). 
The other was, of course, that no feedback is possible in the dvi->pdf
model, and this 
was the more interesting part.

On the other hand, there is no reason why PStricks cannot be supported
within the dvi->pdf
model. It is just a bad model to start with.

>
>   So, it is specially interesting to look at the evolutions in this
>direction, as the one proposed by MicroPress.
>
>D.G.

M.V.


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