[XeTeX] Problems printing PDF files in XeTeX

Bruno Voisin bvoisin at mac.com
Fri Oct 22 18:30:02 CEST 2004


Hello,

I have been having a problem printing a document containing **very 
big** PDF files with XeLaTeX, whereas the same input prints fine with 
pdfLaTeX. I have tried every solution I could think of, with no luck, 
and have spent almost two full days on the problem, just to print a 
couple of pages (not to mention close escape from getting mugged by 
other users of the printer); given the size of the files, every print 
attempt takes between 20 to 30 minutes. Now I'm giving up, and will 
switch back to pdfLaTeX to get this document out. Here's an account of 
the problem, in case that helps. I can't post sample files, as these 
are really big files, and I will be too short of time to investigate or 
report on the problem further anyway (now I need to work on the 
scientific content of the document, and the deadline is this Monday!).

So here it is. The document includes a number of PDF files, 11 of which 
are **big**. These are files converted from Adobe Illustrator EPS files 
between 40 and 50 Mb each. The Illustrator files are Mathematica EPS 3D 
plots, with annotations (axes labels, etc.) in Times Roman, Times 
Italic and Mathematica 4 Math1, imported into Illustrator 8 so as to 
add a bit more lettering (the only new font is Symbol), then saved back 
as EPS (asking for font inclusion). These files, upon conversion to PDF 
using GhostScript 8.13 (actually epstopdf), yield PDF files about 8 Mb 
each; using Panther (actually pstopdf) instead, they yield PDF files 
about 30 Mb each. I think the difference is mostly due to Panther's 
Distiller using no compression.

When producing the document (including the PDF files) with pdfLaTeX, I 
can use the GS-based PDF files and get an 80 Mb PDF output that prints 
fine.

Using XeLaTeX instead, I can't use the GS-based PDF files as these 
yield empty printed squares where the lettering should appear in all 
the graphics (either large or small). If I use the Panther-based PDF 
files instead, I get an 82 Mb PDF output (I assume xdv2pdf provides the 
PDF compression that Panther's Distiller omits) which prints fine, 
except the pages containing the big PDF files. Attempting to print 
these pages separately :

- If I use Adobe Reader, the PDF output of XeLaTeX displays fine. It 
prints completely, but the lettering is substituted in Courier.

- If I use Preview, I can print fine a page that contain one graphics 
only. If I attempt to print pages containing two graphics or more, I 
get no output. Asking for error report, I get (I hope I'll introduce no 
misprint, I'm typing from the printed error report):

> ERROR: timeout
> OFFENDING COMMAND: timeout
>
> STACK:
>
> if
> {/BBox load aload pop 2 index sub 3 index 3 -1 roll exch sub exch
> rectclip }
> known
> /BBox
> currentdict
> scs
> load
> /ColorSpace
> newpath
> gsave
> -mark-
> or
> eq
> 3
> exch
> eq
> 2
> dup
> dup
> load
> /ShadingType
> begin
> -mark-
> /sh
> false
> false
> false

I've no idea whether the error originates from a bug in the graphics, 
or in Panther, or in XeTeX. I'm giving up anyway, and report just in 
case that might help others.

Bruno Voisin



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