[XeTeX] PDF files only sporadically included

[Jonathan Kew]

On 26 Feb 2008, at 7:37 am, Dominic Yu wrote:

> Dear all,
>
> I am at my wit's end and was hoping someone out there could help...
>
> I've found that some of my pdf's get included properly, but others
> look like they going to be (while xdvipdfmx is doing its thing), but
> then there's a huge blank space where the image is supposed to be.
> It's the right size, it's just completely blank.
>
> In other words, "good.pdf" gets included, but "bad.pdf" gives a blank
> space. The two files are not really that different from each other...
> they're both the same pdf version (1.3), and both Apple Preview and
> Acrobat display them, no problem.
>
> Is there any reason why some pdf files are better for inclusion  
> than others?
>
> I think the problem is in the pdf file, but here's my test latex  
> code anyway:
>
> %!TEX TS-program = xelatex
> \documentclass[12pt]{article}
> \usepackage{fontspec}
> \setmainfont{Times Roman}
> \begin{document}
> hello
>
> \XeTeXpdffile "pdf/1234.pdf" width \textwidth
>
> hello again
> \end{document}

My usual guess would be that the "bad" PDF is a newer version than  
xdvipdfmx can handle (unless you adjust its configuration), but you  
say they're both 1.3, which should be fine.

Can you provide a (small) example of a PDF that fails?

JK