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Subject:PDF and Fuzzy Graphics From:"Marie C. Paretti" <mparetti -at- RRINC -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 10 Feb 1998 13:59:43 -0500
I'm sending this to both lists since the topic comes up repeatedly in both
places; for those who read it twice, sorry for the duplication.
Rekha's question to the techwr-l list on fuzzy graphics in PDF files is
only the most recent in a long series of virtually identical posts on both
the FrameUsers and Techwr-L lists (Rekha -- that's not meant as a
criticism; your question is legitimate and one I'm in the process of
sorting through myself), and it's gotten me thinking of ways to compile all
this information.
Because I'm now to the point in my work where the quality of the PDF
graphics matters, I've been using my spare time in the last few days to
search the archives of both lists for all the relevant posts I know I
trashed a few weeks ago ;-<. And what I've discovered is that,
unfortunately, the archives are not easily searchable because 1) the
specific subject lines keep changing and don't always use keywords I'd
expect; and 2) searching on something as general as "graphics" brings up a
list of messages that would take me two weeks to sort through and still
won't get to everything. So, I browse the archives looking for relevant
info -- time-consuming and not particularly efficient (though I am now
convinced that Conrad Taylor is a PDF genius! ;->).
If someone (Conrad?) already has a FAQ or a nice summary on this topic that
I've missed, please let me know. And if anyone has ideas on disseminating
the collective wisdom on this topic, now's the time to come forward. On
the other hand, maybe I'm living in a dream world and in reality the
information is too application-specific to formulate a collective wisdom,
so the whole thing becomes a matter of trial and error for each job.
In my dream world, though, the FAQ would include:
- a list of the important variables (DTP/word processor, capture format,
resolution, Distiller settings, etc.)
- recommended screen capture programs, with advantages/disadvantages
- recommended capture formats, again with ads and disads
- recommended distiller settings
- things to consider when choosing among all the options listed for the
first three
Since all kinds of things play a role, there's no sure-fire formula here
that works for everyone. But it would be nice to have a compiled list of
who uses what combination with what applications and how they work.
I'd be willing to do the compiling if everyone sent me the info (don't do
it yet, though -- I don't want to be flooded with e-mail till we're sure
it's useful!), but I'm not sure what I'd do with it once I got it. Put all
the posts in a file and post it on a web site? Send the file out every
time someone asks the question? Print the file and use it to paper the
walls of my cubicle?
As I said, this may be a pipe dream, but since the question seems to come
up once a week or more, I'm hoping there's something we can do.
Marie
Marie C. Paretti
Recognition Research, Inc. (RRI)
1750 Pratt Drive, Suite 2000
Blacksburg, VA 24060
mparetti -at- rrinc -dot- com http://www.rrinc.com
