Re: Scripting Newbie
Re: Scripting Newbie
- Subject: Re: Scripting Newbie
- From: Bryan <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 11:44:14 -0400
- Organization: Apex Radiology
Yes, I have seen some .gifs get pixellated by the PDF Writer.
(PDF Printer is not from Adobe BTW)
Usually Pixellation occurs during scaling.
Bryan Kaufman
has wrote:
>
Bryan/Paul,
>
>
IIRC, somewhere in the Adobe manual it says that PDF Printer isn't
>
recommended for use on complex documents such as DTP files and that you
>
should use Distiller for these. This is based on memory, mind you, so you'd
>
best double-check the manuals yourselves. But I'm pretty sure about it.
>
>
At my last job there we once had big problems with artwork going jagged in
>
a batch of (supplied) PDF files. Worse, we only spotted this *after* the
>
job had come back from press; it wasn't obvious on our own lasers (which
>
are only 600dpi, after all) and got missed (ouchie) on the printer's
>
proofs. Having done a fairly hasty post-mortem at the time, I was pretty
>
sure the problem was due to them being output via PDF Printer instead of
>
Distiller (though I never got round to proving for certain).
>
>
IMHO, take care and test thoroughly if you do intend to use PDF Printer for
>
more than just Word files, or else just stick with Distiller. If you want a
>
desktop printer you can use for making pdfs via Distiller, use the desktop
>
printer utility to create one and set it up accordingly.
>
>
Paul,
>
>
I can't tell you if there's any way within PM6.5's scripting language to do
>
anything PDF-related (I know PM6 didn't, but v6.5 is more advanced).
>
>
PM6 had a copy of the scripting language guide on the installer CD, so if
>
you're got an old v6 CD you can use v6's scripting guide for a lot of
>
stuff; if not, you'll really need the book.
>
>
There's also a few sites on the web which cover PM's scripting system that
>
you might find of use. Here's some links:
>
>
http://www.hhansen.com/pmscripting/index.html
>
http://www.oz.net/~vsamarsk/PageMakerScripting.htm
>
http://www.svprint.com/pmscripting_folder/scripts_folder/as_scripts.html
>
>
In PM6 you could get various values and do a whole load of things (set
>
print settings, create text boxes, import text/graphics, etc); in 6.5 you
>
could do quite a bit more (though I never got that far; I just used a
>
combination of PM6-style scripting and AppleScript to get me by).
>
>
The good news about PM's (modest) AS support is that it allows you to run
>
PM scripts from an Applescript. I can't remember exactly how you write it,
>
but it's something like:
>
>
tell application "PageMaker"
>
do script "your PM script here"
>
end tell
>
>
Of course, since the PM script here is just a string, you can manipulate
>
that string any way you like within AS before you pass it to PageMaker.
>
>
Example:
>
>
Back at that last job again, I once wrote a set of AS scripts that would
>
output sample pages from our PM files, converting them to pdf for online
>
distribution. I had one script which would rattle through a folder full of
>
aliases to PM files, open each in PM, then set up a PM script containing
>
suitable print settings and send that script to PM. Then I batch-distilled
>
the ps files it put out to get my pdfs. Finally I had another script open
>
each pdf file in Acrobat and add a cover page (these were generated by a
>
third script using content from a products database and PM templates). All
>
very nice.
>
>
Now the bad news: before leaving that job I deleted the lot and wrote them
>
a manual on how to do the same job by hand instead. Gah. Whilst it all
>
looked great on paper, in that particular situation it didn't work nearly
>
as well in practice. Too many publications were just too crusty for an
>
automated solution to cope with: hoary old PM5 files, jobs made up of
>
multiple PM files (euwww), files containing PICTs (which are a disaster to
>
distill). Oh, and just about every file used different fonts (there was no
>
ATM set up to load them automatically as needed, and if I'd tried to
>
install them all beforehand it would have broken the MacOS). Yuk. In
>
hindsight I shouldn't even have bothered.
>
>
OTOH, had all the files had been in good nick and ATM installed it would
>
have worked like an absolute *charm*. Plus it'd still be going strong
>
today. (And I could've gotten you a copy too. Darn.)
>
>
Comments:
>
>
You may well be quickest to use PageMaker to print all your PM documents as
>
postscript files first without messing with any meta-information at this
>
stage (go away and make a looong cup of tea instead). Then run those
>
through Distiller as a batch job (another looong cup of tea) and, once
>
that's done, use Acrobat (the full version, assuming you've got it) to set
>
the meta-information in each file; you'll find it under File>Document
>
Info>General. (This last stage should be the fastest of the three - it's
>
the waiting for stuff to print to file and distill that's the slowest.)
>
>
Now, it's that first step which is the kicker (see my example above).
>
However, if your files are all in good order, fonts are all taken care of
>
and will all use the same print settings, then scripting the process should
>
be a practical option for you and is worth trying to do (either by using a
>
PM6.5 script or using a combination of PM and AS scripting if PM6.5 can't
>
do it alone). If not, you'll proably be best gritting your teeth, making
>
some very strong coffee and doing it all manually.
>
>
Hope that helps.
>
>
has
>
_______________________________________________
>
applescript-users mailing list
>
email@hidden
>
http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/applescript-users
[demime 0.98b removed an attachment of type text/x-vcard which had a name of bryan.vcf]