[OT] manipulating ps/eps/pdf (was: Re: saving plot images in arbitrary sizes.)

[Jonathan Stickel]

Dmitri A. Sergatskov wrote:
> general questions wrote:
>
> > Thanks for your advice,
> >
> > It seems that keeping my plots in ps format will be a
> > much better plan as they keep all the detail.  Now all
> > I need is a working script for converting them when
> > necessary.
<snip>
> To convert to pdf you can do ps2pdf.

In the past I have had considerable trouble converting and manipulating 
ps/eps/pdf graphics.  The basic tools available generally do a poor job. 
 For example, if you use ps2pdf on a gnuplot generated eps graphic, it 
generates a letter-size pdf with your graphic in the lower-left corner; 
not what I want!  Using ImageMagick's convert changes everything to 
bitmapped format, even if you convert ps->ps.

What I have found to work well for ps->eps and (e)ps->pdf is to import 
my graphic into xfig and then export it as the desired file type.  I've 
also recently discovered pstill (http://www.pstill.com/), but it's not 
free for commercial use.

For working with pdf files, I've found pdfcrop useful for cropping 
(http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/support/pdfcrop/).  To convert pdf->ps, 
 I've found that printing to a file works well.  If you need to crop it 
in the process, you can use Acrobat Reader's "graphic's select tool" and 
then "print selection".

Getting off topic, but I'd be glad to hear other people's tricks!

Jonathan



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