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Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 10:20 Tue 24 Feb 2015
by PhilW
djewesbury wrote:Does nobody use Distiller?
No, based on cost >£15/month, and all I would use it for is doc/ps to pdf. I use a freeware pdf printer driver for all document-as-pdf output needs; the only time I need to convert ps-to-pdf is for TPF placemats.
I believe the server-based version of distiller has now also been retired, though the functionality is part of a new (I assume) server-based package for enterprise called Livecycle, though I don't know what it costs.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 11:37 Tue 24 Feb 2015
by jdaw1
From the first page of the thread entitled
A Placemat Consistency Problem.
flash_uk wrote:Is there a way to have abovetitles text wrap upwards, so it would look like:
Gould
Campbell
Edit: hmmm...can't get it to look the way I intended. Imagine the "Gould" is a little indented and centred above the Campbell.
djewesbury wrote:But it would actually be a monumentally complicated alteration from what I understand and it would reduce the usability of a piece of software that is already minimally user friendly. And the effort required would not be commensurate with the use expected.
jdaw1 wrote:Not going to happen, for the reasons given. (It can be done, by inserting lots of complicated code into the parameter, but don’t do that.)
Can it? I thought I’d test.
Code: Select all
/Circlearrays [
[ [{(Campbell) StringWidthRecursive (Gould) StringWidthRecursive sub 2 div CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto} (Gould) {(Gould) StringWidthRecursive (Campbell) StringWidthRecursive add -2 div CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Campbell) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}] (1970) ]
[ [{0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto} (Quarles) {(Quarles) StringWidthRecursive (Harris) StringWidthRecursive add -2 div CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Harris) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}] (1970) ]
[ [{(Holdsworth) StringWidthRecursive (Tuke) StringWidthRecursive sub 2 div CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto} (Tuke) {(Tuke) StringWidthRecursive (Holdsworth) StringWidthRecursive add -2 div CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Holdsworth) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}] (1970) ]
[ [{0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto} (Ramos) {(Ramos) StringWidthRecursive (Pinto) StringWidthRecursive add -2 div CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Pinto) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}] (1970) ]
[ [{[(W) {-0.06 Kern} (oodhouse)] StringWidthRecursive (Smith) StringWidthRecursive sub 2 div CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto} (Smith) {(Smith) StringWidthRecursive [(W) {-0.06 Kern} (oodhouse)] StringWidthRecursive add -2 div CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} [(W) {-0.06 Kern} (oodhouse)] {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}] (1970) ]
] def
/TitlesTastingNotes [
[(Gould) {(Gould) StringWidthRecursive neg CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Campbell) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}]
[(Quarles) {(Quarles) StringWidthRecursive neg CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Harris) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}]
[(Tuke) {(Tuke) StringWidthRecursive neg CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Holdsworth) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}]
[(Ramos) {(Ramos) StringWidthRecursive neg CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} (Pinto) {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}]
[(Smith) {(Smith) StringWidthRecursive neg CurrentFontSize -0.875 mul rmoveto} [(W) {-0.06 Kern} (oodhouse)] {0 CurrentFontSize 0.4375 mul rmoveto}]
] def
/TitlesVoteRecorder TitlesTastingNotes def
/Titles [ Circlearrays {0 get} forall ] def
/Belowtitles [ Circlearrays length {()} repeat ] def
/Names [
(Test)
] def
/InlineTitles false def
Resulting in a
PDF, and images follow.
Summary: the
Titles and
Circlearrays can be made to work, albeit nastily.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 16:39 Tue 24 Feb 2015
by djewesbury
Yuck.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 17:24 Tue 24 Feb 2015
by flash_uk
Yuck for the circlearrays.
OK for the titles, but unlikely to be used often, as the shipper abbreviations are more often used in titles, and therefore wrapping is not required.
I guess it is too difficult for abovetitles?
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 17:29 Tue 24 Feb 2015
by djewesbury
PhilW wrote:djewesbury wrote:Does nobody use Distiller?
No, based on cost >£15/month, and all I would use it for is doc/ps to pdf. I use a freeware pdf printer driver for all document-as-pdf output needs; the only time I need to convert ps-to-pdf is for TPF placemats.
I believe the server-based version of distiller has now also been retired, though the functionality is part of a new (I assume) server-based package for enterprise called Livecycle, though I don't know what it costs.
Slightly tangentially (appropriate, I think, for a thread that is underpinned by the geometry of the circle), Adobe's ludicrous new pricing strategy means that we will stop using their products for our students. There are no bulk licences for the Cloud versions of Creative Suite, at least not in the numbers we'd need, and the cost of multiple individual licences is just astronomical. "How to make sure nobody uses your product: Part 1…"
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 00:56 Sun 29 Mar 2015
by jdaw1
The
placemat code allows the adding of an annotation to glasses (
GlassesAnnotations). After a blind tasting, should the placemat then be ‘changed’ to annotate what was what?
The ‘changed’ is in single quotation marks because such annotations would affect the digital file, but have no affect on a printout. So the changed file would print as did the pre-change file.
As an example, compare, for
the tasting on 26th March 2015, the
original placemat with an
annotated placemat. Is it worth the effort?
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 01:01 Sun 29 Mar 2015
by djewesbury
Sorry, where is the annotation?
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 01:06 Sun 29 Mar 2015
by jdaw1
djewesbury wrote:Sorry, where is the annotation?
The following are as seen in Preview 8.0 (859.7) on Yosemite 10.10.2.
Clicking on the black square reveals previously secret information.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 01:08 Sun 29 Mar 2015
by djewesbury
Not worth the effort.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 22:06 Sun 29 Mar 2015
by PhilW
jdaw1 wrote:The
placemat code allows the adding of an annotation to glasses (
GlassesAnnotations). After a blind tasting, should the placemat then be ‘changed’ to annotate what was what?
No. Final version of placemats is final version, including any errors. Scoresheet (including answers) is Scoresheet. Post-event update of placemats bad.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 22:53 Sun 29 Mar 2015
by jdaw1
PhilW wrote:jdaw1 wrote:The
placemat code allows the adding of an annotation to glasses (
GlassesAnnotations). After a blind tasting, should the placemat then be ‘changed’ to annotate what was what?
No. Final version of placemats is final version, including any errors. Scoresheet (including answers) is Scoresheet. Post-event update of placemats bad.
More dogmatic than me.
I agree that the version as-printed is inviolable. Must that be true of the digital version? That is, can digital-only non-printable annotations be added after the event? Phil is adamantly against. I am more relaxed. Others?
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 11:38 Tue 31 Mar 2015
by jdaw1
Just created: the
review thread for the Magnus tasting this evening. Normally what I would do is add a link to this to the
ExternalLinks parameter. But
PhilW: you said “Final version of placemats is final version”. Does that mean that I now can’t add the link to
ExternalLinks? Does that mean that if I’d done it before printing, it would have been OK, even thought it would not even slightly have affected the printing?
Such a position has a dogmatic logical consistency to it — but I want to check that is your position.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 20:09 Tue 31 Mar 2015
by PhilW
That is indeed my (dogmatic) position. With regard to placemat links, I put them in before the tasting; for the link to placemats themselves the intention is that I name the link YYMMDD_name_placemats.pdf and then leading up to the tasting I append version numbers, saving the last one (or each in turn) with the right name with no version appended. A similar practise to the way I manage software releases, with multiple candidates, but only one final release name.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 01:01 Sat 04 Apr 2015
by Glenn E.
I seem to have lost track of the alternate online PS to PDF converter that we (or at least I) have been using since ps2pdf.com starting having problems. Does anyone have a recommendation?
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 02:08 Sat 04 Apr 2015
by Glenn E.
I found online2pdf.com and believe that is the one that I used in January. Unfortunately, it is not able to process my most recent placemats either. (I also tried ps2pdf.com and received the 500 Internal Server Error that we've been seeing for some time now.)
My guess is that the placemats are growing too large. Online2pdf.com will still convert the placemats that I created in January, but those placemats were for 18 glasses on USL2 with simple Circlearrays, minimal Titles (the numbers 1-18), and no Belowtitles. The current placemats are for 20 glasses and have relatively lengthy Circlearrays, still fairly minimal Titles (years), and producers as Belowtitles.
I even went so far as to make a copy of the January placemats and simply replace Circlearrays, Titles, and Belowtitles with the new information. Online2pdf.com failed to convert it.
I've since tried trimming that test file down to 16 glasses (failed) and 12 glasses (failed). The original 18-glass January placemat still converts.
I am at a loss.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 10:22 Sat 04 Apr 2015
by jdaw1
Email it to me?
Email it to somebody with a, ahem, Mac, who could then open it in Preview and save as PDF?
Most, perhaps all, online PS→PDF converters use Ghostscript. Install
Ghostscript?
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 23:01 Sat 04 Apr 2015
by jdaw1
A few minutes ago
online2pdf.com/convert-ps-to-pdf was tested to reproduce the
placemats used on 2nd March. It worked well, quickly producing a 114-page PDF (in which
Harrington and
LucidaSans were replaced with Courier). So WFM.
Glenn E. wrote:My guess is that the placemats are growing too large.
Unlikely to be the problem. Consider …EBKAC.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 04:47 Sun 05 Apr 2015
by Glenn E.
I sent the .ps file to a friend who has GhostScript installed locally, and he was able to generate the .pdf for me. It took 17 minutes, which explains why an online service would abort. The online service probably thinks that the conversion is caught in an infinite loop or something.
I'll email you the .ps so that you can take a look if you so choose. I'll also be downloading and installing GhostScript myself, which I did briefly this weekend but couldn't quickly figure out how to use it so resorted to asking a friend for help.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 09:37 Sun 05 Apr 2015
by jdaw1
Glenn E. wrote:I sent the .ps file to a friend who has GhostScript installed locally, and he was able to generate the .pdf for me. It took 17 minutes, which explains why an online service would abort. The online service probably thinks that the conversion is caught in an infinite loop or something.
That might be the answer. Using Distiller 8 the two .ps files you sent me took 12 seconds and 8 seconds.
Perhaps the recent change of default value of
InlineTitles is the problem. That’s a shame. Try
/InlineTitles false def.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 10:20 Sun 05 Apr 2015
by PhilW
I tried ghostscript under windows a few years ago, mostly just because I needed to view some .ps files rather than convert them, but found it fairly unfriendly, so decided to try again and see where things are at now.
- Ghostscript installed no problem
- To use ps2pdf, you have to run their batch file (from a Windows Command Prompt) referencing the full path, i.e. in my case "C:\Program Files\gs\gs9.16\lib\ps2pdf" with input and output files as parameters.
- This also requires the gs\gs9.16\bin directory to be added to your path, manually (not done by installer), to access the underlying gswin64.exe core binary executable called by the scripts
- This worked for processing a relatively simple tasting notes .ps (the Martinez vertical) but failed catastrophically with no error message on a more complex one (the Warre/Fonseca tasting)
Overall, non-trivial for users (since have to set paths manually, and run long directory-linked paths on the command line; both of these could be addressed simply with another script); clearly works to some extent; whether the failure to parse more complex postscript could be addressed by some control parameters modifications or other means is TBD.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 14:54 Sun 05 Apr 2015
by jdaw1
jdaw1 wrote:Glenn E. wrote:I sent the .ps file to a friend who has GhostScript installed locally, and he was able to generate the .pdf for me. It took 17 minutes, which explains why an online service would abort. The online service probably thinks that the conversion is caught in an infinite loop or something.
That might be the answer. Using Distiller 8 the two .ps files you sent me took 12 seconds and 8 seconds.
Thank you Glenn: you have found the problem. Changing one line to
/InlineTitles false def makes it work in both
PS2PDF.com and
online2pdf.com.
Default parameters will be reverted this evening, and cautionary words added to the manual.
Edit: I’ve had other troubles with
/Helvetica-Bold. Maybe the font is somehow misformed? Perhaps the default value of
TitlesFont should be one of the CMU fonts. Suggestions? Ideally widely available and included with Ghostscript as standard, bold or demi-bold, not italic, not oblique, condensed or demi-condensed, lining figures, and with all of CkDFGKNOSTVW0123456789 resting on the baseline and having the same height.
Edit edit:
/TimesNewRomanPS-BoldMT worked on
online2pdf.com but not on
PS2PDF.com. Sigh. Two different problems.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 22:48 Sun 05 Apr 2015
by jdaw1
jdaw1 wrote:Default parameters will be reverted this evening, and cautionary words added to the manual.
This evening has been postponed. Investigations underway. But,
pro tem,
/InlineTitles false def seems to work.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 06:19 Mon 06 Apr 2015
by Glenn E.
It does indeed. My friend performed the test on his system and the conversion time dropped from 1017 seconds to 1.053 seconds. ~1000x improvement.
I plan to start using GhostScript locally, but agree that InlineTitles should be false by default.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 06:22 Mon 06 Apr 2015
by Glenn E.
Also, my friend said he was able to pinpoint the slowness to the generation of the circle arrays. He said that once the circles were done that everything else completed very quickly. I think he was using a built in GhostScript previewer of some sort.
Re: Software that makes placemats
Posted: 14:24 Mon 06 Apr 2015
by jdaw1
jdaw1 wrote:Default parameters will be reverted this evening, and cautionary words added to the manual.
Done.