Importing EPS Files

You’ll read it here and again in Chapter 30: if you want the cleanest possible form of data transfer, then turn to Encapsulated PostScript. End of discussion. For users of a PostScript printer, there is no safer way to transport graphic information than as an EPS file. There is no filtering or interpreting required by DRAW, because—and this is key—DRAW doesn’t even try. When you tell DRAW to import an EPS file, it says to itself, “Ah, an EPS file—good, I don’t have to try to digest all of that PostScript code. I’ll just read the bounding box information (the values that define the size of the graphic), drop the whole thing into a square of that size, and forget about it until it comes time to print. I see that the file has an embedded image for preview, so I’ll show that to the user.”

You’ll notice with your very first import of a Placeable EPS graphic that it looks different from the original object—it probably looks worse. And don’t bother reaching for the Ungroup command; this graphic cannot be ungrouped, taken apart, or edited in any way. Why? Again, DRAW’s EPS import filter doesn’t really apply a filter to translate all the PostScript code contained in the file. It just places it on the page (hence the name) and lets the printer worry about interpreting the actual code in the file.

Inquiring minds will want to know, therefore, if DRAW doesn’t try to read the file, how come it can display the image on screen? The image you see on the screen is a low-resolution, bitmapped rendition of the file’s contents. Sometimes DRAW can’t even show you that much—that depends upon the application that created the file and whether it has the capability of embedding a header or preview into the file. You might be met with nothing more than a gray box, showing you the area that the graphic will occupy. In either case—low-fidelity image or dull gray box—you can rest easy, knowing that the EPS file will print at the highest possible resolution of the output device.

The catch to all of this, of course, is that EPS graphics will only print to PostScript output devices. If you print a drawing that contains EPS graphics to a non-PostScript laser printer, the PostScript data will be ignored and the only thing that will print will be the image header...or the gray box.

Interpreted PostScript

Now here is the wrinkle that we mentioned earlier: in addition to the Placeable EPS format—where DRAW places the file on the page without trying to edit its components—DRAW offers another import choice called PostScript Interpreted. When using the PostScript Interpreted filter, DRAW will try to do what your printer does—interpret the data and construct the image, using DRAW’s native elements.

This becomes a sophisticated and ambitious undertaking for DRAW, as it effectively becomes a PostScript image processing engine to translate the language of PostScript into the language of DRAW. The program is a testament to the adage that when at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Early versions of the PostScript Interpreted filter were awful, with version 6 it became credible, and in versions 7 and 8, reliable and useful.

Figure 29.7 shows a chart produced in Microsoft PowerPoint, a program that does not have a simple Export As EPS command. Instead, we issued a print command, as if we were going to print to our PostScript laser printer, but instead instructed PowerPoint to direct all data to a file. We then took this file and imported it into DRAW, using the PostScript Interpreted filter.

FIGURE 29.7  Getting this chart into DRAW is not so easy in the absence of an export command in PowerPoint.

Unlike the conversation that DRAW had with itself with the EPS file, this one will be a bit more daunting: “Okay, I see a bunch of PostScript data. Uh-oh, this time that blasted user wants me to translate all of the data into objects, instead of just dropping the thing on the page. Okay, let me get my dictionary and thesaurus out and get to work. I’d better cancel all of my appointments for the next few hundred milliseconds because this will take all of my attention.”

The first thing DRAW does is ask if you would like it to convert text—as editable text or as curves that resemble the typeface. Translating text to curves carries a much better chance of successful replication of the appearance, but the text becomes uneditable. In this case, we chose text because we wanted to preserve the typefaces, or at least be able to edit it once in DRAW.

Our experience with this operation was typical: a bit of failure and a bit of success, the success ultimately prevailing. First off, the entire chart came into DRAW rotated 90 degrees. This was easily fixed with the rotation controls. But then we noticed that the text down the x-axis, set in a TrueType face, did not make the trip through PostScript. When we set it in a Type 1 face, it survived the trip...but it suffered from multiple-personality disorder.

Furthermore, the text along the bottom was out of position, as was the headline. Figure 29.8 shows the result, after we rotated everything.

FIGURE 29.8  Mixed results at the hands of Interpreted PostScript

Now, a perfect solution this is not. You can see the text out of whack, and the fountain-filled background is not really a fountain-filled rectangle. Instead, it is a series of long and thin rectangles, each one a hair lighter in color. This is not a mistake that DRAW made; that is exactly what the PostScript instructions said to do—create a bunch of razor-thin rectangles to produce the effect of a fountain fill. DRAW is not smart enough to say, “Those little rectangles make up a fountain fill, so instead I’ll create one big rectangle and apply a fountain fill to it.”

But you know what?—this wasn’t such a bad starting point for producing this chart in DRAW. The typefaces came across (once we made sure to use Type 1), the bars and the graph itself are correct, and the background is the right color. We were able to delete the duplicate text and reposition the headline in about three minutes. If you do not have an original file—if all you have is a PostScript file of an illustration—trying your luck with an Interpreted PostScript import is better than the alternative of creating it from scratch.

Adobe Acrobat PDF Format

DRAW 9 has enjoyed huge advances in this department—not surprising, seeing how it has developed a whole new engine for exporting PDF. We got sensational results with the chart from PowerPoint: text was text, the background was perfect (although still not a fountain fill), and there was no mirrored text or 90-degree rotations. We would show you a screen image of it, but instead just look at Figure 29.7, the original in PowerPoint. It looks exactly like that.

DRAW also offers a Placeable PDF import choice, which also yielded great results. We especially like the intermediate dialog offering us a choice of pages to import and a preview resolution.

If we didn’t say it enough in Chapter 28, we are so impressed with the robust and accurate support for handling PDF files, both incoming and outgoing.