converting postscript graphs into pdf

[MMandler]

Usually, I save RATS graphs in .EPS format and include them in my LaTeX files. The postscript document
of my article was then converted into PDF format by the Adobe Acrobat. This used to work well
with the older RATS versions. However, with the recent RATS versions the conversion from EPS to pdf
with Adobe Acrobat does not work anymore. Event though the graphs look all right in the postscript documents
all text in the graphs appears just as a number of small boxes after I converted the file into a pdf document.

This problem is not caused by using LaTeX. I have tried converting an EPS graphics file directly into PDF format and
the problem is still there. I have also changed the fonts used in my RATS graphs before saving them in EPS
format but still the problem remains.

As attachements I have uploaded two example files. The first one is an EPS graphics file exported from RATS 8.0. The second one is the result after converting this into PDF format using the Acrobat Distiller.

Martin

[TomDoan]

I converted your file with both Distiller 7.1 and with epstopdf (which is what I use) and it seemed to work OK. What version of Distiller are you using?

[MMandler]

I tried Acrobat Distiller 8 on different computers to make sure that the problem is not related to any particular installations on my machine.

[moderator]

I tried converting your eps file using both Adobe InDesign and Acrobat Distiller X, and both worked fine. I'm guessing it is a font issue.

It appears that you used "Courier" as the font name. Assuming you are running on Windows, I believe the native font is actually Courier New (Courier is used on Macs), so you may need to specify Courier New rather than Courier.

If you want to test this, try the following:


all 10
set x = t
grparm(font="Courier-New") axislabelling 12
graph
# x

Then do File-Save As... and save the graph as an EPS file, and then convert the file to PDF. Let us know what happens. If you are still seeing the same problem, please post the new EPS and PDF files.

Thanks,
Tom Maycock
Estima

[MMandler]

I ran your example code but the problem is still there. I have attached the files.

As a workaround I found out that converting the .dvi file created by LaTeX into a .pdf file works.

Martin

[moderator]

I'm really not sure what else to suggest. If I take the test.txt file you provided and convert it to PDF using Distiller X on my system, the PDF is produced properly. You might want to experiment with other fonts?

[MMandler]

Yes, I will try other fonts.

Thanks,

Martin

[MMandler]

I have tried several other fonts. All the "standard" fonts like Arial, Courier, Times Roman etc. didn't work. The only fonts which worked were "Calibri" and "Symbols".

Martin

[moderator]

I'm not sure what to suggest. If it works with some fonts but not others, that sounds like some sort of issue with the fonts on your system or the Acrobat installation. The eps files generated by RATS should be more or less identical regardless of the font you select, with the only difference being the name of the font itself.

So, unless RATS was doing something weird with the way it inserted the font names, any problem with converting simple text characters properly in the PDF output would probably have to be an issue with something downstream of RATS (i.e. Acrobat or Latex, or the font setup on your computer). And given that the files you've sent translate properly when we do the conversion here, I would guess that RATS is getting the font names correct.

You might try downloading a trial version of Acrobat X to see if that produces any better result for you.

[MMandler]

I have had a more thorough look into the problem. It seems the issue is not confined to EPS graphics files created with RATS but the problem also shows up with graphs from other software, e.g. MATLAB. Collegues of mine at our department have also encountered the same issues so it does not seem to be caused by specifics of my installations. It also happens on both systems running Windows XP and Windows 7. Going back through my older pdfs it seems that everything was running fine until September last year.

One possibility is that the conversion problem is somehow related to German language versions of Windows after installing Windows system updates late last year. I will have our department's IT service look into the issue.

Regards,

Martin

[Aktar]

Hi,

For having .eps in a latex environment, the better way is to use package epstopdf.

\uspackage{epstopdf}

\includegraphics{graph1}

no need to call the extension.