I'm trying the pdftk way and the first thing that I found out is, that $ pdftk input.pdf burst
produces the following error when input.pdf is a scribus 1.3.3.3 generated 1.4 pdf file: Internal Error: invalid top_outline_p in ReportOnPdf() has somebody any idea about that? thx & rg. michael Craig Ringer wrote: > Gregory Pittman wrote: >> Michael Petroni wrote: >>> The problem by placing the pdf inside an image frame is, that it is >>> automatically converted to a bitmap (settings seem to be the same as for >>> eps graphics in preferences, default 300dpi) by ghostscript. >>> >>> I'm planning to produce an ezine with contributed pages by other people >>> which I will receive as pdf files. By placing inside an image frame, all >>> text will be converted to bitmaps. This means not only loosing quality, >>> the text is not markable in the pdf reader in the final output pdf any more. >>> >> One of the things we keep seeing is an apparent obsession with the idea >> that: >> bitmap = bad >> vector graphics = good > > Yep, and while it's certainly not that black and white, ther's some > truth in it: > > - When targeting a press, bitmaps leave the RIP little leeway > for clever halftoning and other processes to ensure crisp > text; > - Bitmaps usually result in bigger files, which while rarely an > issue for sending to a press, can be a problem for online > publication; > - As noted earlier, when working with the electronic document, > you can't select a bitmap as text and copy it (you need an OCR > tool that understands PDF, and then the results are iffy > at best). > > So, overall, I do think output paths that avoid rasterising inputs in > favour of retaining the original form are preferable in most situations. > Not all, and it's never black and white, but more often than not I'd > rather not use a bitmap if I can include the original vector/mixed form. > >> If what you are trying to do is to take PDFs and disassemble-reassemble >> to a larger PDF, Scribus is not the right tool. Adobe Acrobat will do >> this, or you might try pdftk for a free program to do this job. > > Yep. Hopefully Scribus will be able to do it one day, though I've not > yet done much in that direction personally, but right now it's not the > way to go. HOWEVER, you can sometimes get good results by converting the > PDFs to EPS files, then using those in Scribus using the PostScript > output path and an external PS to PDF conversion tool. Unfortunately the > best results are obtained by the Save as EPS tool from Acrobat and > Adobe's Distiller (gs is pretty darn good for PS -> PDF, but not so > great for PDF -> EPS unfortunately). It's still worth a try if you > REALLY need to avoid bitmaps, but you'll run into a whole extra set of > issues, and there's no guarantee you'll retain editable text (nor any > guarantee about how much of the PDF might be rasterised during > conversion to EPS anyway). > > -- > Craig Ringer > _______________________________________________ > Scribus mailing list > Scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de > http://nashi.altmuehlnet.de/mailman/listinfo/scribus
