On 21/07/2009, at 1:06 AM, John Beardmore wrote:
> Peter Nermander wrote: > >>> But the whole point about OSS software is that it is accessible to >>> people who haven't had to spend thousands of dollars on software >>> with >>> training on top. >> I haven't spent any money at all learning DTP, I have learned >> everything from free online sources. > > Me too... > > >> And learning about how to produce "optimized" PDFs is very easy, >> there >> are hundreds of pages on the web talking about different issues about >> PDF creation. > > ...but I don't think that the fact that it's possible to trawl the > net to find out how to do things should stop us giving software > sensible defaults, or give a warning when a PDF files does not > contain all the components needed to view it. > > >>> I would have though it sensible to default to embedding all fonts, >>> giving notices that >> The number one complaint about PDFs on this list is that they are to >> big. People want small PDFs. Embedding fonts always makes the PDF >> bigger. That is why all PDF generation software require that you >> explicitly state if you want to embed fonts. For example if you are >> distributing PDFs within and organisation where you know all >> computers >> have the same font, it would be a huge waste of space to always embed >> all fonts. > > Yes - there may be circumstances where you can be sure that the > recipient has all the fonts you need, but I'm not sure that for the > bulk of uses of PDF files that it's a good assumption. > > Not much use having a small fontless PDF if the recipient can't read > it ! Exactly! The "P" in PDF stands for Portable. Documents aren't portable if they can't be viewed. > > What fonts can you guarantee all recipients will have ? Possibly only the 'Helvetica' and 'Courier' families. I'm not even sure about both of those across all platforms. Cheers, Andrew > > > Cheers, J/. > -- > John Beardmore, MSc EDM (Open), B.A. Chem (Oxon), CMIOSH, AIEMA, MEI > Managing Director, T4 Sustainability Limited. http://www.T4sLtd.co.uk/ > Energy Audit, Carbon Management, Design Advice, Sustainable Energy > Consultancy and Installation, Carbon Trust Standard Registered > Assessor > Phone: 0845 4561332 Mobile: 07785 563116 Skype: t4sustainability > > _______________________________________________ > scribus mailing list > scribus at lists.scribus.info > http://lists.scribus.info/mailman/listinfo/scribus > >
