<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <!--Converted with LaTeX2HTML 2002-2-1 (1.71) original version by: Nikos Drakos, CBLU, University of Leeds * revised and updated by: Marcus Hennecke, Ross Moore, Herb Swan * with significant contributions from: Jens Lippmann, Marek Rouchal, Martin Wilck and others --> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>C.2 Converting GMT PostScript to PDF or raster images</TITLE> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="C.2 Converting GMT PostScript to PDF or raster images"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="GMT_Docs"> <META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document"> <META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global"> <META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="LaTeX2HTML v2002-2-1"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Style-Type" CONTENT="text/css"> <LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="GMT_Docs.css"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node192.html"> <LINK REL="previous" HREF="node188.html"> <LINK REL="up" HREF="node187.html"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node190.html"> </HEAD> <BODY bgcolor="#ffffff"> <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html5307" HREF="node190.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5301" HREF="node187.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5295" HREF="node188.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5303" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="contents.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5305" HREF="node255.html"> <IMG WIDTH="43" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="index" SRC="index.png"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html5308" HREF="node190.html">C.2.1 When converting or</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html5302" HREF="node187.html">C. Including GMT graphics</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html5296" HREF="node188.html">C.1 Making GMT Encapsulated</A> <B> <A NAME="tex2html5304" HREF="node1.html">Contents</A></B> <B> <A NAME="tex2html5306" HREF="node255.html">Index</A></B> <BR> <BR> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <H1><A NAME="SECTION002020000000000000000"> C.2 Converting </A><A NAME="tex2html1674" HREF="http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu"><B>GMT</B></A> <I>PostScript</I> to PDF or raster images </H1> <A NAME="29614"></A> <A NAME="29615"></A> <A NAME="29616"></A> <A NAME="29617"></A> <A NAME="29618"></A> <P> Since Adobe's PDF (Portable Document Format) seems to become the <I>de facto</I> standard for vector graphics, you are often well off converting <A NAME="tex2html1675" HREF="http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu"><B>GMT</B></A> produced <I>PostScript</I> files to PDF. Being both vector formats (i.e., they basically describe all objects, text and graphics as lines and curves), such conversion sounds awfully straightforward and not worth a full section in this document. But experience has shown differently, since most converters cut corners by using the same tool (Aladdin's <I>ghostscript</I><A NAME="29862"></A>) with basic default options that are not devised to produce the best quality PDF files. <P> For some applications it is practical or even essential that you convert your <I>PostScript</I> file into a raster format, such as GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), PNG (Portable Network Graphics), or JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). A web page is better served with a raster image that will immediately show on a web browser, than with a <I>PostScript</I> file that needs to be downloaded to view, despite the better printing quality of the <I>PostScript</I> image. A less obvious reason to convert your image to a raster format is to by-pass <I>PowerPoint</I><A NAME="29868"></A>'s rendering engine in case you want to embed the image into a presentation. <P> The are a number of programs that will convert <I>PostScript</I> files to PDF or raster formats, like Aladdin's <I>pstopdf</I><A NAME="29872"></A>, pbmplus' <I>pstoimg</I><A NAME="29875"></A>, or ImageMagick's <I>convert</I><A NAME="29878"></A>, most of which run <I>ghostscript</I><A NAME="29881"></A> behind the scenes. The same is true for viewers like <I>ghostview</I><A NAME="29884"></A> and Apple's <I>Preview</I><A NAME="29887"></A>. So a lot of the times when people report that their <I>PostScript</I> plot does not look right but prints fine, it is the way <I>ghostscript</I><A NAME="29891"></A> is used with its most basic settings that is to blame. <P> <BR><HR> <!--Table of Child-Links--> <A NAME="CHILD_LINKS"><STRONG>Subsections</STRONG></A> <UL> <LI><A NAME="tex2html5309" HREF="node190.html">C.2.1 When converting or viewing <I>PostScript</I> goes awry</A> <LI><A NAME="tex2html5310" HREF="node191.html">C.2.2 Using <I><B>ps2raster</B></I></A> </UL> <!--End of Table of Child-Links--> <HR> <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html5307" HREF="node190.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5301" HREF="node187.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5295" HREF="node188.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5303" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="contents.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html5305" HREF="node255.html"> <IMG WIDTH="43" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="index" SRC="index.png"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html5308" HREF="node190.html">C.2.1 When converting or</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html5302" HREF="node187.html">C. Including GMT graphics</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html5296" HREF="node188.html">C.1 Making GMT Encapsulated</A> <B> <A NAME="tex2html5304" HREF="node1.html">Contents</A></B> <B> <A NAME="tex2html5306" HREF="node255.html">Index</A></B> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <ADDRESS> Paul Wessel 2010-01-14 </ADDRESS> </BODY> </HTML>
