[Mapserver-users] PDF problems

[Alan Steremberg]

Hi,

I have been thinking about working on improving the pdf support in 
mapserver.
There are a few problems in PDF land.  You can't really do tranparency 
in a printer compatible way.  You have to do transparency by making the 
source image line art (like a pdf) or by using a clipping mask.

Patterns are aso a mess. There is a way to make patterns in pdf, but 
this is not compatible with some versions of postscript (requires level 
2 or 3?) so it will break some printers/rips

I have found the best way to accomplish the patterns is by using a big 
background and clipping it, but it makes the file sizes big.

Alan


>> - pattern fills don't work.  Whether it's a raster png pattern or 
>> vector pattern, in the PDF it's a solid color fill.


>> - point symbols - for png symbols, the transparency is ignored.  
>> vector symbols work fine.
>> - line symbols - dashes don't work, it ends up as a solid line in the 
>> PDF.
>> Any plans or solutions to fix these issues? (besides the PNG method)
>> -----
>> William Kyngesburye <kyngchaos at charter.net>
>> http://webpages.charter.net/kyngchaos/
>> Theory of the Universe
>> There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly 
>> what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly 
>> disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarrely 
>> inexplicable.  There is another theory which states that this has 
>> already happened.
>> -Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 2nd season intro
>> _______________________________________________
>> Mapserver-users mailing list
>> Mapserver-users at lists.gis.umn.edu
>> http://lists.gis.umn.edu/mailman/listinfo/mapserver-users
>>
>
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--
Alan Steremberg