| Re: clipboard objects and postscript (unix) [message #13286] |
Tue, 03 November 1998 00:00 |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Sean O'Sea (seanosea@my-dejanews.com) writes:
> I'm afraid the problem seems to be an unhappy xclipboard. RSI recommended
> using the buffer object, instead, to avoid an intervening clipboard utility
> entirely:
>
>> The best alternative for creating a PostScript file from Object Graphics
>> output is to render the graphics to an IDLgrBuffer object, which will,
>> of course contain raster data. Then, using the IMAGE_DATA keyword to the
>> GetProperty method of the IDLgrBuffer object, you can retrieve the
>> graphics data into an image array. Finally, you can switch to the
>> PostScript device (SET_PLOT, 'PS') and use the TV procedure to render
>> the extracted image array to a PostScript file.
Sigh...It's come to this, has it? Well, with True-type fonts
it just might work.
> The IMAGE_DATA keyword doesn't seem to be documented, at least in the 5.1
> docs.
Recent experience suggests you try keywords that are defined for
other objects. They seem to work more often than not. :-)
Cheers,
David
----------------------------------------------------------
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Phone: 970-221-0438, Toll-Free Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
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| Re: clipboard objects and postscript (unix) [message #13288 is a reply to message #13286] |
Tue, 03 November 1998 00:00  |
seanosea
Messages: 6
Registered: November 1998
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Junior Member |
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In article <MPG.10a7c85bb7a5e42e9896f9@news.frii.com>,
davidf@dfanning.com (David Fanning) wrote:
> No, I'm afraid not. This has been a topic of discussion here in
> the past. PostScript output is often considered the weak link
> in the object graphics hierarchy. RSI has been considering
> what trade-offs users would have to make to get "vectorized"
> output. If you feel strongly, you should make sure they hear
> from you about it.
Ah, I see how that could be a difficulty--light sources and hidden objects and
all. However, since much of object graphics is still just nuts and bolts 2d
plots, where there wouldn't be any trade-offs that I can see, vectorized
graphics seem actually a more natural complement to objects than rastering...
I emailed RSI.
> I am not familiar with XClipboard, but I have no
> difficulty increasing both the resolution and
> dimensions of the clipboard when I create the clipboard.
> I am working in IDL 5.2 (beta 2).
>
> How exactly are you trying to increase the resolution and the
> dimensions?
I'm afraid the problem seems to be an unhappy xclipboard. RSI recommended
using the buffer object, instead, to avoid an intervening clipboard utility
entirely:
> The best alternative for creating a PostScript file from Object Graphics
> output is to render the graphics to an IDLgrBuffer object, which will,
> of course contain raster data. Then, using the IMAGE_DATA keyword to the
> GetProperty method of the IDLgrBuffer object, you can retrieve the
> graphics data into an image array. Finally, you can switch to the
> PostScript device (SET_PLOT, 'PS') and use the TV procedure to render
> the extracted image array to a PostScript file.
The IMAGE_DATA keyword doesn't seem to be documented, at least in the 5.1
docs.
Thanks a lot!!!
Sean O'Sea
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
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| Re: clipboard objects and postscript (unix) [message #13301 is a reply to message #13286] |
Mon, 02 November 1998 00:00 |
davidf
Messages: 2866
Registered: September 1996
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Senior Member |
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Sean O'Sea (seanosea@my-dejanews.com) writes:
> Howdy, folks. I'm having difficulties with the Clipboard object in IDL on
> unix. This is pretty much my first time posting anywhere; I was so impressed
> by the helpfulness here that I decided to try it out.
Oh, it's a friendly place, alright. :-)
> First, IDL saves to the PostScript "native format" file with a bitmap rather
> than a "true" PostScript objecty-sort of "do this, do that" structure. That
> is, in a normal PS file, you'll see at some point all the words of text
> actually spelt out as "{X} goright {Axis}" or whatever, whereas IDL's PS just
> has 1's and 0's.
>
> Is there a way to output a graphics tree in normal non-bitmap PS form?
No, I'm afraid not. This has been a topic of discussion here in
the past. PostScript output is often considered the weak link
in the object graphics hierarchy. RSI has been considering
what trade-offs users would have to make to get "vectorized"
output. If you feel strongly, you should make sure they hear
from you about it.
> Second, supposing there isn't, the simplest X Window clipboard utility,
> xclipboard, can't seem to latch on to my attempts to increase the resolution
> and dimensions of the clipboard object. Drawing to the clipboard at the
> default res of 72dpi and default dim of 640x480 works fine: xclipboard
> "converts" it nicely to a PS image with bounding box 640x480, but it's too
> low of res for my purposes.
>
> When I increase the res from 72dpi, leaving the dim at the default 640x480,
> IDL adjusts the dim to keep res*dim constant. So if I double the res, IDL
> halves the dim, leaving the effective resolution (amount of information)
> constant. Finally, if I increase both the res and the dim, IDL hangs, and
> xclipboard complains "failure to convert clipboard data". When I kill
> xclipboard, IDL wakes up.
>
> Is there a way to increase the res, making the file much bigger but the image
> more detailed?
I am not familiar with XClipboard, but I have no
difficulty increasing both the resolution and
dimensions of the clipboard when I create the clipboard.
I am working in IDL 5.2 (beta 2).
clipboard = Obj_New('IDLgrClipboard', dimensions=[1200, 1200], $
resolution=[0.0352778, 0.0352778]*10 )
How exactly are you trying to increase the resolution and the
dimensions?
Cheers,
David
----------------------------------------------------------
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting
E-Mail: davidf@dfanning.com
Phone: 970-221-0438, Toll-Free Book Orders: 1-888-461-0155
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
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