[Scribus] Work stuck in Scribus...

[Branko Vukelic]

On Sunday 14. January 2007. 05:01, jon wrote:
> Am 14.01.2007 um 03:30 schrieb Branko Vukelic:
> > 1. Ghostscript (and related tools) do not support transparency
> > 2. Scribus has no transparency flattener
> > 3. Acrobat Reader can output flattened PostScript files that
> > successfully
> > translate to PDF 1.3
>
> I am not sure how AdobeReader should sucessfully translate
> transparencies.
> Distiller and Acrobat 8 are able to do that anyway.
> I think if you try to print from AcrobatReader (to file or printer) you
> will use
> your systems or printers ps-tools to flatten and rasterize. but I may
> be wrong.

I don't know how it works, but it works. I am planning on switching completely 
to Linux in near future, so I don't consider Distiller an option... at 
all. :)

> If your only need is to flatten .svg files from inkscape you might also
> try to export them as bitmaps.
> I never tried, but inkscape is able to do so. Don't forget to set the
> proper resolution and other settings.
> Jon

I can't do that in Inkscape (I know it can export bitmaps). I have modified 
the artwork in Scribus to separate the whole thing as 2 colors (black + 
magenta). This way, I can print magenta as a spot color. So, the resulting 
artwork cannot be dealt with with an app that has no CMYK support. :(

Fiddling with GIMP and its separation plugin is a tough job, and the method 
mentioned above is a much more elegant way.

In the end, though, to avoid rasterizing the artwork, I've modified it to not 
use transparency at all, but just for PDF 1.3 output. The PDF 1.4, therefore, 
use the unmodified artwork.

A friend contacted me telling me that most shops nowadays accept PDF 1.4 and 
that probability of success is most likely well above 50%, so I will 
recommend my client to use the PDF 1.4 files anyway.