[scribus] Huge PDF, need suggestions

[John Jason Jordan]

On Thu, 3 Sep 2009 20:20:00 +0200
"a.l.e" <ale.comp_06 at xox.ch> dijo:

> On Thu, 3 Sep 2009 19:11:29 +0200
> vwf <vwf at vulkor.net> wrote:
> 
> > >> Do you convert EPS to bitmaps? Try not to
> > >
> > > The document contains no bitmaps at all. There are a lot of PS
> > > vector objects placed in the document with File > Import > Get
> > > Vector File.
> > 
> > If I am not mistaken: 1.3.5 can include eps in the pdf output,
> > older versions raster it. This was one reason to jump to 1.3.5,
> > with other issues as a result.
> 
> scribus can import eps as vectors since a long time...
> 
> what you can do starting from 1.3.5, is to put eps (and pdfs) in image frames and have them included as is.
> indeed, going that way may be worth a try, if you want to reduce the size of your pdfs!
> 
> but: don't forget that 1.3.5 is not a stable version and that it may kill all your kitten!

First, when I started trying to print the document there was only one
small EPS graphic in it. I have since imported it as a vector file and
deleted the EPS. Extras > Manage Images is now grayed out. There are no
images in the file at all other than the graphics that were imported as
vectors and some native Scribus objects. Still, when I export as PDF
the resulting file is 201 MB. 

The problem is that there are six pages containing about 20 rectangles
created in Scribus. Each rectangle has rounded corners and a 10% gray
fill. If I print from Scribus I get reasonable print speed, but all
these rectangles print solid black. This is to various printers using
their PCL and PostScript drivers. If I export to PDF the rectangles
appear and print correctly. But then I have to put up with unbearably
slow printing - 10 minutes per page from Okular and over 20 minutes per
page from Adobe Reader 9.1. I tried Evince but it errored out when I
tried to print. 

I tried printing to CUPS-PDF instead of exporting as PDF from Scribus.
That resulted in a PDF file of only 25 MB, but the rectangles were all
solid black. Furthermore, the page size was messed up. 

I also printed to file from Scribus and I will try sending the file
directly to the printer with lpr.  However, I don't hold out much hope
that it will solve the problem because it was created with Scribus'
print engine, not its export to PDF engine. 

I think there is a bug in the way Scribus prints, but I need to poke
around with this some more before I can be sure. In the meantime the
printers I am printing to are older Laserjets with PostScript Level 2,
so if someone has similar printers you can try creating a rectangle
with a 10% fill and see what kind of results you get.