[OS X TeX] psfrag troubles/PostScript in 10.4.4

[Bruno Voisin]

Le 12 janv. 06 à 14:50, Thomas Schröder a écrit :

> Unfortunately, KaleidaGraph can't export directly to EPS or PS and  
> since I sold the G4 and only kept its hard drive that is now  
> running as an external FireWire drive that I can boot from this is  
> a real pain. So, if anybody knows how I can get back nice and clean  
> PostScript output that works with psfrag, I'd really appreciate it!  
> Thanks in advance.

I once or twice used psfrag before giving up completely, for a  
similar reason: depending on how PS files are structured, the chain  
of characters that psfrag is looking for in a PS file appears either  
as a single string, or as several strings separated by PS  
instructions; in the former case psfrag works, while in the latter it  
doesn't.

Suppose, for example, the figure contains a tag "delta" to be  
replaced by $\delta$ by psfrag. Depending on what type of PS code the  
figure is made of, it can either contain the single string "delta",  
or the several strings "d", "e", "l", "t" and "a" separated by PS  
instructions placing each string on the page. psfrag can only deal  
with the first case.

Thus it seems using single-letter strings is the only way to use  
psfrag reliably, which limits its usability severely. For this reason  
I've given up on it. Have you tried WARMreader?

And yes, the absence of EPS export in KaleidaGraph is really  
annoying, especially after all its years of existence and its  
successive updates. A possible workaround: save the graph to PICT  
format, and check PostScript PICT in the PICT Graphic Size window  
(together, as a safety measure, with High Resolution which implies  
600 dpi). This will create a PICT file with embedded PostScript code  
(PS code in a PICT comment field if I understood correctly).  
Previously I was then able to open the PICT file in Illustrator,  
where the two components appeared separately (the PICT graphic and  
the EPS graphic), superposed on each other but with different sizes,  
and I just had to erase the PICT graphic. This doesn't seem to work  
anymore. What I've just tried:

- Open the PICT file in Preview, and save to PDF format. The  
resulting PDF file seems resolution-independent.

- Open the PICT file in Graphic Converter, and save to EPS format.  
The resulting EPS file seems again resolution-independent.

By contrast, printing to a PS or PDF file from KaleidaGraph creates a  
PS or PDF graphic with the bounding box of a full A4 or Letter page  
(depending on your setup), and is then inadequate for a figure to be  
included in a LaTeX document.

Hope this helps,

Bruno Voisin------------------------- Info --------------------------
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