Re: [NTG-context] Producing PDF x/1-a:2001 output.

On Fri, Oct 30, 2009 at 4:48 PM, John Culleton wrote:

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At least two commercial printers that I use prefer or insist on

On Friday 30 October 2009 12:03:33 luigi scarso wrote: the

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format PDF X/1-a:2001 output. The only way I have found to produce such in TeX without a pass through Adobe Acrobat Distiller or the shareware program Pstill is via the package pdfx.sty authored by CV Radhakrishnan and Han The Thanh. This in turn uses some other files such as xmpincl.sty.

I wonder if this setup could be incorporated into some flavor of Context? Or even pdftex? I prefer not to live within the strictures of pdflatex.

is not Ghostscript OK ? (I have seen http://www.ghostscript.com/pipermail/gs-devel/2009- September/008566.html) Yes, I started that thread also. It seems that the spec can be met via Ghostscript. What is also needed is the internal labeling of the file as pdf X/1-a:2001, and some xml add-ins.

The prepress staff will look at the file and if it is not labeled correctly run it through Distiller, which can degrade text and barcodes by converting them to bitmaps. LSI handles hundreds of pdf cover files each week, many of which are out of spec. If it does not look like X/1-a:2001 they will bitmap it, and in the process mess it up to a degree, or so I am told. So getting the file within spec is necessary but it also has to look like it is in spec. Their Customer Service Rep specifically mentioned Ghostscript as producing non-acceptable pdf files. This is not the only hoop to be leapt through in dealing with LSI. they have a limit on total ink coverage that is more restrictive than the usual formulation for CMYK rich black. They want only %240 total coverage so I cobbled up CMYK 60,40,40,100 which adds up to 240%. In brief, they are a royal pain. But they have a near-monopoly on POD printing for bookstores in the US and their pricing for Amazon beats anyone including Amazon's own subsidy Createspace. Hans: The needed files and the documentation for pdfx.sty are located here: http://www.ctan.org/tex-archive/macros/latex/contrib/pdfx/ The files in the package include: README glyphtounicode-cmr.tex manifest.txt pdfa-1b.xmp pdfx-1a.xmp pdfx.pdf pdfx.sty small2e.pdf small2e.tex small2e.xmpdata -- John Culleton "Create Book Covers with Scribus" http://www.booklocker.com/books/4055.html