Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 12672
EPS export does not allow you to select whether to include glyph outlines
Last modified: 2013-02-07 22:12:48 UTC
The Export to EPS dialog in 1.0.* had an option to either export text as outlines (curves and lines) or use the actual PostScript text operators. Recently, this option has gone AWOL: It does not show up in the dialog, and the program always exports text via outlines.
Hello Sven, please add a comment why this feature has gone. Thanks.
An explanation why this feature has been removed can be found at: http://graphics.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?msgId=380767&listName=features But perhaps the attachment might help, it contains a basic macro, that is allowing to store an eps using the old options.
Created attachment 5310 [details] a little basic to store an eps
While I can easily see that there might be a manpower problem in getting this issue handled, it still remains a problematic defect that renders EPS export unusable for professional purposes. By exporting text as outlines, you lose all hinting information (critical for low-resolution output, i.e. up to 300 dpi at least); you also lose the textual information: Retrieving textual data (for information retrieval from documents, or for accessibility purposes) becomes impossible. The argument that you cannot handle unicode text is inaccurate: it may not be easy to get the encoding right, but after that it is a simple matter of font recoding (after all, the postscript driver on UNIX has to do it, too). Any other font problem should be curable by embedding the fonts in question, if necessary (the approach recommended by Adobe for Illustrator, IIRC).
Reassigned to Sven again.
I agree, the current status is not yet perfect, but we don't have enough manpower. It is planned to embed all used characters of a font with the advantage that textual information won't be lost and the file-size of eps files including many text will be much smaller. It would also be no problem to realize text encoding for the own embedded font. But anyway the quality of embedded fonts will be still the same as we now have using outlines. Everybody is encouraged to help us to implement this feature, any contribution is welcomed.
Just to clarify: I didn't mean to criticize, and I agree that it is not a trivial problem, but I also believe EPS is so important a format in various professional areas that eventually it has to be done right. I would also like to point out that the quality of displaying characters directly via fonts IS better than when converting them to outlines. The critical part is hinting: instructions to the RIP how to fit outlines to a grid when displayed on a low-resolution device. This hinting information is part of any Type 1 or TrueType font of good quality, and should not be thrown away (as it happens when using outlines).
As Sven notes, fonts in EPS files are a major headache. A middle ground would be to use a configurable list of fonts that can be saved using PS text operators, using the Adobe base 13 fonts as a starting point. These are fonts that should be available to apps/devices that render EPS. Sites that have other fonts installed in apps that use EPS files can add them to the table.
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*** Issue 76743 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
I have tried to use the macro, but do not really know how. I've managed to make the macros available within Open Office. Which one do I have to start? When executing "Export" I get an error message saying I had to supply an argument. But how do I do that? Is there any dialog available to start the macro or do I have to start it via command line?
*** Issue 66523 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***