Printing vector translucency PDF's with MapInfo 9.5.1

[Thomas Rodger]

Hi Listers...

 

Has anyone had any luck printing PDF's from MapInfo 9.5.1 that include vector translucency?

 

I've tried the free PDF writers: PrimoPDF and PDF995 with these results:

If I use the Print Directly to Device option, the translucency doesn't work. If I use the Print using Enhanced Metafile (EMF) options then I get an error message saying: "Not enough Memory to Print".

 

I have tried using Adobe Professional version 7, and both printing methods produce a PDF that looks translucent, but when zoomed in, it is actually just a fine hatching. 

I have also tried with the trial version of Adobe Professional version 9, and that works well. But at £500 per license, that's not really an option for all our MapInfo users.

 

Can anyone help?

 

Thanks

 

Thomas

 

 

________________________________

Thomas Rodger

GIS Technical Manager

ICT, Customer & Corporate Services

London Borough of Hackney

tel: 020 8356 2885

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[James Patron Bell]

Hi Thomas

Have no problem with this when printing them as layouts or as maps
using Adobe Professional version 8, when zoomed in there is no
hatching. However these are simple print functions and are not in any
way interactive.

James

On Jan 7, 10:47 am, "Thomas Rodger" <Thomas.Rod...@Hackney.gov.uk>
wrote:

> Hi Listers...
>
> Has anyone had any luck printing PDF's from MapInfo 9.5.1 that include vector translucency?
>
> I've tried the free PDF writers: PrimoPDF and PDF995 with these results:
> If I use the Print Directly to Device option, the translucency doesn't work. If I use the Print using Enhanced Metafile (EMF) options then I get an error message saying: "Not enough Memory to Print".
>
> I have tried using Adobe Professional version 7, and both printing methods produce a PDF that looks translucent, but when zoomed in, it is actually just a fine hatching.
> I have also tried with the trial version of Adobe Professional version 9, and that works well. But at £500 per license, that's not really an option for all our MapInfo users.
>
> Can anyone help?
>
> Thanks
>
> Thomas
>
> ________________________________
> Thomas Rodger
> GIS Technical Manager
> ICT, Customer & Corporate Services
> London Borough of Hackney
> tel: 020 8356 2885

> email: thomas.rod...@hackney.gov.uk

[Thomas Rodger]

An update...

I have found out a little more about this PDF translucency problem. (If at first you don't succeed, read the instructions!).

In the Patch 9.5.1 release notes, there is a section on Printing Maps with Translucency and Anti Alias Smoothing. So MapInfo now has 2 ways to print. The old way and the new offscreen bitmap way used for printing translucency. So when MapInfo was printing to my standard printer, it used the offscreen bitmap method, but not for printing to PDF.

The release notes talk of a Registry setting (PrintOSBM) that can be changed to force this offscreen bitmap option on. When I looked into my registry, the registry setting wasn't even there! (PBMI, A bug?!) So I created the new setting, and then set it to Forced on. This allowed me to print the translucency on the map with PDF995. This does leave the problem that MapInfo will now always use the offscreen bitmap option, even for non translucent maps (with implications on the quality).

Thomas

[arunas.urbsys]

Using PDFCreator v.0.9.5 as a printer to create PDF documents
translucent layers prints for me without any problems and without any
registry hacks (I checked the registry and also did not find any
PrintOSBM key in it - it is perhaps only needed in some system
specific cases when nothing helps but creating this special registry
key for MapInfo by user on his own, so I would not treat the missing
key as MI bug).

Just to note - I stoped using pdf995 a long ago when I found another
free PDF printing tool PDFCreator - it is more efficient and has a lot
of options, and the printed result is viewable by all PDF viewers,
which was a problem with pdf995 in some cases, at least some time ago.

Best regards.

Arunas Urbsys
GIS Project Manager, PMP
arunas...@gmail.com


On Jan 7, 2:01 pm, "Thomas Rodger" <Thomas.Rod...@Hackney.gov.uk>
wrote:

[Mike Osbourn]

Have any of you running 9.5.1 noticed a significant increase in the size of
your pdf maps? I have noticed an increase of about 5 times on most.

Thanks

Mike Osbourn

[Data Directions]

One thing I've noticed Mike, is that the "printing of a PDF" takes
significantly longer with the 9.5.1 patch. If I have to print several
variations of the same map (or in fact any map), I am not happy with the
added time required.

Bill

============================================================================
==========================

[Andrei Veselov]

Since there has been a lot of questions on MapInfo-L about printing
maps with vector translucency and printing to PDF in particular, I
would like to take an opportunity and explain some of the changes
that we made in 9.5.1 and get into details how MapInfo Professional
users can control it.

In 9.5.1. we added a new way of rendering which we call Enhanced
Rendering. Enhanced Rendering is based on Microsoft GDI+ capabilities.
Until 9.5.1 we have been using GDI, which stands for Graphic Device
Interface. GDI+ is an improved 2D graphics environment and allows
Windows software developers like us to use advanced rendering features
like alpha blending (vector translucency) , smoothing of raster
images, anti-aliasing, etc. Enhanced rendering means that window is
drawn using GDI+. If enhanced rendering is not enabled, a window is
drawn with GDI. It is possible to draw a window (map, layout, browser
or legend) in enhanced mode (GDI+) without using of any new features
(vector translucency, anti-aliasing, raster smoothing). It should look
very close to GDI drawing.

Enhanced rendering in MapInfo Professional 9.5.1 allows to create
translucent labels, themes, and layers, as well as apply anti-aliasing
to smooth the jagged edges of text, labels, lines, curves, region
borders and raster images. It also provide a new way of drawing
selections and two new export formats as a result of using the new
enhanced rendering.

In certain cases, rendering mechanism is automatically promoted to
enhanced rendering. For example, when vector translucency is turned
on, enhanced rendering is turned on.

We also provide a new printing method for maps and layouts containing
translucent content and anti-alias settings. This method renders the
map or layout “behind the scenes” to an offscreen bitmap prior to
sending it to your printer or plotter. The use of offscreen bitmaps is
invoked depending on the type of translucent content in the map and
the enhanced rendering state of the window, as follows:
• Invoked when your map or layout contains translucent vectors (e.g.,
map layers, themes, or labels) and enhanced rendering has been
enabled.
• Invoked if your map contains images with either High or Low Quality
smoothing enabled.
• Invoked for translucent raster and grid images provided enhanced
rendering is enabled.
In all above mentioned cases map and layouts will be automatically
printed using offscreen bitmap method. There is no need to set any
registry settings to invoke offscreen bitmap printing mechanism.

In some cases, users would be interested to enforce new offscreen
bitmap printing mechanism. Good example would be printing of large
high-resolution maps or layouts that contain raster layers. Currently
it is not possible to control it through User Interface. For cases
like this, we introduced new registry setting called PrintOSBM,
located under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\MapInfo\MapInfo\Common. The
values are dword:00000000 (auto) and dword:00000001 (forced on). Auto,
the default, means that printing will use offscreen bitmaps only for
the translucency and anti-alias conditions listed above. Forced on
means printing will use offscreen bitmaps regardless of the
translucency and anti-alias settings. If this registry settings is
absent, then MapInfo professional will be using “auto” setting.

For the future, we are planning to expose this new printing mechanism
through the user interface and have it available in addition to “print
directly to device” and “print using Enhance Metafile (EMF)” methods.

Whenever MapInfo Professional is used to create PDF files by using PDF
printing drivers, the same logic will apply. Basically, if you have
translucent vector layers on a map, there is no need to create a
registry setting to enforce offscreen bitmap printing method., it will
happen automatically.

If you need to check if offscreen bitmap printing method is used or
not, you can do it by going into File > Print > Advanced dialog. If
you see that both “print directly to device” and “print using Enhance
Metafile (EMF)” options are disabled in a dialog, it means that
“offscreen bitmap” method is used.

Regards,


Andrei Veselov Product Architect
Pitney Bowes Business Insight (MapInfo)
One Global View |Troy, NY 12180