EPS plug-in can't handle transparency

[BikeManiac]

Hi,

I'm using Gimp to export .jpg pictures to the .eps format in order to
use them in my Latex typesetting program. If I add text or figures/
lines (using the gimp tools) on a .jpg photograph to highlight some
features and subsequently save the figure as an eps file, gimp warns
me with a:

EPS plug-in can't handle transparency

... I can still continue and save the picture as eps, but the added
text and figures become very coarse and blurry. How can I avoid that
problem using Gimp? Or do I need another software to do the job?

Lucas

[Ofnuts]

What us the size of the picture (in pixels?) Aren't you being hit by the
print requiring a higher definition (150-300PPI) that the screen
(100PPI) (or our eyes being used to a better definition in print)

--
Bertrand

[Owen]

Hi,

What is the size of your original image as saved as an eps?
Compare now with the size of the opened eps image

If it is larger, that will contribute to the coarse and blurry look.

You will have to fiddle with the rendering resolution to obtain the
"same size" and also perhaps strong image anti aliasing to reduce some
of the coarseness

but does your workflow allow use of pdflatex. What is your final
output?

That aside, here is what I would do with a jpg image

1. save immediately as xcf
2. Add layers for text etc as required (save again)
3. Flatten image
4. save as eps
5. re-open eps and check parameters, if not to your liking
6. go back to the saved xcf from 2 and do it again

Owen

[rich]

Possibly try Inkscape, I use it to start off some things, mainly DVD
menus, and finish in Gimp. Maybe if you go the other way round?

www.inkscape.org

If you try it, a couple of pointers that might save some time.

Import the image, then in the file menu choose document properties and
click on the 'fit to selection' button'. This will resize the page to fit
the image, otherwise when you export you either get the image with a
border or only part of the image.

When you come to 'save-as' and choose .eps, I tick the 3 options.

Its worth a bit of experiment.

--
rich

[BikeManiac]

I solved the problem.
It was a resolution problem. Before adding text and drawings to the
photograph I scaled from a width of 1200 mm to 200 mm. Doing this
would drastically reduce the file size of the eps file. If I would
leave the photograph at a width of 1200 mm, the eps file would have a
size of 34 MB.

When adding text and drawings to the scaled 200 mm photograph and
saving as an eps, the result was horrible. I have accepted a
photograph width of 400 mm to be the best trade-off.

Thanks for your advice

Lucas

[Ofnuts]

A good solution could have been to superpose vector text/symbols over
the picture bitmap, as two separate objects, and find the way to have
Latex put one over the other (and scale them appropriately)

--
Bertrand

[rich]

That's basically what I was suggesting. Since .eps falls into the 'vector
graphics' category even thought it can be largely bitmap, using Inkscape
to add lines and text to a bitmap background before saving as .eps should
produce a better result. Two of the options when saving are 'leave text
as paths' and 'embed type1 fonts', fair chance that the LaTex app will be
able to use this info.

However, there are many ways to achieve a result, as long as the OP ends
up with a decent image, thats a result.

--
rich