I'll respond to several parts of this thread at once...
>> >will serve everyone. In this case, that means plain ASCII for the text.
>> >For the images or graphics, that's a bit trickier, but GIF format is about
>> >the widest deployed graphics format out there.
I recommend PostScript at least as an option, since it's inside every
laser printer and many inkjets. If the system can display GIFs, it's
probably capable of displaying most modern formats. If it can't, the GIF
file likely would have to be converted to PS for printing anyway.
>> Well, I don't, and for the reason that lowest common denominator means the
>> lowest efficiency for the most people. I want to make it easy and
>> accessible to as many people as possible. Based on statistics, that means
It's not about 'many people' at all. You're catering to a technical
audience that is capable of making sense of the datasheets.
>> that the only OS that really matters is . . . now say it along with me . .
How many shares of MICROS~1 stock do you own?
>> As far as I'm concerned, what's most important is that the documents be
>> stored as complete, separate, and single files. They should not be broken
>> up into pages or chapters or text in one part and graphics in another in the
Why is that? If necessary, they can be put together with tar or PKZIP
(though you probably are only familiar with WinZip). If you're after
neatness, don't bother. Again, an audience that knows what to do with
datasheets can figure it out.
>A PDF file can't change that. If you want to re-draw all the images in
>some CAD system, go ahead. But if you're just going to scan them, all you
>end up with is bitmaps, no matter what file format you eventually store
>them in.
If it's a circuit schematic, it may be possible to design a program to
interpret the bitmap and make an object-oriented graphics file (or use an
existing one - Photoshop-like programs may have the proper filters).
--Max Eskin (max82_at_surfree.com)
http://scivault.hypermart.net: Ignorance is Impotence - Knowledge is Power
Received on Mon Jun 07 1999 - 17:30:52 BST