Odd graphic, looks different in different Adobe apps
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg67875] Odd graphic, looks different in different Adobe apps
- From: AES <siegman at stanford.edu>
- Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2006 05:58:46 -0400 (EDT)
- Organization: Stanford University
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
Received a PDF file that contains only a small graphic, 3.2 X 2.6 inches in size. The graphic is a 3D surface plot of a simple function (a "dimpled hat"). Don't know how it was created originally but it looks very much like a default Mathematica 3D graphic: similar lighting and purplish colors, similar axes, similar surface mesh in x and y directions. PDF file opens and graphic looks fine in Acrobat 7.0 Standard and in Photoshop Elements. If you try to extract the graphic from the PDF file using Acrobat in any available format, you get an error message: "Acrobat could not extract any images from this document. Only images containing bitmap or raster data can be exported". PDF file also opens OK in Illustrator CS 11 -- but the image looks terrible: mesh lines are so wide that only tiny patches of color show through. Magnifying the image doesn't help. Underlying vector graphics data is apparently all there, however, since can select any one trapezoid of the mesh -- in fact a single click on any of the mesh lines selects only a single trapezoid -- and then use a "Select Same Stroke Color" command to select the entire mesh and the plot axes. Changing the stroke weight from initial 5 pt to 1 pt then makes the graphic look great. I'm just curious to understand why this thing behaves this way? I do a fair number of back and forth Mathematica <> Illustrator <> Acrobat conversions, and understanding this one might help me with some future hassle.