Re: [xep-support] RenderX, Batik, SVG

From: Ruth, Brice (bruth@Fiskars.com)
Date: Tue Jun 01 2004 - 06:38:32 PDT

  • Next message: Alexander Peshkov: "[xep-support] Re: Fw: external-graphic doesn't fit?!"

    Alexander,

    Where can I get more information on doing this? What I'll try to do is
    export a PDF from Adobe Illustrator that has the non-varying data
    elements in it (graphics), with the correct color coding, then use this
    PDF as a background to my varying data, which I need to be able to place
    correctly.

    Obviously, alignment will be key - so that everything lines up
    correctly. I can create an SVG that sets up the fonts & placement of the
    varying data ... or should I just do everything in XSL-FO?

    Either way, I guess I need some pointers on where to look for
    information on doing this. Since this is a new approach for this
    project, I need to develop a proof-of-concept for my manager to view,
    and produce a PDF from the process that I can have verified by our
    printer to be "correct" for pre-press.

    Thanks!

    Brice

    p.s. Are you the only individual providing support for XEP?

    Alexander Peshkov wrote:

    >Hello Brice,
    >
    >Sorry for delay, I was slightly overloaded last week. When you use PDF
    >with spot colors as an image XEP will preserve color information in
    >the output. As for the insertion of data - it depends strongly on the
    >particular case. Surely with SVG you can do all kind of things (i.e.
    >using XSLT), but if you simply want to place some text in predefined
    >places of the page - then PDF image may work fine. I'm aware that
    >some our clients use PDF images as background and overwrite them with
    >data.
    >
    >Best regards,
    >Alexander Peshkov mailto:peshkov@renderx.com
    >RenderX
    >
    >
    >RB> Any further word on this? Anyone? Alexander?
    >
    >RB> Ruth, Brice wrote:
    >
    >
    >
    >>>Alexander,
    >>>
    >>>How would I go about encoding the use of CMYK and Pantone spot colors
    >>>in the PDF? I wouldn't mind skipping the SVG step from Illustrator
    >>>entirely, and using the PDF natively - but I have to admit, I'm very
    >>>much unsure how that works. I'm most familiar with XML & XSL, and know
    >>>next to nothing about PDF's native format.
    >>>
    >>>Can I use Illustrator's native PDF and still use it as a template to
    >>>marry data into it and have XEP produce the final PDF?
    >>>
    >>>One thing I noticed is that if I save from Illustrator, a PDF with
    >>>'PRESS' settings, it correctly encodes the Pantone colors and what not
    >>>... it also places the registration/crop marks which the print shop
    >>>would like to see (and I would have to do manually with an SVG).
    >>>
    >>>Thanks!
    >>>Brice
    >>>
    >>>Alexander Peshkov wrote:
    >>>
    >>>
    >>>
    >>>>Hello Brice,
    >>>>
    >>>>Surely RenderX XEP is not supposed to be used as 'backend' for Batik.
    >>>>But you can (and should :-) use XEP to achieve your goal. Simple
    >>>>XSL-FO document below demonstrates how you can wrap SVG image into
    >>>>XSL-FO:
    >>>>
    >>>><?xml version="1.0"?>
    >>>><fo:root xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format">
    >>>> <fo:layout-master-set>
    >>>> <fo:simple-page-master master-name="main">
    >>>> <fo:region-body/>
    >>>> </fo:simple-page-master>
    >>>> </fo:layout-master-set>
    >>>> <fo:page-sequence master-reference="main">
    >>>> <fo:flow flow-name="xsl-region-body">
    >>>> <fo:block>
    >>>> <fo:external-graphic src="url('your_image.svg')"/>
    >>>> </fo:block>
    >>>> </fo:flow>
    >>>> </fo:page-sequence>
    >>>></fo:root>
    >>>>
    >>>>(you can use fo:instream-foreign-object element instead of
    >>>>fo:external-graphic if you want to embed SVG content inside of XSL-FO.)
    >>>>
    >>>>One possible approach to your task is to write dedicated XSLT
    >>>>stylesheet that takes as an input SVG exported by Illustrator and
    >>>>required data, "marry" them and produce XSL-FO that then rendered into
    >>>>PDF by XEP. XEP can also use PDFs as vector images so you can save your
    >>>>Illustrator documents as PDF if you wish.
    >>>>Vector graphical formats supported by XEP described in its
    >>>>documentation (http://xep.xattic.com/xep/doc/spec.html#Vector)
    >>>>
    >>>>Hope this helps.
    >>>>
    >>>>Best regards,
    >>>>Alexander Peshkov mailto:peshkov@renderx.com
    >>>>RenderX
    >>>>
    >>>>
    >>>>RB> Greetings.
    >>>>
    >>>>RB> I'm currently in the process of putting together a backend that
    >>>>will RB> take Illustrator CS created template documents, exported to
    >>>>SVG, then RB> married with data, to be output as a print-ready PDF.
    >>>>By print-ready, I RB> mean that this will go to a print shop, not so
    >>>>much a common printer RB> device. So, things like CMYK & Pantone spot
    >>>>colors are important to RB> preserve.
    >>>>
    >>>>RB> I've landed at RenderX, because I'm using Batik, which uses
    >>>>Apache's FOP RB> backend to generate PDFs from SVG. However, Apache's
    >>>>FOP doesn't handle RB> colors as well as RenderX supposedly does, so
    >>>>I'm here.
    >>>>
    >>>>RB> Now - my question to the list is quite simple: can I use RenderX
    >>>>as a RB> backend to Batik? If not, or if the process would be
    >>>>excessively RB> complex, can (should?) I use RenderX directly to
    >>>>generate a PDF from RB> SVG? If so, I'm guessing I'll need to wrap a
    >>>>bit of XML/XSL-FO around my RB> SVG. Without getting too deep into
    >>>>XSL-FO, what would be the RB> base-minimum amount of markup I would
    >>>>need to be able to start testing RB> the RenderX trial version?
    >>>>
    >>>>RB> What type of documentation is out there for using the more
    >>>>advanced RB> color extensions for RenderX? Does RenderX only support
    >>>>CMYK, or is RB> there a way of generating a PDF with spot-color
    >>>>information?! If this RB> latter point is not possible, what options
    >>>>am I left with to generate a RB> press-ready PDF?
    >>>>
    >>>>RB> TIA!
    >>>>RB> Brice Ruth
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    >>>>
    >>>>
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