Re: [Finale] FinMac and pdf
On Sep 6, 2008, at 11:59 PM, A-NO-NE Music wrote: On 2008/09/06(土), at 後1:51, David Froom wrote: I have had a heck of a time with Finale and pdf going back a long time (to the beginnings of pdf as a standard format). I am now using FinMac 2009 on an Intel machine. I have consistently found that the pdf files were -- and still are -- unreliable. Generally speaking, they might or might not work on someone else's computer, often missing clefs or maybe missing out whole fonts. No idea why you are having this problem. I always check on my XP machine which as no Finale on it, and it has been fine. The missing font issue seems to be things in the past, and I don't remember when that was. OS9? No, there is an issue in OSX, but I never experienced it as badly as David was describing it. I had missing font characters when a client brought my Mac pdf it to print in a printshop that was running Windows 98. Finale tech support sorted that one out quickly and easily. On my OWN computer I got substituted items sometimes while viewing PDFs (even my own!) (in Preview but not in Acrobat Reader) until I ran Font Explorer (a free utility) and had it clear out the system font caches (but nothing else!), thanks to Robert Patterson for the solution. David's problems seem to be deeper than mine. I used Acrobat Distiller 4 in System 9, and when I changed to OSX I was going to upgrade, but decided against the expense because the system PDF creation utility was so bullet-proof. Aside from a few "gotcha's", I have no reason to complain. Okay, I should explain the gotchas. The Windows 98 one I mentioned already. PDFs created on Mac can break on Windows 98. Custom smartshape arrowheads do not export in EPS in 2007 on a Mac. I haven't tried them in 2008 or 2009, but I hold little hope that they will export correctly any time soon. If you intend to create a PDF from an EPS, the EPS will be broken for all purposes if it contains a custom arrowhead. If you are sending a PDF to a Windows user, the / character seems to be a reserved character. This character shows up by default in the PDF printed from a linked part if you have named a staff Flute/ Piccolo or a group Piano/Vocal. I found out the hard way that some FTP programs do not allow this character. Apparently, some don't like spaces in filenames either, so I removed them all and replaced them with underscores. Fortunately, I ran across a batch filenaming program called Renamer4Mac that easily did the job for all 300 or so files. Everything went like clockwork after this. David, I suggest trying the FontExplorer solution to see if you still have characters missing or replaced. It certainly helped me. Christopher ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] FinMac and pdf
On 2008/09/06(土), at 後1:51, David Froom wrote: I have had a heck of a time with Finale and pdf going back a long time (to the beginnings of pdf as a standard format). I am now using FinMac 2009 on an Intel machine. I have consistently found that the pdf files were -- and still are -- unreliable. Generally speaking, they might or might not work on someone else's computer, often missing clefs or maybe missing out whole fonts. No idea why you are having this problem. I always check on my XP machine which as no Finale on it, and it has been fine. The missing font issue seems to be things in the past, and I don't remember when that was. OS9? -- - Hiro Hiroaki Honshuku, A-NO-NE Music, Greater Boston http://a-no-ne.com http://anonemusic.com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] FinMac and pdf
On 06.09.2008 David Froom wrote: I think I stumbled upon a solution, a much cheaper one. I still export eps files, but use Graphic Converter (nag-ware) to convert them to pdf. But aren't those PDFs bitmaps? That, surely, is not really what you want. Personally I eventually bought Adobe Acrobat, still running version 7, and never looked back. I have also started to use this application for a lot of other tasks, like scanning old text documents and making them searchable, archiving all sorts of things and sending files via email. It's one of my three most-used applications. Johannes -- http://www.musikmanufaktur.com http://www.camerata-berolinensis.de ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] FinMac and pdf
Hi David - Well, I don't know what the PDF problem is but it is not a problem for me (nor have I heard others complain. We have similar workflows, perhaps for different reasons, but what stuck me in your description is the piece about Graphic Converter. This seems like an unnecessary step since you can drag your eps files over the Preview icon and they will be converted to pdf and you can save them that way. You did not mention it, do you embed the fonts in your eps files or not? If you do, don't and see if your experience changes any. Good luck. JB On Sep 6, 2008, at 12:51 PM, David Froom wrote: I think I stumbled upon a solution, a much cheaper one. I still export eps files, but use Graphic Converter (nag-ware) to convert them to pdf ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] FinMac and pdf
Hello, I have had a heck of a time with Finale and pdf going back a long time (to the beginnings of pdf as a standard format). I am now using FinMac 2009 on an Intel machine. I have consistently found that the pdf files were -- and still are -- unreliable. Generally speaking, they might or might not work on someone else's computer, often missing clefs or maybe missing out whole fonts. I assume this problem is with Apple, since the issue arises when using the "save as pdf" command in the print dialog box. I should say that except for large orchestral scores, I always print to 9x12 size, onto 12x18 paper (double-sided) so as to make center- staple books. I know I can do this directly from Finale, but that has three problems: 1) the files aren't mailable (to publishers or performers) unless the people receiving the files have Notepad or the same version of finale that I use. 2) working from finale requires me either to keep old versions of finale around (even old OS9 machines) or to always update all of my files (hoping for no conversion mistakes). 3) Finale files sometimes don't stay the same between openings. Little things (maybe less now than in the past) jump around or disappear. I decided long ago to make graphic files, so that things stay exactly the way I put them, and so that I don't need old versions of finale for printing. Until recently, I've used PageMaker (OS 9), then InDesign as my solution. I would export an eps file for each page, then put them into an InDesign (or Pagemaker) file, use those programs' booklet makers to make a booklet, and finally, export the whole book as a pdf. When PM or ID makes a pdf, it always works, everywhere. Now, however, I can't do this anymore. Ever since Leopard came out, for many users, InDesign simply won't work. The latest versions of each (10.5.4 with the latest update of InDesign has ID) crashes on startup. A Google search shows me that this is a problem not restricted to me, and has Adobe and Apple each claiming the fault is with the other guy. I think I stumbled upon a solution, a much cheaper one. I still export eps files, but use Graphic Converter (nag-ware) to convert them to pdf. Then I make a single numerical-order 9x12 pdf using the freeware CombinePDFs. Then I make a 12x18 booklet using the freeware CocoaBooklet. Once created, my pdf booklet will print to any size paper I like (Adobe Reader has a good print dialog box). These pdfs, at least so far, seem rock-solid stable. I would welcome any comments about this. The process, like any, gets faster after you get used to it. And I expect I could automate portions of it. But it is still a bit cumbersome -- and I find myself resenting Finale and Apple for making me do this. Is anyone else as bothered as I am about the pdf problem? Or does anyone have a more elegant solution? Could Finale's "compile postscript listing" make this easier? I haven't used it since I got my large-format printer, because of the page-size limitation (it forced you to export at a 8.5x11 or 8.5x14 or A4 or B5 or Tabloid). But in FinMac09, there is a place in the "complie postscript" box where you can specify custom paper size (in some weird measurement unit, where -6522652.4 by 5595136 equals 8.5x11). So comments, please. Thank you, David Froom ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
