Introduction
| Format | Mako class |
|---|---|
| |
PostScript |
|
XPS |
|
PCL5 |
|
PCL/XL |
|
Mako offers several input classes to parse different PDLs (page description languages) for input. A input class for that PDL (see list above) populates the Mako DOM (document object model) that can then be interrogated or changed. The DOM may then be saved into any of the supported PDLs, enabling rich conversion from one PDL to another.
However, for PostScript this two-step process is slower than a direct conversion when compared to the performance of Jaws PDF Library (PDFLib), a companion product to Mako. PDFLib offers direct access to the same RIP component that Mako uses, but without the overhead of the Mako DOM.
IDistiller
In Mako 5.2.0, a new class was introduced that enables PostScript conversion to bypass intermediate creation of the Mako DOM during conversion of PostScript to PDF.
The route through Mako offered by the new class
Mako’s IDistiller class is intended to fulfil the requirements currently met by PDFLib, which is no longer being actively developed.
Sample code
Jaws PDF Library is an SDK; to use it, a developer must write an application to make use of it.
A sample application, testpdflibcmd, is provided not just to show how to write code for the SDK, but to provide a practical utility that can be used to exercise the RIP’s features without the need to write code.
An equivalent application, makodistillercmd, is included in the Mako SDK and can be built for any supported platform.
While the two programs use the same arguments and options, these only apply to the conversion from PostScript to PDF which is the only conversion path offered by makodistiller. Conversion in the opoosit direction as well as conversion of PDLs in addition to PostScript and PDF is offerd by makoconverter, another sample application from the Mako SDK.
Below is an option-by-option comparison of the two applications, PDFLib's testpdflibcmd and Mako's makodistiller.
Option Comparison
Key: n/a = Not Available.
Testpdflibcmd.exe | Makodistillercmd.exe | Description | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode switches | ||||
-d | -d | distiller mode, convert PS files to PDF (default) | ||
-x | n/a | xlat mode, convert PDF files to PostScript | makodistillercmd offers only PS to PDF conversion. Use makoconverter to convert PDF to any other PDL, including PostScript. | |
-I<filetype> | n/a | Convert mode, input file is of type <filetype> (default Auto) | For convert mode, valid filetypes are:
| |
-O<filetype> | n/a | Convert mode, output file is of type <filetype> | ||
-U<path> | n/a | Specifies the directory where output files are written to. | Note that <path> should be terminated by a path separator (forward slash or backslash) | |
Distill (PDF output) mode options: | ||||
-da | n/a | ASCII encode | This option is equivalent to “CompressPages=false”, a PDF output parameter available with makoconverter | |
-db... | n/a | Thumbnail options (see below) | Use Mako APIs to render page images to be used as thumbnails, if required. | |
-dB(C|N|P) | n/a | Use the DSC BoundingBox for: C=Crop box N=Nothing (default) P=Page size | makodistillercmd will always use the DSC bounding box to set both cropbox dimensions and page size to the same values. | |
-dc... | -dc… | Color image options (see below) | ||
-dC | n/a | Convert device independent colors to device dependent colors | Use makoconverter for control over color. See “PDF Output Parameters” for details. | |
-dd<dpi> | -dd<dpi> | resolution of the whole file (default 72) | ||
-dfb | n/a | embed the base 14 fonts | Testpdflibcmd offers extra options to control font embedding, eg. use -dfb for the base 14 fonts use -dfc for CID) | |
-dfc | n/a | embed disk-based (external) CIDFonts | ||
-dfe | -dfe | embed fonts | ||
-dfs | -dfs | subset fonts | ||
-dft | n/a | substitute original TrueType fonts | ||
-dg... | -dg... | Greyscale image options (see below) | ||
-dh | n/a | Preserve halftones | ||
-dI | n/a | Disable Illustrator overprint mode (requires -dv) | ||
-dj... | n/a | Job Ticket options (see below) | ||
-dL<logfile> | n/a | specify an explicit log file to use | ||
-dm... | -dm... | Monochrome image options (see below) | ||
-do | n/a | Preserve OPI | Makodistiller preserves OPI information by default | |
-dO | n/a | Optimize (aka linearize) the PDF file | Use makoconverter with the parameter “Linearize=true” if this is required. | |
-dP<format> | -dP<format> | PDF file format | For example, dP1.3 or -dP1.4 | |
-dr | n/a | auto-rotate pages according to the predominant text direction | Off by default in Makodistiller. Add | |
-ds... | n/a | Security options (see below) | Use Mako APIs to apply the security required as a post-processing step. | |
-dta | -dta | Apply transfer functions | ||
-dtp | -dtp | Preserve transfer functions | ||
-dtr | -dtr | Remove transfer functions | ||
-du | n/a | Preserve Under Colour Removal and Black Generation info | Makodistiller will preserve UCR and black generations settings by default | |
-dv | n/a | Preserve overprint | Makodistiller will preserve overprint settings by default | |
-dz | -dz | Flate/Zip compress text | ||
-dZ<option> | -dZ<option> | PDF1.5 (and above) object compression. option can be None, Tags or All | · -dZ is equivalent to -dZAll · No -dZ means -dZNone | |
-d1 | n/a | use StartDistill() rather than StartDistill2() | Not applicable to makodistiller | |
-d#<qty> | number of chars to pass to PostScriptInput() per iteration; implies -d1; also writes the PostScript to stdout; useful for diagnosing PostScript errors | |||
Distill (PDF output) mode image options | ||||
-dc* | -dc* | color image options | ||
-dg* | -dg* | grayscale image options | ||
-dm* | -dm* | monochrome image options | ||
where * is one or more of the following: | ||||
a | n/a | Average downsample | Makodistiller defaults to bicubic (most accurate downsampling algorithm) for color and grayscale, average for monochrome | |
b | n/a | Bicubic downsample (not monochrome) | ||
s | n/a | Subsample downsample | ||
A | A | Auto compression (NB: for color/grayscale only, set JPEG options with l/m/h/q switches) | ||
f | f | Flate/Zip compression | ||
p | p | Flate/Zip with Predictor compression | ||
l | l | JPEG low compression (QFactor 0.1) | JPEG is for color/grayscale only. Qfactor = quality factor | |
m | m | JPEG medium compression (QFactor 0.5) | ||
h | h | JPEG high compression (QFactor 1.3) | ||
q<QFactor> | q<QFactor> | JPEG compression using specified QFactor | ||
c | c | CCITT compression (monochrome only) | ||
y | n/a | Convert CMYK to RGB | Accomplish with Mako APIs. | |
Distill (PDF output) font options | ||||
-fp<fontPath> | -fp<fontpath> | Specifies the font directory | Must occur BEFORE -fa or -fr if they're used. | |
-fa<filename> | -fa<filename> | Adds the font filename so that PDFLib / MakoDistiller can use it, the filename can contain wildcards | ||
-ff<filename> | -ff<filename> | Lists the names of the fonts that are available in the specified font file | ||
-fr<fontname> | -fr<fontname> | removes Removes the named font from PDFLib / MakoDistiller | This switch may be repeated as necessary. | |
-fl | n/a | Lists the names of the fonts known to PDFlib / MakoDistiller | Fonts are listed when the switch is processed, thus -fa or -fr switches that occur after this switch won't have taken effect. Probably best to specify -fl as the LAST -f* switch you specify. | |
-fe<fontname> | n/a | Add the font name to the list of fonts always to embed | ||
-fn<fontname> | n/a | Add the font name to the list of fonts never to embed | ||
-fd | n/a | Display the always and never font embed lists | ||