Hi,
I have been trying to understand Inkscape's PS and PDF output with v0.46. It is very confusing so I thought I would summarize what I have found in a table. I tested the various ways to get PS and PDF output with: http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/images/SVG_TESTS/svg_test.svg .
Save As Print
Cairo Vector Raster#
PS PS% PDF PS PDF PS PDF Patterns No Wrong No Wrong Wrong Yes Yes Clipping No Wrong No Wrong Wrong Yes Yes Masking No No No No No Yes Yes Transparency No Yes Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes Dashed Lines Yes Wrong Yes Wrong Wrong Yes Yes Gradient on Stroke No Yes Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes
# Only at 72 dpi regardless of DPI setting. % Crashes when run from window manager but not command line. * Displays OK in Acroread, not with Evince 0.8.2.
The "Save As" and "Print" PDF use two different Cairo routines. What is the history of this? It seems to be a bit of a waste of effort.
Tav