Draw2PDF An Acorn Draw file to PDF convertor.

Now available:

If you want to make a vector drawing available over the internet, PDF (Potrtable Document Format) is the most popular way of doing it and it is being recognised as a standard. Every RISC OS machine is shipped with the Draw program, so a Draw to PDF file convertor is a very useful utility. (Every Iyonix is shipped with a PDF viewer as well.)

Draw2PDF is an intuitive program that does exactly what its name suggests - converts Acorn Draw format files into PDF files. This inexpensive utility is the ideal companion to WebWonder. It even allows additional information to be added to the file that can be accessed by search engines..

Draw2PDF is the ideal companion to WebWonder and WhoDo, for converting family trees to PDF for use on other systems.

The PDF file:

The Draw file will be converted to a PDF version 1.3 file. It will be a single page of the same dimensions as the Draw paper limits, with the following properties and limitations:

Paths (drawing):

All drawing should export as normal except for the line end styles. PDF end styles both have to be the same, except for the triangular ends, which are handled separately by Draw2PDF.

Outline font text:

Text in the following fonts will be output as for Draw:

Fonts other than these will be rendered as outlines and may not look as good, and therefore should be avoided. (This may be improved in future versions.) * The EFF dingbats font will only export correctly where it matches Selwyn.

Text Areas:

Text areas are supported, but the same limitations apply for the fonts as for normal text objects. Underlining is not currently supported in text areas.

Pixel images:

Only JPEGs will be output directly. Sprites may be converted to JPEGs if the relevant switch is on, however masked sprites rarely convert properly and may need to be manipulated using ChangeFSI within the Draw file prior to conversion for a satisfactory outcome. Transformed sprites (ie. scaled, sheared or rotated) will be translated into JPEGs and then transformed in the PDF file. (!Draw does not permit rotational or shear transformations of its JPEGs.)

File Information:

In addition to the Title, Subject and Author, a Creator field is automatically created to show that the file was created by Draw2PDF, stating its version details. The Creation date is exported in international format to assist in searching. The PDF viewing software will usually show the date in a more user-friendly format.

File compression:

All files will be compressed using 'Flate' compression unless they contain JPEGs greater than 32K in size, in which case the non-JPEG code will be left uncompressed. A switch can be set to off to disable compression for debugging purposes.

Click here to get a copy.