[R] WMF conversion...

[Marc Schwartz]

On Feb 10, 2010, at 6:16 AM, Jason Rupert wrote:

> Hello R-Help, 
> 
> I've got a bit of an issue with WMF's.   I am working on WindowsXP and outputting WMF format images.   I then take the WMF format images and insert them in PowerPoint.   I take the PowerPoint and convert it to PDF.  
> 
> The WMFs are nothing special.  Just the typical x-y plot with a gray dotted grid added and a few matlines.  The WMFs, when produced look great!   They show all the necessary detail.     
> 
> Unfortunately, after placed in the PowerPoint and the PowerPoint is converted to PDF via MS Office's built in conversion utility, the resulting image have diagonal streaks across them from the y-axis down to the x-axis.  The rest of the document is perfect, but the WMF images now have streaks across them.  It looks like it may be caused, somehow, by the dotted grid. 
> 
> I am locked into the workflow where I must place images in a PowerPoint and then convert it to PDF, so is there a different image format I should use or is there and intermediate step I need to use so that the streaks do not appear? 
> 
> Thanks for any feedback and insight. 
> 
> Jason


As far as I know, there is no MS 'branded' PDF conversion utility. If you have something built-in, it is likely Adobe's Acrobat application, which does provide a PPT to PDF file conversion capability:

  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/powerpoint/HA100649921033.aspx

If that is what you have, be sure to use any options for the highest quality settings. Other available options will likely use some type of compression, which will degrade the image quality. I would look for any Adobe documentation that you may have on this, or check their web site for online information.

Also, review this R FAQ and see if any of the anti-aliasing options in Acrobat Reader (presuming that is what you are viewing the PDF in) might help:

  http://cran.r-project.org/doc/FAQ/R-FAQ.html#Why-are-there-unwanted-borders

Alternatively, test Zamzar, which is an online conversion facility:

  http://zamzar.com/


HTH,

Marc Schwartz