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Hi y'all,
It has been reported to me that my latest maps don't download, at least the pdf versions.
I have a Windows machine, and I have accessed them under both IE and Firefox - I suppose I could try Chrome in a minute.
I myself have had no problems (Firefox downloads take noticeably longer) but at least one user is having difficulties.
Her configuration is Linux/Firefox.
Has anyone else had problems?
I need to chase this down as it might affect the entire range of maps ....
Thanks for any assistance.
Di.
http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/fiction/45006/map-repository-a...
Comments
Chrome worked fine too
I don't know what to suggest now.
:-(
content delivery network
may be that "cdn" servers had not updated page/files in their cache yet (at that time)
i personally dont have any problems with any mentioned browsers
I use Windows7/FireFox and
I use Windows7/FireFox and had no problems downloading the maps, in pdf.
Hugs,
Erin G
Can you convert you maps to a different format?
I have found, when it comes to posting images, to keep it simple. Try to convert your files to jpg files, and post you images in that format. jpg is a simple format. And jpg is compatible with almost all modern computer OSs.
The trouble with jpegs
... is that they are not an output option from the map-drawing program that has been used - Inkscape.
Inkscape saves drawings in svg format, but that format is not allowed here on this site.
So I save the drawings as png (which is allowed here) and as pdf - and I have posted both versions.
The pdf versions have considerable more depth than the png versions and are generally smaller sized files.
So the jpeg route is just not practical for here.
But thanks for taking the trouble to reply.
All the best
D
Well...
If you want to maintain quality of a jpg file, at a smaller size, you can used html commands to make the image smaller on the page. That way a person can view the image separately, in a larger form. But, that does require a knowledgeable command of html commands.
Works fine also.
Most likely a problem of not having a pdf viewer like acrobat installed.
Which 'doze are you using?
If you are using Win7 or higher the standard Paint program can save in both png & jpg.
HTH
SammiK
Doze 8
But, as far as I'm aware, Paint doesn't accept svg as input.
I am NOT redrawing all these maps just to get a jpeg image which is so comparatively limited. I could do that by printing the stuff out and then scanning the print-outs in, storing the scans as jpegs.
All these maps have been produced from the same original, either by zooming in and deleting extraneous detail, or by zooming out and adding detail ....
And, furthermore, I do not necessarily agree that jpeg results would provide any improvement. And I am uncertain that png versions are less widely accepted.
The pdf versions all provide far greater depth of detail and is therefore my preferred version, and I have had some considerable support from others in that viewpoint.
The current problem we have is that a user here tries to download and display the pdf version and it starts but then hangs.
THAT is the problem I am trying to solve. In is getting increasingly apparent that, since others here are not reporting the same problem, indeed are not reporting ANY problems, then the user with the problem appears to have the problem on HER equipment, rather than the rest of us having the same difficulty.
However, I do appreciate your taking the time to make a suggestion, and I thank you for that.
Have an enjoyable day
Di.
All works fine for me
And on my Kindle too
J
PDF isn't always PDF
Most believe saving in PDF is a universal format. It isn't. Several of the off brand PDF format programs do NOT save in a true PDF acceptable file. Without knowing the programs the lady is running there is no way to do more than guess at her inability to download.
This is akin to asking "Why won't my car start? It is a Ford and all the other Fords on the block will start."
Of course Adobe PDF is the original format program until others started writing their PDF formats. I can understand why people don't drop the six to eight hundred dollars to own an Adobe program as they opt for the less expensive ones and maybe even the free ones.
Try this. Google for a "free "your program" to PDF format" Using your program send it to the internet which will convert it to PDF and return it to you. If that works for you then you know your PDF format program isn't acceptable to whoever you are trying to download to.
I wish you the best of luck. I never claimed to be a good program writer but the ones I wrote always worked.
always,
Barb
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
PS:
No matter what file you used before saving to PDF whether jpg, svg, whatever, once converted to PDF it is no longer the former file so it doesn't make any difference. It is a totally NEW file format as a PDF.
The lady could have a corrupt PDF format program. Yes I've run into those before too. They save as PDF but no one else can read them. What throws us off is when the same machine that corrupted it can bring it back up again as if it was a perfectly good file. We may look at our own work when no one else can. That messes with the search for problems as we try and dissect the errors.
Oklahoma born and raised cowgirl
Both Formats Display Fine For Me
I have Win8 & Firefox 37.
I use Paint.NET for image editing and file format conversion. Paint.NET will convert your PNG's to JPG. I downloaded image 12 in both PNG and PDF formats. The PNG's are pretty low resolution. I had no issue converting your PNG to JPG. I got a very good result (much higher resolution image) doing a screen capture (alt print screen) of the PDF image, then pasting the capture into Paint.NET, then saving the captured image (after some image cropping) to JPG. The file size is 252 KB with an image size of 1119x788 (easy to resize further with Paint.NET). I know it all sounds pretty klugey, but the result isn't bad. PM me an email address, and I'll send the PDF converted to JPG image if you want.
Maybe this will help the troubleshooting
I tried two combinations: Win7/Firefox 33.1 and WinXP/Firefox 33.1
On WinXP, PDFs from the link list down on the page only partially load, but I get a full load by right-clicking on the thumbnail in the descriptions in the upper part of the page.
E.g. Yod Conquests: same file name, file size, but no shading to mark conquered areas.
Dear All - THANK YOU
The problem we are chasing is nothing to do with jpegs (and Paul, all those images in the Map Repository are all dealt with with HTML commands!).
The user that has the problem starts the pdf download which then hangs. She has managed to download all the pdf stuff in the past, but is just now experiencing the difficulties.
I have had no such difficulties, and it appears that none of you do either.
Therefore, I venture to suggest that it is some configuration of HER software rather than anything I have actually posted.
The objective of this exercise was to find out if anyone else had similar problems.
I have no intention of entering any discussion on how to post, display or capture my maps in any other format than those supplied.
Unless anyone writes to me to say they can't cope with them, then I shall enter that other discussion.
As originally stated, the problem was whether or not the pdf downloads were screwy.
I thank each and every one of your for your input, and I strongly suggest that we have enough information now to be able to say that there is no problem with the downloading of the maps as stored and made available here in BCTS.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Thanks again
Diana (using Julia's login)
PDF viewer
I am also using Linux/Firefox. I have had a few problems viewing PDF files with the default viewer Okular. And using an alternate viewer usually solved the inconvenience for me. Usually the file was either very large or had to many graphical elements.
Jessica
Di, we upgraded your account to Illustrator
so your file upload size is larger. While there is a limit to picture sizes directly, 600 x 400, your file uploads are increased to 5 megabytes for a single file ea. So as long as the .pdf or other files is 5 megs or below in size you can upload it now.
If you are still having issues, please PM me and I'll assist you further.
Sephrena Lynn Miller
HELP
If you have a problem right click and open in new tab, then download the pdf file. I tried two and they worked.
Android 4.4.4 maps #12
Downloads but shows blank page in "office suite. When I open pdf with Kindle, it shows map.
Numbers 11 and 10 opened in "office suite" without obvious problems.
I'm runningManjaro Linux and
I'm runningManjaro Linux and Firefox 36.0.4. My default PDF viewer is qpdfview. Every map I clicked on downloaded and displayed clearly.
I suspect the problem is on the users end, and the solution may simply be a matter of trying a different PDF viewer.
I hope this helps.
- vessica b
PDF is not a completely portable format
PDF is a format by Adobe, based on PostScript. The only tools that are completely PDF-compatible are the Adobe tools.
Most Adobe tools, eg. Acrobat or Creative Suite do not exist for Linux. Others, like Adobe Reader, exist but always move a version or more behind their Windows counterparts. For this reason, even Adobe tools on Linux sometimes do not support PDFs made under Windows.
Also, Adobe tools are proprietary, closed source programs. Many Linux distros who do not include closed source programs will not include them.
There are many Linux tools that read and/or write PDF files. To my knowledge, however, none supports completely the latest format version. Linux people usually obtain the PDF format specs by reverse engineering the programs that support them, and this is an extremely time and effort consuming task. So, in practice Linux tools also lag a version or more behind the Adobe tools for Windows.
In addition, many sites do not just send a PDF file to the user's PC when prompted to. They launch instead complex PDF viewers, usually some parts of them implemented as JavaScript programs and other parts rely on software libraries installed on the user's PC. Such complex viewers are usually very hard to properly implement and test for every platform in existence. A lot of them are well-tested only under Windows, other - under Windows and MacOS.
To sum it all, PDF is great format for a lot of things. However, if you want your maps truly supported for most OSes around, it might be a better idea to post them as graphic files in a free format. JPG, SVG, PNG, TIF etc. work fine. And in many cases a PDF with a map is actually just a PDF container around a graphic file map, as an internal structure.
Map formats
Thank you for your reply.
As mentioned elsewhere, this site does NOT ALLOW ME to load svg images.
My map producing program (Inkscape) does NOT HAVE the option to save as jpeg, nor as gif.
So I chose the two formats that are possible for Inkscape to create and are also possible to be loaded here.
So loading them into this site has not been a problem.
It is the downloading of them, by a (so far) isolated user that caused me to question if I needed to change the maps.
It appears that I do not.
Thanks again.
Di.
Inkscape exporting bitmaps
Inkscape is a vector drawing program. It will not save directly JPG, GIF or PNG files, as these are bitmaps.
However, you can still export them from Inkscape, if you need that. Go to File -> Export Bitmap and save your map as a PNG file. You can then convert it with GIMP or another bitmap graphic program to JPG, GIF or any other bitmap format. Please have in mind, however, that with some bitmap formats you might need very big files to produce the quality you have with a vector format, including a PDF-encapsulated one.
Good luck! And hope that the problem is really down to one user!
no problems
I just pulled them up on my android smartphone and everything worked just fine.
Hugs
Missy