vector graphic problem

[nosamiam]

I know some of you use vector graphic programs so I'm hoping someone can help me out. I'm using Inkscape on my Mac. I designed a daughterboard that looks like this:



But if I try to save it as a PDF, or more importantly try to print it, it comes out like this:



Notice the thinning & thickening of the tracks? Anybody know what's going on here and how to fix it?

[JDoyle]

It is the PDF conversion that is doing it - try PRINTING it as a PDF (on a PC you would select a PDF printer instead of your normal printer).

PDF and vector artwork don't get along all that well outside of basic shapes and text. Exporting as a JPEG or TIFF and then converting THAT to a PDF would almost certainly solve your problems.

When you print to PDF, the PDF coversion is done after the document has been converted to a postscript image to be sent to a printer, so it is essentially the same thing as saving as a raster (bitmapped) image and then converting to PDF.

[Altitude]

That's odd.  Can you outline stroke in inkscape? If all else fails export it as JPG at a resolution higher than your printer, the results should be identical

[nosamiam]

It is the PDF conversion that is doing it - try PRINTING it as a PDF (on a PC you would select a PDF printer instead of your normal printer).

PDF and vector artwork don't get along all that well outside of basic shapes and text. Exporting as a JPEG or TIFF and then converting THAT to a PDF would almost certainly solve your problems.

When you print to PDF, the PDF coversion is done after the document has been converted to a postscript image to be sent to a printer, so it is essentially the same thing as saving as a raster (bitmapped) image and then converting to PDF.

I'll give that a try. Thanks!

[nosamiam]

That's odd.  Can you outline stroke in inkscape? If all else fails export it as JPG at a resolution higher than your printer, the results should be identical

Not sure if you can outline a stroke.

[Electric Warrior]

sure you can. ctrl+alt+c