stripes in eps output

[Jennifer Adams]

Alan et al.,
Those horizontal stripes in the ps/eps output are a real nuisance.
Potential sources of the problem start with the contouring algorithm
in the GrADS graphics layer, but the presence of the stripes also
seem to be influenced by gxps, gxeps, any external or internal
utility that converts the .eps or .ps files to something else as they
get incorporated into written documents, and the printers used by
scientists and publishers also seem to be a factor. My recent
experience is that it's nearly impossible to predict whether you'll
get stripes or not. It's seems more likely that you'll have stripes
than no stripes, and the stripes also seem to be most garish in plots
with shaded contours and white space.

Here at COLA, we've begun using image format files (.png and .gif)
instead of vector graphic formats, simply because they're more
reliable even though they don't always look as good.

COLA users are being weaned from using PCs running MS Windows, but my
sense is that the gv32 program allowed for conversion of GrADS
metafiles into something else that did not have stripes. I can't
verify that, perhaps the windows users out there can confirm or deny.

Brian is planning to rework the contouring algorithm, so there's hope
for the future; unfortunately, that hope doesn't help in the short
term. I would see if you can get the publisher to provide a test
print of your figures, and if that looks bad, see if you can use an
image format instead. A .png at 850x1100 resolution, shrunk down to
journal size, might not look so bad.

Jennifer



On Feb 8, 2007, at 11:03 AM, Alan Robock wrote:

> Dear Friends,
>
> Has anyone found a solution to the age-old problem of horizontal lines
> between bands of color in shaded grads output?  We have eps files to
> submit for an accepted JGR paper and are concerned about how the final
> version will look.
>
> Is there anything we can do to the files before we submit them to fix
> the problem?
>
> Alan
>
> Alan Robock, Professor II
> Department of Environmental Sciences              Phone:
> +1-732-932-9478
> Rutgers University                                  Fax:
> +1-732-932-8644
> 14 College Farm Road                   E-mail:
> robock at envsci.rutgers.edu
> New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8551  USA      http://envsci.rutgers.edu/
> ~robock
>

--
Jennifer M. Adams
IGES/COLA
4041 Powder Mill Road, Suite 302
Calverton, MD 20705
jma at cola.iges.org



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