PDF problems on multiple platforms

[Thomas Michanek <tmi@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We need to convert our Frame documents to PDF so that they
can be viewed in Acrobat Reader on both UNIX and Windows NT 4.
We can distill to PDF on either platform.

General problem: text and graphics appear different in Acrobat
Reader on the two platforms. We need them to look as similar
as possible, regardless on which platform the PDF is produced.
What platform should we distill on and with which settings?

*** We need advice from people with experience of PDF 
*** generating and viewing on both platforms.
*** This request is rather urgent, since we need to show
*** the advantages with multi-platform PDF viewing.

OUR SETUP:
FrameMaker version 5.5.3 on both platforms.
Acrobat Distiller 3.02 on Windows NT 4.
Printer driver: Distiller Assistant v3.01.
Acrobat Distiller 3.01 on UNIX (Solaris).
Acrobat Exchange/Reader 3.01 on both platforms.
Distiller settings (identical on both platforms): 
  Compress text and line art, Downsample bitmap images on or off 
  (see below), Manual ZIP compression, Embed all fonts, Preserve
  transfer functions, Unchanged color conversion, 3.0 compatibility
Fonts used: Times, Helvetica, Courier (Type 1 versions)
Graphics (imported screendumps) are monochrome, grayscale,
  and color, at different dpi's (72, 100, 150, etc.)
All documents viewed at 100% scale.

PROBLEM 1:
The fonts Times and Courier appear identical on UNIX and Windows,
but the font Helvetica appear different (without smooth).
The Acrobat Online Guide says:
"A font rasterizer is built into Windows, OS/2, and UNIX Acrobat
viewers. Adobe Type Manager (ATM) is used to rasterize fonts on 
the Macintosh."
Why then does Helvetica look different on UNIX and Windows?
Note: we embed fonts, but are these fonts really embedded?

PROBLEM 2:
When viewing a UNIX-generated PDF on Windows, the grayscales
and colors are rendered differently compared to UNIX.
The same is true for Windows-generated PDF viewed on UNIX.
Some grayscales/colors become "dotty" or "patterned" in a
way that doesn't happen on the other platform. This is
difficult to explain in words, but very annoying on-screen.
Is this difference in the Acrobat Readers a known and
unavoidable problem?

PROBLEM 3:
When downsampling graphics is turned off, the resulting PDF
becomes much larger in Windows (as expected). However, on
UNIX, the resulting PDF actually becomes *smaller* (with
all other settings being identical in the Distiller).
We have checked the resulting PDF by zooming in on graphics, 
and the graphics are really downsampled (or not) as expected,
on both platforms. Can anyone explain this?

PROBLEM 4:
With smoothing turned on, monochrome graphics at 72 dpi are
not affected on UNIX, but they become "smoothed" in Windows.
If you change the scale somewhat, the graphics are not
"smoothed" anymore.
Is this a known "feature" and how do you avoid it?

Other questions:
Is the used printer driver in Windows a bad choice?
How do we know what PPD is associated with the driver?
Do we need exactly the same version of Distiller on both
platforms? Is any version "better" than the other?

Grateful for any advice,


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Thomas Michanek, Documentation Manager, Telelogic Tau
Telelogic AB, Teknikringen 9, SE-58330 Linkoping, SWEDEN
PHONE/FAX:  +46 (0)13 200656/212166
EMAIL:  mailto:Thomas.Michanek@telelogic.com
WWW 1:  http://www.telelogic.com
WWW 2:  http://hem1.passagen.se/framers
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