[poppler] Image optimization

[Leonard Rosenthol]

At 11:40 PM 5/21/2005, Jeff Muizelaar wrote:
>I don't quite understand what you mean. Can you draw semi-transparent
>circle with splash?

         Yes.

         You do, however, have to specify that you want an alpha channel 
when you specify the SplashColorMode:
   splashModeARGB8,              // 1 byte per component, 4 bytes per pixel:
                                 //   ARGBARGB...
   splashModeBGRA8,              // 1 byte per component, 4 bytes per pixel:
                                 //   BGRABGRA...

   I submitted to Derek, and it will be in the next Xpdf release, support 
for rendering to a CMYK output buffer:
   splashModeCMYK8,              // 1 byte per component, 4 bytes per pixel:
                                 //   CMYKCMYK...
   splashModeACMYK8              // 1 byte per component, 4 bytes per pixel:
                                 //   ACMYKACMYK...



>The eventual goal is to change this xpdf code into a set of support
>functions that the backends can call if they don't support
>patterns/shading natively. This will allow us to use cairo's support for
>shading and patterns.

         IMO, that's a BAD idea unless you expect Cairo (or Arthur, etc.) 
to support EXACTLY (and completely) the renderings required by the PDF 
specification.  There is a LOT of stuff that is quite PDF-centric about the 
rendering of both of these things - in fact, Derek and I are discussing a 
discrepancy with pattern rendering between Xpdf and Acrobat based on an 
ambiguity in the PDF Reference.  This is the type of thing that if you move 
to a Cairo (etc.) rendering model, you will have problems with.

         Transparency support only compounds this, as Cairo (for example) 
only offers simple alpha blending - but nothing like the full transparency 
model of PDF (blending modes, transparency groups, etc.) and trying to mix 
that with shading and pattern ops is asking for trouble.


> > >It also is not very suited to hardware acceleration.
> >
> >         Why?
>
>The way splash does images is by doing the compositing pixel by pixel
>instead of blitting a buffer.

         True, but that has no bearing on hardware acceleration...

         Pixel by pixel is done since the logic of transformations is 
handling in the OutputDev while Splash only worries about the buffer.


>The cairo backend draws by string, whereas the splash backend draws by
>character.

         Has enough testing been doing on a variety of document (esp. CJK 
with vertical and unusual interchar/interword spacing) to validate this 
model?  That's why Splash draws char by char, since Xpdf handles the 
complexities of font metrics vs. PDF metrics when drawing a string.  Does 
the Cairo backend address this??


>So doing code sharing is harder without changing splash to draw by string 
>as well.
         Or better - changing Cairo to draw char by char.


Leonard
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leonard Rosenthol                            <mailto:leonardr at pdfsages.com>
Chief Technical Officer                      <http://www.pdfsages.com>
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