XnView Software

Hello,

What I wanted to do:
I wanted to convert a multipage PDF into a multipage black/white 1bit PDF.

So when I was trying to do that, I was confronted with the following:
-I have PDF-Files, which I can absolutely not open. With Acrobat Reader I can.
-I have PDF-Files, which I can open, but I can not browse through the pages. with Acrobat Reader I can.

XnViewMP Version: 0.81
Windows 7 32bit

Isn't it possible to convert a color or grey multipage PDF to a multipage pdf black/white 1bit with XnViewMP?

IxenPDF wrote:I have PDF-Files, which I can absolutely not open. With Acrobat Reader I can.

In the browser, please check File > Format settings... > Read tab -- Ignore read errors (at the bottom)

IxenPDF wrote:I have PDF-Files, which I can open, but I can not browse through the pages. with Acrobat Reader I can.

In XnView MP you step through the pages in a multi-page file using the small arrow icons to the right of the larger Previous/Next file icons.

Isn't it possible to convert a color or grey multipage PDF to a multipage pdf black/white 1bit with XnViewMP?

You can do that using Tools > Batch convert... (it can be used for a single input file) if you examine the available settings on the tabs carefully, I've just checked:

Thank you for your answer.

I tryed to load your File "Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf". But I got an error "File can't be loaded."
(It is noticeable that the background behind the File is in a yellowish color.)

IxenPDF wrote:I tryed to load your File "Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf". But I got an error "File can't be loaded."
(It is noticeable that the background behind the File is in a yellowish color.)

No problem for me with Adobe Acrobat DC here in the library, do you have Ghostscript installed, x32 or x64 to match the software version you are using even on Windows x64?

I tryed to open it with XnViewMP not with Acrobat Reader.
However, I have Adobe Reader XI Version 11.0.17 installed. This is not DC.
I have Windows 7 32bit and yes, I also have installed XnViewMP 32bit.

How can I find out if I have installed Ghostscript?

IxenPDF wrote:How can I find out if I have installed Ghostscript?

If you're not sure you probably don't, if you do it should be 'gs' in Program Files (x86) for the x32 bit version...

You can download Ghostscript from Ghostscript.com.

To obtain reasonable image quality you will probably need to set a higher DPI value for rasterising images when they are opened than the default value of 72DPI: in the browser File > Format settings... > Read tab > PS/PDF -- Resolution try 300DPI, or a higher value resulting in a larger file size.

For saving 1-bit images the 'Fax' CCITT G4 compression option is lossless and results in small file sizes.

Now I have installed Ghostscript from here: http://www.chip.de/downloads/GPL-Ghosts ... 12022.html

But all is like before.
http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?fi ... 209212.gif

IxenPDF wrote:Now I have installed Ghostscript from here: http://www.chip.de/downloads/GPL-Ghosts ... 12022.html

But all is like before.
http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?fi ... 209212.gif

To be clear, are you now able to open the Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf test file I attached above?

But you are still unable to open the PDF files you wish to convert from colour to black and white, which consist of scans you made yourself?

Could you possibly upload an example PDF file that you can't open?

Thank you for asking.

A) Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf:

Now I tryed again to open your Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf

My first try was not successful. It was not able to open Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf. But suddenly I find out, that if I first mark the line with the file and then double click it, then it opens.


B) PDF-Files, which I was not able to open before Ghostscript update:

Now I tried the same with the other files which I wasn't able to open. And yes they open if I first mark them and after that double click them. And I can browse through the pages.


C) PDF-Files which I was able to open bevore the Ghostscript installing:
I can open them without first mark them before doubleclick. But in this case I can not browse through the pages.
When I mark them befor doubleclicking them, I can browse through the pages.

Background color:
It attracts attention that the files of group A) and B) have a yellowish background. Group C) has a grey background. What could this mean?

IxenPDF wrote: A) Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf:

Now I tried again to open your Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf

My first try was not successful. It was not able to open Multipage_24-bit_colour.pdf. But suddenly I find out, that if I first mark the line with the file and then double click it, then it opens.

B) PDF-Files, which I was not able to open before Ghostscript update:

Now I tried the same with the other files which I wasn't able to open. And yes they open if I first mark them and after that double click them. And I can browse through the pages.

You are opening the files from the browser and after checking myself, yes, you have to select a file before double-clicking on it to open the file.

And in the browser when I double-clicked on a file that hadn't been selected, I also got the 'file can't be opened' message you report, but not consistently, I'm not sure if there may be a small bug there

You can also of course open files from the viewer using File > Open... as in any program.

Note that in your GIF above (which shows many settings that aren't relevant) you still have the PS/PDF DPI set to the Ghostscript default of 72; you probably need 300DPI or higher, or the DPI at which the pages were scanned, to obtain good quality images.

C) PDF-Files which I was able to open before installing Ghostscript:
I can open them without first mark them before doubleclick. But in this case I can not browse through the pages.
When I mark them before doubleclicking them, I can browse through the pages.

I'm not sure how you could have opened those files without Ghostscript installed...

Background color:
It attracts attention that the files of group A) and B) have a yellowish background. Group C) has a grey background. What could this mean?

Could you post screenshots so that I can see for myself?

If you are now able to open the colour PDFs you wish to convert to 1-bit black and white, isn't configuring XnView MP batch convert to do that the next step? You will need to examine all the settings on each tab in turn to do that, and I recommend saving with Fax CCITT G4 compression to obtain a small file size.

cday wrote: you still have the PS/PDF DPI set to the Ghostscript default of 72; you probably need 300DPI or higher,

Thank you. Now I have changed it.

cday wrote: I'm not sure how you could have opened those files without Ghostscript installed...

No idea. But maybe because I had installed bevore
-a driver for my scanner, which allows to make PDF's
-the program PDFill, which I use to make PDF's from Word- documents throug the printing function and which allows to manipulate PDF's (but can't make a 1 bit PDF from a color-PDF)
-the program gImageReader which can convert Picture- PDF's to text-Pdf's
(?)

cday wrote: Could you post screenshots so that I can see for myself?

Here it is:

IxenPDF wrote:

cday wrote: Could you post screenshots so that I can see for myself?

Here it is:

XnViewMP.PNG (128.69 KiB) Viewed 1319 times

I don't know the significance of the different colours used in the browser View > View as > Details view, possibly someone else does?

cday wrote: isn't configuring XnView MP batch convert to do that the next step?

Yes, and I was able to do that. I got a file with 12 pages of 369KB. Thank you.

cday wrote: I don't know the significance of the different colours used in the browser

Also your Multipage_1-bit_B&W.pdf has a grey background.
And your Multipage_24-bit_colour.PDF has a yellowish background.

cday wrote: View > View as > Details view, possibly someone else does?

Colors are the same.

So I have learnt, that for working with PDF's we must install the external component Ghostscript. Thank you very much for supporting me.
Do we have to instal some other external components for other formats?

IxenPDF wrote:So I have learnt, that for working with PDF's we must install the external component Ghostscript. Thank you very much for supporting me.
Do we have to instal some other external components for other formats?

XnView software supports a large number of image formats, and plug-ins for many of the less common formats need to be downloaded separately and placed in the plug-ins directory. Note that 32-bit software requires 32-bit plug-ins even on a 64-bit operating system, and 64-bit software requires 64-bit plug-ins; only 32-bit plug-ins are available for many formats.

IxenPDF wrote:

cday wrote: isn't configuring XnView MP batch convert to do that the next step?

Yes, and I was able to do that. I got a file with 12 pages of 369KB. Thank you.

Would you care to upload the resulting file?

If you are interested in book scanning you might be interested in another forum http://diybookscanner.org/forum/ and also the home page.

Here is a "two page" example. Compession: Fax Unfortunately in the meantime I have discovered something unpleasant:
My original document has a text behind it. It is searchable. After converting it with XnViewMP it is no more searchable. To remain searchable is a must.