...but it does include the first round of PDF export. mac and windows online now, just finishing up and posting the linux version.

have fun!


ABOUT REV 0100 - 13 January 2005

This is a pre-release of the PDF generating code. There will be a couple
other quick releases to follow in the coming days, and this shouldn't be
considered a "stable" release since it's not been tested heavily, but we
wanted to post it for the people who'd like to try it out.

To use it the pdf library, select Sketch -> Import Library -> pdf.
And then choose one of the following methods:

+ to render everything out to a file:

 void setup() {
   size(400, 400, PDF, "filename.pdf");
 }

 void draw() {
   // draw something good here
 }

 void mousePressed() {
   exit();  // important!
 }

 this will create a sketch that draws only to a file. successive frames
 will be drawn on top of one another. when you're finished, call exit(),
 for instance, inside mousePressed() or a keyPressed() event.
 this will still open a window of size 400x400 but not draw into it.
 future releases won't open the window, since it doesn't work properly
 with sizes larger than the screen size (as might often be the case when
 rendering to a file).

+ if you want to record just a single frame, use beginRecord() and
 endRecord() inside draw:

 void draw() {
   beginRecord(PDF, "frame-####.pdf");
   // your awesome drawing happens here.
   endRecord();  // saves the file
 }

 this can also be triggered by a mouse press. the #### will cause a
 four digit "frame" number to be inserted into the filename.

+ if you want to record the entire thing to a file at the same time as
 drawing to the screen (i.e. save out an interactive drawing), do this:

 void setup() {
   size(400, 400);
   // etc
   beginRecord(PDF, "everything.pdf");
 }

 void draw() {
   // do your worst
 }

 // this needn't be mousePressed, but you need to call this somewhere
 // when you're done, to ensure that the pdf file properly closes.
 void mousePressed() {
   endRecord();
 }

Caveats with PDF rendering:

+ anything bitmapped works very poorly. so it's no good for images.

+ use createFont() with a truetype font (some opentype also work) to
 make fonts work properly. any font that shows up in PFont.list()
 should work. if you don't use createFont(), they'll likely show up
 bitmappy and gross like images. the shape of the characters may be
 weird in some cases, there seems to be a java bug with cubic vs.
 quadric splines. looking into a workaround if necessary.

+ rendering from 3D isn't yet supported, but coming soon.

+ exit() is really important when using PDF with size()

what would a java2d engine that supports 3D do? (or what would it do that P3D does not?) i'm not sure i follow.

if you want to render a single frame using size(), use noLoop() just the same as you would any other sketch. in other cases, when you don't use background(), you need to have things accumulate into the file over multiple frames, the same as they would on the screen.

and when you need the visual feedback, you use the recordXxx() methods so that you can see both.

Ok, works in 0101.

Ok, so I've just done some experimentation with the PDF exporter. It's good, but very quickly limited. As you cannot really control all the parameters, it's a little frustrating.

It's nice to be able to pull it into Illustrator and pick at your Processing drawing. This is going to be great for the students here.

Exporting images actually wasn't so bad, but unfortunately tint() isn't supported, so everything is exported at 100% opacity. Obviously it's a lot of work trying to support the *entire* internal library for PDF export, but maybe Ben could give us idea on the planned features/updates?