New PDF format

[tricycle222]

I am using a MacBookPro with OS X Version 10.5.5 and iTunes for MyFeed. I found that the native pdf viewer Preview caused errors below the surface with JapanesePod101 pdfs in iTunes. ( The console message was ...ThomasRikeMBP1.local Preview[1105] <Error>: CGContextClosePath: no current point.) This continued to for 1000's of times clogging up the system log, so I had to change my pdf viewer to Adobe Reader 9.0 (Slow, bulky and insidious.) This eliminated the problem in Console, so I accepted this compromise. This morning, it seems you have changed the format of the pdf files you send. First this caused Adobe to require a 13 Mb Japanese Font download. (Certainly a waste since Mac's already have Japanese fonts installed by default). Even then the file open with a warning that there is an error in the file and it may not display correctly and directing the viewer to contact the person who created the file to get it fixed. The file is clearly different from previous files. (I checked the actual code inside the file.) It uses a very plain text and even plainer Japanese font. Neither are very pleasing to the eye in comparison to the font used previously. If this is the only way to get copy and paste capability in pdfs which some people apparently want, then I guess I will have to accept one more downgrade because I love JapanesePod101.com. However, I would like to be able to open the files without the warning and error message appearing on my screeen each time I open a pdf from you. I hope you have a solution. Thanks, Thomas Rike

[cwabbott]

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EDIT 2009 - PDF issue is solved via Lesson Notes and Lesson Notes Lite versions, choose the one that works for you.

Prior to Oct 24 2008 all the lessons only had "Lesson Notes" without the "Lesson Notes Lite" versions. The Lesson Notes PDFs prior to Oct 24 2008 should all work fine with Mac's Preview, Adobe Reader, and other PDF reader software - because these PDFs were generated using a different technology than the current PDFs are.

Any lesson after Oct 24 2008 should have both the Lesson Notes and Lesson Notes Lite PDFs - the Lite versions will work with all readers (except screen reading software for accessibility). The regular Lesson Notes version will work for all standard readers (best with Adobe Reader 8 or 9), screen reading software for accessibility, and adds a few new features such as copy and paste.
***********

Thomas-san

Thank you for letting us know your concerns. We are working very diligently to clean up and improve the usability and features of our PDFs. We understand that the previous PDFs were flawed, and that the new PDFs require some changes. We hope that with a little time, and effort - we will find that perfect balance between usability, features, and convenience. Thank you for your patience. Just as a note, the new PDFs will provide many more new features. Just a few are:

* Searching PDFs now work (it did not work in the old PDFs)
* COPY / PASTE now works - this is very useful to people studying and trying to take notes elsewhere
* The PDFs are now compatible with special accessibility software (ie. screen readers)
* There are bookmarks already in place for you to quick-click

We also plan on adding more features - after we work out any remaining kinks or issues.

For anyone having issues with the PDFs please download the newest version of Adobe Reader.

You can download the latest version of Adobe Reader here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/r ... sions.html

**Mac users will need to use Adobe Reader 9 instead of Preview.

Thank you,
Charles

[tricycle222]

Charles-san

Thanks for the reply. I see from the pdf in Newbie S4 L16 today that the lesson notes are not readable on a Mac without Adobe Reader. Do you have a Mac using OS X 10.5.5? We don't open files to look at them on a Mac, we use QuickLook. The pdf is displayed instantaneously on the the screen without opening any program. This way a folder with 100's of pdfs can be skimmed with a touch of the fingertips on the trackpad . As of yesterday the lesson pdfs only show a bunch of empty squares. The only way to see the pdf is to open it with Adobe Reader which takes forever to open, is a memory hog, and cpu hog.

In addition to this lack of utility I must reiterate the ugly Japanese font that Adobe uses leaves much to be desired. I do have Adobe Reader 9.0O and even, made it the default browser to stop errors that were promulgated by opening JapanesePod101 pdf lesson files with Preview. However, that does not stop the problem I now have of getting an error message from Adobe every time your new pdfs are opened telling me to contact the creator of the pdf file and have them fix it. I hope you will have a Mac user try out your ideas in the future. Hope you find a solution soon. Thanks again.

気をつけて、ライク・トマス

[cwabbott]

Thomas-san,

Thanks again for the insight. I actually do have a Mac with OS X - as well as a windows PC. I realize that the PDFs don't show up correctly using Preview / QuickLook - and it is an issue that is not easily solved. The previous PDFs worked because we used a process that embedded a subset of the font mapping into the PDF. It worked in showing the glyphs - but unfortunately it was not very friendly in other ways (hence some parts of the new feature list). If we embed a full Japanese font into the PDF then you can expect the PDF size to be over 1MB each We are considering some alternatives in font, as soon as we get one that works well - and looks good (relative) then we will definitely do so.

When you stated this:

to stop errors that were promulgated by opening JapanesePod101 pdf lesson files with Preview

Did you have that problem before the new PDFs or after?

Concerning the pop-up error message. We have fixed that issue, but it looks like we will need to go back through some of the PDFs we had previously generated and regenerate them.

Please let me know if you have any other issues, questions, or comments. We really look forward to improving the PDFs and other features at JapanesePod101.com - because some of us use them too

Charles

[Neil53]

I have the same problems as listed by tricyle. Looks like everyone will. I appreciate the new features. Just need to get the errors and ugly font fixed.

[tricycle222]

Charles-san

Thanks for your rapid update of the situation. In reply to your query:

My Quote:
to stop errors that were promulgated by opening JapanesePod101 pdf lesson files with Preview
Your Quote:
Did you have that problem before the new PDFs or after?

The problem existed from the start with JapanesePod101 pdfs. It would not be noticeable to the usual user, but I constantly monitor the system logs.

For previous pdfs opened with Preview the following message appears (1000's of times)
10/25/08 6:45:44 PM [0x0-0x58058].com.apple.Preview[1130] Sat Oct 25 18:45:44 ThomasRikeMBP1.local Preview[1130] <Error>: CGContextClosePath: no current point.

For the new pdfs opened with Preview the following message appears (1000's of times)
10/25/08 6:48:10 PM [0x0-0x58058].com.apple.Preview[1130] encountered unexpected symbol `T'.

With Adobe Reader 9, there is no problem. I guess I will just have to get used to looking at the fonts that Adobe forces us to use. They do not look as bad when they are printed, as they do on the screen. Thanks again for your support. I'll be looking forward to not seeing the warning message when I open the pdfs in the future.

Take care, Tom Rike (apparently using Japanese Keyboard on a Mac doesn't convert)

[liam]

Hi cwabbott,
Which PDF reader do you recommend for Linux? The Adobe Reader 9.0 hasn't been released on Linux. And none of the other readers like Evince or KPDF can read the new format. I vote for the old format so I can at least read the JapanesePod101 PDFs.

[cwabbott]

Hello liam-san

Which PDF reader do you recommend for Linux? The Adobe Reader 9.0 hasn't been released on Linux. And none of the other readers like Evince or KPDF can read the new format.

Please download the Adobe Reader version 8. It also supports the Japanese Language Fonts and will properly render the PDF. You can get Reader 8 for Linux here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/r ... sions.html

Thomas-san

Thank you for the additional information. We appreciate your feedback and support. Hopefully we have fixed all the newly generated PDFs to not display the pop-up error. Please let me know if you have any other problems.

Charles

[liam]

Hi Charles-san,

Thanks, yes Adobe 8 for Linux and a Japanese fonts download does seem to display that new PDF format, although it does popup an error box.

Thanks,
Liam.

[KatH]

I hope you'll be able to get a way for the fonts to work normal again in Preview. I too, use a mac. But the way I'm set up, I don't actually use Preview or Adobe Reader. I have a software called Curio, in which I organize everything; 1 idea space per lesson... so that all my audio, video and pdfs are all on one page for a specific lesson. Having a tablet, Curio lets me take notes like I want it, on the same page. However, Curio uses Preview to insert the PDFs.

[Joao_Paulo]

I could see that I am not alone here.

I completely agree with "tricycle222". I would much rather use my Preview instead of Adobe. I had to download it uniquely for reading the new PDFs.

I also didn't like the fonts so much and besides, as I posted in a lesson comment, I can no longer open the PDFs at work where I simply cannot install the Japanese fonts.

In order to solve the problem for now, I've been taking "Snapshots" of the screen, so that I can access it in other computers.

I also hope these new PDFs can be improved.

[cwabbott]

Hello KatH-san, Joao_Paulo-san,

Thank you for your feedback. We are working hard to improve the PDFs, and hope to make them fully accessible to everyone.

We hope to have additional updates soon.

Thank you,
Charles

[ShiroiNeko]

I like the new pdf format - the font doesn't bother me.
I have enough trouble reading stylized and distorted fonts in other publications.

What I was hoping would be fixed was the cover page.
The cover page is a waste of paper and red ink.
You don't need an entire page to display an index, especially when the entire pdf is only 3 or 4 pages long.
You don't even really need an index at all ...

A small banner heading with the lesson details and title would be enough.


FierceCat o o O O ( Grrrr - HISS )

[carlton]

I'm really unhappy with the new PDFs - I want to be able to use standard software that's installed on my Mac or my Linux machine to read them, not to have to open them with one special PDF reader. I don't know if you're using some bleeding edge version of the PDF standard or what, but I really hope that you reconsider this decision: copying and pasting are nice, but not at the expense of having to install special software for that purpose. (Especially since I assume I'd have to install it as the default PDF reader to get clicking on the files in iTunes to work.)

[Liz21]

I think that the new pdf format opens up only with Safari, not Firefox? Is this true? I need help! I can't open the pdfs in Firefox, even though I downloaded Adobe Reader 9 and used Firefox Preferences to say, "Open PDF with Adobe".
Someone please help me? Do I have to use Safari for this now, because it does open in Safari?