EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Questions and postings pertaining to the usage of ImageMagick regardless of the interface. This includes the command-line utilities, as well as the C and C++ APIs. Usage questions are like "How do I use ImageMagick to create drop shadows?".
Post Reply
Ntoriuscpm

EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by Ntoriuscpm »

I'm having a random problem with about 10% of all EPS's I read and convert through I.M.

I'm utilizing the command line, and for example, use this basic command:

Code: Select all

identify -verbose Nordstrom.eps
The problem is that I.M. will take over a minute to identify or convert a select few EPS's

File size isn't the issue, I can successfully identify and convert EPS's as large as 30 mb's, but will have issues with files that are 5 mb's. At first I thought it might be an issue with my Ghostscript installation, but I installed GhostGum, and opened some of these problem EPS's through GSView. Buit, I could quickly open these EPS's and convert them with ease through GSView in a matter of seconds...

I've also tested this on multiple boxes, and get the same result...

I'm using:
ImageMagick-6.5.9-Q16
Ghostscript 8.64

Here is a link to a sample EPS file that gives me issues:
http://ims3.com/testing/Nordstrom.eps

Any ideas on what is going on?
User avatar
magick
Site Admin
Posts: 11064
Joined: 2003-05-31T11:32:55-07:00

Re: EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by magick »

We're using ImageMagick 6.6.0-8 and Ghostscript 8.71. Identify verbose returns within 2 seconds.
Ntoriuscpm

Re: EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by Ntoriuscpm »

Do you use this EPS?
http://ims3.com/testing/Nordstrom.eps

I updated to ImageMagick 6.6.0-8 and Ghostscript 8.71 and got the same results as before. I've always used the self installers, I don't think that would make a difference?

When the info FINALLY does output, I've noticed a strange xml svg object (in the middle of the data output) hidden within the output.... I never see that with EPS's that work properly...

Thanks for the replay, I hadn't tried to upgrade my GS.
snibgo
Posts: 12159
Joined: 2010-01-23T23:01:33-07:00
Authentication code: 1151
Location: England, UK

Re: EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by snibgo »

Under Windows7, IM 6.6.0-8, GS 8.71, identify -verbose Nordstrom.eps takes about 90 seconds. Without -verbose, it takes about 10 seconds.
snibgo's IM pages: im.snibgo.com
User avatar
magick
Site Admin
Posts: 11064
Joined: 2003-05-31T11:32:55-07:00

Re: EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by magick »

We see the slowdown under Windows. The same command takes a minute under Windows and just a few seconds under Linux.
Ntoriuscpm

Re: EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by Ntoriuscpm »

You'll run into the same performance issue when you try to convert the EPS to another format aswell. I'm guessing this issue is Windows only, I'm using XP and Win Server 2003.

I'm not the most educated person on the inner relationship of Ghostscript and I.M. so correct me if I'm wrong. But I.M. depends on Ghostscript to handle Post script files like EPS's, correct? I installed GSView (which is a UI for using Ghostscript) and tried to open and convert the EPS to a .jpg. It worked perfectly, and I didn't have any performance issues... Would it be possible that, there is an issue occurring between I.M. and Ghostscript?
User avatar
magick
Site Admin
Posts: 11064
Joined: 2003-05-31T11:32:55-07:00

Re: EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by magick »

It could very well be an issue with Ghostscript. Or its possible ImageMagick could be running out of memory and the pixels may be cached to disk which is much slower than memory (see http://www.imagemagick.org/script/archi ... .php#cache). We will investigate further as time permits.
User avatar
magick
Site Admin
Posts: 11064
Joined: 2003-05-31T11:32:55-07:00

Re: EPS Conversion and Identify Problem

Post by magick »

ImageMagick extracts the rendering resolution from the Postscript or PDF file. Nordstrom.eps has a resolution of 300x300 so it creates a fairly large image. We'll add a patch, available by late tomorrow to force ImageMagick to render at a lower resolution with this command:
  • identify -verbose -density 72 Nordstrom.eps
The lower resolution will reduce the elapsed time of the identify command significantly.
Post Reply