[Ipe-discuss] two suggestions

[Otfried Cheong]

 > 1. I found the "mouse buton indicator" panel in Ipe 5 very
 > helpful. (Especially when you also use another graphics editor,
 > shuch as the one in OpenOffice.)  Could it be re-introduced in Ipe
 > 6?

Maybe later, if time permits.  It doesn't look as if there's going to
be any progress on Ipe during this semester...

Note, though, that drawing modes in Ipe 6 do explain the function of
the mouse buttons (and of possible keys) in the status line, and users
who have forgotten the mouse shortcuts can always simply use the mode
buttons. 

 > 2. I noticed that when Ipe converts a .xml file to a .eps file it
 > includes all the Type 1 fonts.  Is it possible to make that
 > optional (configurable?), thus reducing the size of the .eps file?

What use would an eps without the fonts be?  It wouldn't be possible
to include or display it.

If you are willing to use standard postscript fonts to reduce the file
size, you can just put \usepackage{mathptm} etc in your preamble.  But
even then the eps files are quite big.  Ipe generates EPS by running
the pdftops program (it's embedded in the xpdf library used by Ipe),
and that isn't optimized for file size.  

Sometime I'll make the effort to write my own Postscript output
functions...

Otfried