For The Love Of Port

Posted: **Fri Jan 15, 2016 2:22 pm**

For the sake of completeness, there is now a /A3 test PDF, with circle sizes as follows.

On /A3 = 420mm×297mm:
13 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈ 128.918 pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 3.58″ ≈ 91.0mm 
14 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈ 122.466 pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 3.40″ ≈ 86.4mm 
15 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈ 118.978 pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 3.30″ ≈ 83.9mm 
16 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈ 113.932 pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 3.16″ ≈ 80.4mm 
18 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈ 110.614 pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 3.07″ ≈ 78.0mm 
19 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈ 107.034 pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 2.97″ ≈ 75.5mm 
20 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈ 103.868 pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 2.89″ ≈ 73.3mm 
21 glasses   ⇒   radius ≈  98.4921pt ⇒  diameter ≈ 2.74″ ≈ 69.5mm

Posted: **Fri Jan 15, 2016 3:26 pm**

Andy Velebil wrote:So 16 is probably the max one would want to go?

With the glasses I tested, 18 was o.k. I wouldn't want to do 20.

Glenn wrote:... but no one broke any glasses or spilled any Port so it didn't seem to be a problem.

Glenn, what are the base and max bowl diameters for the Marjorie Lumm glasses? As I recall, I spilled a little tawny

Posted: **Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:46 pm**

Eric Menchen wrote:Glenn, what are the base and max bowl diameters for the Marjorie Lumm glasses? As I recall, I spilled a little tawny

I keep forgetting to measure these... I'll try to do it tomorrow.

As you can see on page 110 of the newsletter (issue 87), the base fits easily into the circle on a 20-up 11 x 17 placemat. If you squint just right, you can see that the base is narrower than the widest part of the bowl as well.

Posted: **Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:18 pm**

Glenn E. wrote:As you can see on page 110 of the newsletter (issue 87), the base fits easily into the circle on a 20-up 11 x 17 placemat. If you squint just right, you can see that the base is narrower than the widest part of the bowl as well.

I looked at that picture, and I think there are only 18 circles on that placement. The second and fourth rows from the front only have four glasses. The first and third rows have four glasses, but five circles. Page 98 has a 20 glass layout.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2016 9:18 am**

Eric Menchen wrote:
Glenn E. wrote:As you can see on page 110 of the newsletter (issue 87), the base fits easily into the circle on a 20-up 11 x 17 placemat. If you squint just right, you can see that the base is narrower than the widest part of the bowl as well.
I looked at that picture, and I think there are only 18 circles on that placement. The second and fourth rows from the front only have four glasses. The first and third rows have four glasses, but five circles. Page 98 has a 20 glass layout.

Yes, you're right. I think I saw the empty "FTLOP" circle and mentally added it to all 4 rows instead of just the 2 that it's actually on.

So yes, 18-up is on page 110 and 20-up is on page 98. Both are shown with INAO tasting glasses from Marjorie Lumm.

Posted: **Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:11 pm**

Julian D. A. Wiseman wrote:
Eric Menchen wrote:at one point I got hit by the bug/feature that required a huge amount of processing and prevented me from using some of the online PDF converters. And when I was using ghostscript, it was taking a long time with that version.
That has been fixed. Sorry about that.

But I can see in your sweet-wine tasting that a more recent version would have had slightly more elegant output. Please update.

Provided late, but I have confirmed and verified that the current software has fixed the bug in GhostScript referenced by Eric. http://www.ps2pdf.com will once again convert with /inlinetitles true.

Posted: **Mon Apr 25, 2016 3:39 pm**

General rule: always download the latest version. New versions fix bugs; add features; improve default settings.

Posted: **Sat May 07, 2016 12:41 am**

Recently Glenn told me that several American placemat makers prefers the rows on the glasses pages to go bottom-to-top, rather than the standard top-to-bottom.

This is not my taste, because the glasses pages then go in the opposite direction to the TN pages, but those who enter directly to digital would have no care of that.

Alas bottom-to-top was fiddly, as it had to be entered for each possible glasses layout. That has been simplified: direction can be changed by a single ‘global’ boolean parameter.

The manual wrote:PermittedPackingStyles renamed to PackingStyles. Relatedly, the parameters /PackingNestingColumnMajor, /PackingDirectionTopToBottom and /PackingDirectionLeftToRight did exist at the level of an individual item of the parameter now called PackingStyles; there are now ‘global’ parameters of the same name, applicable unless overridden by an individual packing style.

(This post also on TPF—if discussing please check there for comment.)

Posted: **Sun May 08, 2016 3:14 pm**

Thanks Julian! I use your placemats frequently - thanks for all the work you have put into developing (and maintaining) the code.

Posted: **Sun May 08, 2016 3:33 pm**

There is a list of old placemats, which includes some not made by me. If you upload yours somewhere and send me links (when applicable, also send links to FTLOP/other planning and review threads), I’ll add your placemats to the list.

And if the parameters are fiddly for your usage, don’t be shy about telling me. It might—and might not—be fixable.

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2017 12:31 pm**

Testing a deeper black: does CMYK print as a deeper black than RGB? Please print the first page of each and report back. Thank you

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:11 pm**

Hopefully Glenn will add our local tasting placemats and even the incredible Madeira tastings that take place in NY every year. Thanks Julian!

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:19 pm**

Roy Hersh wrote:Hopefully Glenn will add our local tasting placemats and even the incredible Madeira tastings that take place in NY every year.

I maintain a list of placemats, which includes (some of) those not made by me and not used by me. Very willing to include more of those used by RAH and friends.

But I would like the new black tested on a variety of printers. Please include your printer.

Julian D. A. Wiseman wrote:Testing a deeper black: does CMYK print as a deeper black than RGB? Please print the first page of each and report back. Thank you

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:27 pm**

But I would like the new black tested on a variety of printers

So are you saying it is true that Orange is the New Black?

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:34 pm**

Roy Hersh wrote:So are you saying it is true that Orange is the New Black?

Screens tend to work in a colourspace called ‘RGB’, which is about adding light to an otherwise unlit screen. Printers tend to work in a colourspace called ‘CMYK’, which is about absorbing light on otherwise-white paper. These colourspaces work differently. (Much geekiness is being suppressed: be grateful.) I’m testing changing the pure-black, which is much of most pages, from RGB to CMYK. Does that cause any problems? Please tell me.

There is no ‘O’ in ‘RGB’, nor in ‘CMYK’.

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:37 pm**

Sorry for a silly American TV show reference in an otherwise serious thread.

Posted: **Thu Aug 31, 2017 4:13 pm**

Julian D. A. Wiseman wrote:Testing a deeper black: does CMYK print as a deeper black than RGB? Please print the first page of each and report back. Thank you

Are you actually overlaying inks to make black? On the color laser printers I've used (and other technologies for that matter going back 20+ years), this sometimes gives a richer black, but also one that sacrifices sharp edges. Some programs and printers will even recognize that you're making black and swap out for black ink, and sometimes even if you aren't going 100% (under color removal). But I'm guessing with raw PostScript in the PDF you can probably avoid this, at least on PostScript printers. I guess I should try your test pages using both PostScript and non-PostScript printer drivers, too?

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2017 6:05 am**

Eric Menchen wrote:Are you actually overlaying inks to make black? On the color laser printers I've used (and other technologies for that matter going back 20+ years), this sometimes gives a richer black, but also one that sacrifices sharp edges. Some programs and printers will even recognize that you're making black and swap out for black ink, and sometimes even if you aren't going 100% (under color removal). But I'm guessing with raw PostScript in the PDF you can probably avoid this, at least on PostScript printers. I guess I should try your test pages using both PostScript and non-PostScript printer drivers, too?

The text in the Circlearrays is typically just under 8pt, so can have very fine lines. Using multiple colours would risk a slight registration (=offset) error. Hence my CMYK page uses 0 0 0 1 setcmykcolor. If I were printing a substantial contiguous area of black, it should be richened with a little of the CMY, and (apparently) a mite less K. But the fine edges force the 0 0 0 1 decision.

Black on the RGB page is the obvious 0 0 0 setrgbcolor = 0 setgray.

If you have expert knowledge, and my reasoning is wrong, please do correct it.

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2017 9:56 am**

Julian D. A. Wiseman wrote:If you have expert knowledge, and my reasoning is wrong, please do correct it.

I can't argue with what you've written. My expert knowledge in this field is 25+ years old, so fuzzy at best.

Posted: **Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:32 pm**

Roy Hersh wrote:Thanks Julian, for bumping this forward.

Whenever you release a new version of the software or a year or two passes by, please feel free to do the same and no permission is needed for this.

As there might be people unaware of this software, I hope a re-statement of its purpose and non-cost is still allowed.

jdaw1 wrote:A good tasting might consist of ten bottles and six or seven people. Most of an hour is spend carefully sampling and commenting on the vintages, before this enjoyable task is supplanted by the also enjoyable tasking of drinking. As readers of this bulletin board surely know, it can be a fine way to spend an evening.

But it is very important not to become confused about which glass is which. Hence when I host such an evening, a placemat is prepared for each guest, carefully identifying the place for each glass. And I have written a small PostScript program that makes such placemats and matching decanter labels, a program that is published at www.jdawiseman.com/papers/placemat/placemat.html, with example output at www.jdawiseman.com/papers/placemat/placemat.pdf. It takes a little technical skill to operate it, but not much.

And it's free: £0 = $0 = €0 = ¥0.

(Since that was written 11¼ years ago, the “small” program has become quite large, and I am no longer its only user. But still completely free and open source.)

Share and enjoy that which is useful drinking technology.

For The Love Of Port

Free useful thing for those hosting a tasting

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