In article ,
Stan Prevost wrote:

I don't know how to resize them, especially en masse.

I'm not sure how proficient you are at scripting, but GhostScript can
render PDFs as images. What I was trying to work out was just how high
the resolution of a PDA or Slate computer would have to be in order to
read a plate all at once. Somewhere between 480x640 and 600x800 (in a
portrait orientation) is enough that I figured you could just store pre-
rendered images and have no zooming at all. I didn't experiment with
ClearType-like technology, which would probably help quite a bit.

However, the 240x320 PDA resolution definitely requires panning and/or
zooming. If you like the PDF reader you have for your PDA it might be
the best bet. There's a decent chance these days that it does
antialiasing and supports ClearType which improves the legibility a lot.

Those sure would be really nice features, but I don't know where to get them
and I'm surely not going to generate such an app myself.

I've been considering writing one ever since they started shipping plates
on DVDs. The only PDA I have runs Linux, though, so the target audience
would be pretty small compared to a PocketPC/WinCE app.

Anyone have an old PDA they want to donate to the cause?

I expect to use the backup charts very infrequently.

Which reminds me -- the other feature that would be great for the PDA is
the ability to print plates from the archive. That's an area where the
original PDF would have a big advantage. In a pinch you could probably
fax it to the front desk of your hotel or something like that.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/