I’m not an expert on MATLAB’s graphics (I’m a compiler guy), but my sources indicate that the Z buffer data is transient and not available to MATLAB functions.

there is a bug in MCR R2007a. matlab/sys/gs8x is not included in the MCR, Ghostscript will not run.

This bug was fixed as of R2007b

If you are using a previous version, copy the contents of the matlab/sys/gs8x directory into the MATLAB Component Runtime\v76\sys folder

I think the bloggers should be more specific about the Matlab version they refer to. Not all companies and universities purchase the newest release half a year.

I tried to generate a PDF document using print with a deployed program. There are several error messages in the DOS window. My Matlab version is R2007a. Is there any work around for the errors described below? What version did you compile your program with?

The error messages are:

Warning: See help sprintf for valid escape sequences.
> In graphics\private\ghostscript at 74
In print at 290
In SpeichereAbbildung at 94
In AlarmMaske\DruckknopfSpeichern_Callback at 522
In gui_mainfcn at 95
In AlarmMaske at 42
??? Error using ==> graphics\private\ghostscript at 74
Can not find the directory for Ghostscript in c:

Error in ==> SpeichereAbbildung at 92

Error in ==> AlarmMaske>DruckknopfSpeichern_Callback at 522

Error in ==> gui_mainfcn at 95

Error in ==> AlarmMaske at 42

??? Error using AlarmMaske(‘DruckknopfSpeichern_Callback’,gcbo,[],guidata(gcbo))
Error using ==> graphics\private\ghostscript at 307
Error using ==> graphics\private\ghostscript at 74
Can not find the directory for Ghostscript in c:

??? Error while evaluation uicontrol Callback

Have you tried printing to PDFs from a deployed application using the PRINT command directly? I’ve compiled and run the toPDF function below on a Windows machine, and it generates a PDF file very similar (if not identical) to that created by an interactive MATLAB session.

function toPDF
knot;
print(gcf, ‘-dpdf’, ‘knot.pdf’);

Your point about the help button in the Print Preview dialog box is well taken. I’ll enter that as a bug into our bug-tracking system. Thanks for pointing that out.

The frame around the object of interest is clearly visible. The figure property InvertHardCopy is set to “off” so a white frame is printed/ saved white.

The settings of the PDF printer are chosen in a way that the figure is not resized, but printed/ saved in its original size.

It seems that the only way to save a PDF file from a deployed application is printdlg. Everything else I have tried out so far causes error messages or does not work properly.

thank you very much for writing about printing. The function printdlg is handy for deployed applications.

However, there are some little issues about printing:

1. I tried to print a figure containing an image and a title of it to a PDF. The image contains a pengin swimming in a bassin. A colored frame is drawn around the pengin. In the GUI, the contrast between the frame and the background is strong so the frame can be seen very well. The title does not appear in the GUI, but texts in GUIs are readable anyway. However, in the PDF the frame seems to be thinned and the text is somehow smeared.

2. The print preview is in English even on a machine with non-English Windows. Moreover, I get an error message in the DOS window when pressing the help button. This might confuse some users. Either the help button should be invisible in a deployed application or help should be implemented in another way.

It is easy to open a figure and let the user export an image or diagram from there. However, the user might try to use some functionality that does not work properly when the program is deployed. This does not only apply for the print preview. In Matlab it is possible to save a figure to a PDF and the resulting PDF looks good. However, when the program is deployed, trying to save (not to print) a figure to a PDF does not work and causes an error message in the DOS window. A simple, but not very elegant work around is discouraging users from trying to create PDFs.