BMP is the standard MS-Windows raster format.
(BMP files can be created with Windows' Paintbrush and used as
"wallpaper" for the background when running Windows. See your
Windows manual about using BMP files as wallpaper.)
Windows uses a fixed color palette for BMP files which cannot be
changed, as doing so would make the screen and border colors change too.
This means that transferring an image to the BMP format may result in
some color shifts when BMP files are imported into Windows applications.
DIB files are applied mainly in computer multimedia systems.
They can also be can be used as image files in the Windows environment.
RLE files are actually "DIB" files that use one of the RLE compression
routines. A DIB image that has been saved by means of using one of the
RLE compression methods would produce an identical file as when saving
the same image directly in an RLE format.
(The only difference would be the file name extension !)
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The CompuServe GIF is commonly used to upload documents to the
CompuServe Information Service and to pass documents between other
types of computers. The idea behind designing GIF files was to create
the smallest possible image file for uploading and downloading from
electronic Bulletin Board Systems (BBS), thus producing a highly
compressed format that minimizes file transfer time over phone lines.
The compression is accomplished by using the LZW method for indexed
color tables.
There are two GIF file versions: 87a and 89a.
Both versions may use an encoding method referred to as interlacing.
When an image is saved by using four passes instead of just one, it is
called interlacing. On each pass, certain lines of the image are saved
to the file. If the program decoding a GIF file displays the image as
it is decoded, the user will be able to see the four passes of the
decoding cycle. This will allow the user to get a good idea of what the
image will look like before even half of the image is decoded.
Most communication programs (for BBSs and the InterNet) allow the user
to download GIF files and view them as they are downloaded. If the image
is interlaced, the user will be able to decide if the image is one they
like before half of the download is complete. If the user does not like
the image, the download can be aborted. This results in the saving of
time and money for the person downloading the image.
GIF files may contain multiple images.
IMG files were originally designed to work with the GEM Paint Program.
IMG files handle monochrome and gray level images.
The VENTURA Publisher application, working in the same GEM environment,
also supported the IMG file format.
In order to maintain compatibility, various other desktop publishing
applications have added support for importing and exporting this format
(although usually not processing it).
MAC files are used in the Macintosh MacPaint application.
The MAC format file has 2 basic options:
* The common option is a ported MacPaint files,that includes a "MacBinary" header.
* The rare option is the one used with PFS First Publisher,this file has no header.
In order to migrate a MAC file from a Macintosh to a PC,
a "MacBinary" header has to be added to the file format.
MAC images can be transferred "back" from a PC to a Macintosh.
Unless you have a specific PC application that requires no header,
the MAC files should be saved with a header.
The MAC format requires always an image width of 576 pixels and a
height of 720 lines. For that reason files converted to the MacPaint
format from other formats will be cropped or padded out as necessary
to fit in the 576X720 pixels size.
MAC file format supports only 1 bit per pixel, meaning that Only
monochrome files can be converted to MacPaint files.
MSP files originated in the prehistoric Microsoft Paint
(A paint program that was in the MS Windows version 2.0 !).
MSP files can be converted into BMP files. The opposite is not possible.
MSP and PCX formats are not compatible.
MSP files are monochromatic only.
PCX format, established by Zsoft for its PC Paintbrush software,
is commonly used by IBM compatible computers.
With no standard to the industry, this format became the standard
by default. This format is supported by more applications than any
other format.
Version 3 does not contain palette information. Some applications
will override this by using the default VGA colors used by Windows
as the palette. This may result in a different looking images when
using different viewers.
Most PC software support version 5 of the PCX format.
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PIC format files are generated and used by PICTOR, PC-Paint and GRASP.
This PIC file format is not compatible with the Lotus 1-2-3 PIC drawing files !
16 color PIC files have a non-common structure in their color
manifestations. For this reason, graphic applications (rather
then the 3 mentioned above) will produce a temporary scratch
file while packing or unpacking a 16 color PIC file.
The Targa TGA format was developed by Truevision for their Targa and Vista products.
The TGA format file is widely used by high-end paint programs and ray tracing packages.
It can handle images with up to sixteen million unique colors. It is an industry standard but
is not as widely supported as PCX or TIFF formats. The TGA format was designed for use
on systems that use MS-DOS color applications.
TGA files may be saved compressed (run length encoded) or not compressed.
Since Windows does not recognize 16 & 32 bits per pixel, some applications
will treat them as 24 bits per pixel. A 16 bits per pixel image will be
up-graded to 24 bits per pixel, and a 32 bits per pixel image will be
down-graded to a 24 bits per pixel image. This procedure will not affect
the image since the 8 extra bits of a TGA 32 bits per pixel file are used
to store Alpha or transparency information.
RAS files are generated in a raster format by Sun Microsystems computers.
There are three types of RAS files:
* Type 0 - Old Style.
* Type 1 - Modern Style.
* Type 2 - Experimental.
WPG file format is used by WordPerfect.
It first appeared with the release of WordPerfect 5.0, and with the
release of version 5.1, the format was changed accordingly.
It is advised to use the same format version as the version of
WordPerfect in which the image will be used. These files can contain
bitmaps, line art, and vector graphics. When using an application
rather then WordPerfect for viewing a WPG file containing both
bitmapped and vector elements, the vector elements will be discarded.
Note that the WPG specification allows files of up to 256 colors,
but WordPerfect itself would not read files of more than 16 colors !
The Amiga Interchange File Format (IFF) is used to transfer documents
to and from Commodore Amiga computers.
The IFF file standard is extremely flexible, and allows all a few formats,
not only images, including text to be stored inside an IFF file.
IFF files can be exported from an Amiga to a PC.
The format can also be created on a PC, but the extension of the file name
will then change to LBM or to CE (Depending on the application).
However, the basic file structure remains the same. The standard form for
IFF image files created on a PC is called ILBM. ILBM is formed by means
of compressing all images as planes. This is much slower, but it means
that these compressed files will be accessible by any application able
to read an IFF file, even if they are exported back to an Amiga.
LBM file format is used in Electronic Arts' Deluxe Paint package.
LBM files are saved using an IFF Bitmap header and IFF color map.
Its native format is a subclass of IFF called PBM, and compresses its
images as bytes using the PackBits compression type, giving a ratio of
up to 1:10.
(This technique is somewhat unique to Deluxe Paint, and Electronic Arts
have been keeping it a total "secret").
CE file format is the name used for IFF files that were created on an MS-DOS platform using the Digital Vision's Computer Eyes video scanner board.
The PixelPaint file format allows a document to be opened in the
PixelPaint and PixelPaint Professional graphics applications.
You should only use this format for writing files for PixelPaint versions
1.0 and 2.0, as PixelPaint Professional no longer allows a document to be
saved in this format.
This format allows you to specify the image size (canvas).
It also enables you to decide whether you want the image to appear in
the center or in the upper left corner of the canvas when the document
is opened.
JPEG compression economizes on the way data is stored and also identifies
and discards extra data, that is, information beyond what the human eye can see.
Because it discards data, the JPEG algorithm is referred to as "lossy".
This means that once an image has been compressed and then decompressed,
it will not be identical to the original image. In most cases, the difference between
the original and compressed version of the image is indistinguishable.
In general, compressed JPEG images have compression ratios of between
5:1 and 15:1. A trade-off does exist between the image quality and the
amount of compression. You do not need to decompress images saved in the
JPEG format. They are automatically decompressed when they are opened.
The JAS format files were designed to create the smallest possible
image files for 24 bits per pixel color images and 8 bits per pixel
gray scaled images.
JAS uses a discrete cosine transformation to alter the image data and
then compress that data. This process results in a substantial reduction
of the file size when the image is saved to the disk. This method is
referred to as "lossy": saving and retrieving an image using the JAS
file format will result in some loss of image data. The amount of loss
is dependent on the compression level that you have selected in your
application. By using the lowest possible value for the file compression
you will have the least amount of loss.
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Tagged-Image File Format (TIFF) is used mainly for exchanging documents
between different applications and different computer platforms.
The Tagged Image File Format was primarily designed to become the
standard format. In order to become the standard, the format was
designed to handle just about any possibility. The result of this
design provided the flexibility of an infinite number of possibilities
of how a TIFF image can be saved.
As a result, no application at all can claim to support all TIFF
variations. Some professional applications support many TIFF variations,
but there will always be an obscure variation that will cause a problem
for some application.
The TIFF format uses 6 different encoding routines:
- No-compression
- Huffman
- Pack Bits
- LZW
- Fax Group 3
- Fax Group 4
In addition it differentiates between types of images in 3 different categories:
- Black and white
- Gray scaled
- Colored
The TIFF format supports LZW method compression for image types.
(This is the same compression used by the GIF format for indexed color.)
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The Encapsulated PostScript file (EPS) format is supported by most
illustration and page layout programs, and in most cases is the
preferred format for these applications.
Note that this is also the only file format that supports transparent
whites in Bitmap mode.
The Raw format is a flexible file format for transferring documents
between different applications and computer platforms.
Raw format consists of a stream of bytes describing the color
information in the file. Each pixel is described in binary format,
where 0 equals black and 255 equals white.
CUT file format is definitely the most awkward format.
CUT files do not "know" how many colors they have in them !
They rely on a second accompanying file, called a PAL file,
to define their colors. Most applications will search for
the PAL file in order to determine whether the CUT file has
two or eight bits of color. If there is no PAL file with the
same name as the CUT file, the CUT file is treated as 2 colors.
Files saved to the CUT format from various applications will
appear as two color files if they were recognized that way or
as 256-color files if they had more than two colors initially.
Note that a 256 color file, with a missing PAL file will
eventually end up as a 2 color file !
This manual was prepared and edited by Udi Latarre for
PCS - Personal computer services.
Copyright © 1995-98 by PCS - Personal computer services. All rights reserved.
Use of this manual is free of charge with the following limitations:
This manual may NOT be changed, modified or excerpted except if expressly
permitted in writing by Udi Latarre and/or PCS - Personal computer services.
This manual can be freely copied/distributed as long as this copyright notice
is maintained within the document.
Any trademark mentioned in this document is the property of its respective owner.