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PUBLISHING_ PhotoGIF 1.1.4
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PhotoGIFv1.1.4
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PhotoGIFv1.1.4_ReadMe
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PhotoGIFv1.1.4 ReadMe ⌐ 1995 BoxTop Software. All Rights Reserved.
BoxTop Software
P.O. Box 2347
Starkville, MS 39760
1 (601) 324-7352
boxtop@aris.com
http://www.aris.com/boxtop/PhotoGIF
ftp://aris.com/boxtop
Some questions that you probably have are:
1: What can PhotoGIF do?
2: Why is PhotoGIF better than Adobe's GIF89a Export?
3: Why is GIF89a Export better than PhotoGIF?
4: So which one is really better?
Hopefully, these will be good answers.
What can PhotoGIF do?
In a sentence, make life a little easier for you if part of your life
involves creating graphics for the World Wide Web. PhotoGIF is a must
have if that is the case. It is the fastest and simplest way to work with
GIF files in Photoshop, and provides many useful and time-saving
capabilities that you can't find elsewhere.
When PhotoGIF is loaded in your plug-ins folder it replaces the
antiquated and featureless "Compuserve GIF" plug-in that ships with
Photoshop. (The Compuserve GIF plug-in can only read and write non-
interlaced GIF87a files. It's not too versatile.) From that point on
Photoshop will use PhotoGIF as the default method for opening and saving
all GIF files. Transparency and interlacing are as easy as 'open' and
'save'.
PhotoGIF supports saving from indexed, gray scale, and bit mapped image
modes in Photoshop. The first time you 'save as' you will be presented
with a dialog for setting options for transparency and interlacing.
After that, all you have to do is hit 'Command S' and your file will be
saved with the options you set each time.
You can use an alpha channel mask or select a color so set transparency.
Interlacing is supported for both GIF87a files and GIF89a files and is set
with a simple check box. There's more about the controls in the options
dialog in the document "Using PhotoGIF".
PhotoGIF has several features that aren't very apparent to the user
but are critical for World Wide Web graphics creation.
First, it's got about the best over-all compression of anything that
can save GIF89a files on a Mac. (We'd like to say it's the best, but
there are some applications we haven't been able to compare it to yet.)
Second, it has some very intelligent palette remapping capabilities
that minimize those ugly little halos around transparent GIFs, and make
sure that there is always room for a transparent color when you use the
alpha method for designating transparency. If you image is at a full bit-
depth, PhotoGIF doesn't throw away any colors. It finds the best RGB match
to replace the least used on with so you'll never know it's missing.
Third, it always re-maps the image so that the palette is sorted by
popularity in the saved image, even if you make changes to the file after
you 'save as', the palette will always be sorted by popularity to help
ensure that no matter what viewing application your image is seen with
it will look as close as possible to what you intended. Note that you
can view the palette sorted by popularity, RGB or in the original order
of Photoshop's LUTs in the options dialog, but that doesn't affect how it
is saved.
Fourth, it always automatically sets the images bit depth as low as
possible to accommodate the actual number of used colors. If you are using
an alpha channel bit depth is determined by the number of unmasked colors
only.
Fifth, for all you Netscape enthusiasts (and we know you're out there)
PhotoGIF shows you the current color value selected in the palette or
with the RGB sliders in both decimal and hexadecimal numbers. It also shows
the images width and height, bit depth and number of used colors.
All of PhotoGIF's well thought out features make it the best tool for
the job.
Why is PhotoGIF better than Adobe's GIF89a Export?
In October Adobe released GIF89a Export, an export plug-in that will allow
you a one-shot means to save a GIF89a file from Adobe Photoshop as part
of the Photoshop 3.0.5 update. It's free (provided you already paid several
hundred dollars for Photoshop) PhotoGIF is not free. So what's PhotoGIF got
that GIF89a Export doesn't? A lot.
On the blatantly obvious side:
1: PhotoGIF can open GIF87a and GIF98a files and maintain transparency and
interlacing settings. Something that I think you may find to still be very
useful.
2: 'Command S' is a lot faster than re-exporting to save a change.
3: PhotoGIF can save interlaced GIF87a files, which are smaller than
interlaced GIF89a files, if interlacing is all you need.
4: Support for gray scale and bit mapped image modes.
On the less blatantly obvious side:
1: PhotoGIF compresses BETTER than GIF89a Export. Smaller files mean less
time for transmission, and less space on your server. (Note: GIF89a Export
strips all resources from the Mac file, so GIF89a Export files may appear
to be smaller than PhotoGIF files because they don't contain those handy
custom icons and previews that PhotoGIF files can contain. The resource
fork size is irrelevant to GIF files sizes when used for WWW graphics.
See "A Bit About File Sizes" for the whole story.)
2: PhotoGIF saves GIF palettes sorted by popularity, which helps ensure that
your images display as close to possible as you intended even when
viewed with applications that truncate the images palette, and places the
transparent color first in the palette. (Yes, these still abound, especially
in the Windows world.) The GIF89a Export plug-in saves palettes sorted by
RGB except the transparent color index is always the second color in the
palette. (Go figure?)
3: PhotoGIF has user setable preferences for it's default behavior. If you
save most of your files one way, you can set that as the 'save as' default
and go about your business a lot faster.
4: PhotoGIF will display the images palette in the options dialog sorted by
popularity, RGB, or in the original order of Photoshop's look up tables.
5: If you option-click on a color in the palette it will zoom to the full size
of the palette and display it's RGB value. You can set it to the current
color with the 'Set' button or click anywhere else to leave the current
color unchanged.
6: If you use the color method to set transparency THAT color is used for
the transparent index. You don't have to set it somewhere else. If you use
the alpha method you can set the transparent color to any RGB value you
like with convenient RGB sliders. You don't have to launch Photoshop's
humongous (and slow to open) color picker dialog to set it.
7: PhotoGIF displays the numerical and hexadecimal RGB values for the current
color selected (both with the palette and the RGB sliders) and the images
width and height in the options dialog. These make those little Netscape
extras like backgrounds and image dimensions a little easier to code.
8: PhotoGIF lets you keep those handy little custom icons and previews that
make finding the right file so much easier. (This can be controlled in
Photoshop's save as dialog. You don't have to save them if you don't want
to.)
9: You can just double click a file saved with PhotoGIF to reopen it.
GIF89a Export doesn't even save Macintosh file type and creator information.
You have to open all files saved with GIF89a Export through Photoshop's
open menu.
10: It has a very nice and consistent interface that doesn't hog screen space,
not a hodge podge of dialogs poping at you.
11: A real biggy. PhotoGIF is an actively supported and upgraded product. We
answer questions, take user suggestions for improvements, and add features.
You don't even have to register to get support, but you do have to register
to make the shareware dialogs go away so you can take full advantage of the
many time saving features PhotoGIF has.
Why is GIF89a Export better than PhotoGIF?
1: It's free to registered users of Photoshop.
2: It can export from RGB. (Actually it can ONLY export from RGB or indexed
modes, whereas PhotoGIF supports indexed, gray scale, and bit mapped modes.)
3: It has an eye-dropper color picker now. PhotoGIF won't until the next
release.
4: You can pick multiple colors from the palette for transparency. (GIF89a
Export will make them all a single color for the transparency index.)
5: It supports GIF comments, although awkwardly.
So which one is really better?
Why not use them both? This isn't a holy war. GIF89a Export has a nifty
trick or two that PhotoGIF doesn't have at present, but it is an inadequate
solution on it's own.