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Digital Frontiers ]
You can run both the filter and export versions of HVS ColorGIF 2.0 in batch mode, and each is adept at somewhat different tasks.
Filter plug-ins are not given the file name of the original image by Photoshop. If the filter is invoked via the Last Filter command (Cmd-F), it will either Export or Apply, depending on what was last selected. If the selected operation is Export, it will save the image using the last file name typed in by the user and appending a numeric sequence number (0001, 0002, etc.) to the name. The filter is mostly useful for exporting different layers or selections as different GIFs, but then you have to go back and reconstruct the file names. Note: the filter plug-in can be invoked via a Photoshop 4.0 Action, but if you want it to run without the UI, you must invoke it via Cmd-F while recording the Action. Otherwise, the Action will bring up the dialog each time.
Export plug-ins, on the other hand, do get the file name of the original image, but do not have access to selection and layer information. The export version is very useful if you want to construct a Photoshop 4.0 Action that generates GIFs from a number of files (for example, frames of a GIF animation). Each GIF will have the original filename with .GIF appended.