PhotoGIF Filter™ 1.0.1 is the final release of the PhotoGIF Filter™ software, and corrects the last known bug - a potential problem in 68k emulation on PPC machines with applications that are not able to run native PPC code in plug-ins where the preferences file would be corrupted as a result.
However, the final documentation (a complete manual and Apple Guide are in the works) for PhotoGIF Filter™ is not yet available, even though the software is complete. This is a very basic guide to installing and using PhotoGIF Filter™ that does not claim to be complete. However, PhotoGIF Filter™ is perhaps the most intuitive and easiest to use tool for Web graphics there is, so it should take you no time at all to get up to full speed with this powerful tool.
1: Installation
Simply drag PhotoGIF Filter™ into your image editor's plug-ins folder. PhotoGIF Filter™ will be available the next time you launch your image editor. It does not matter what sub-folder you place PhotoGIF Filter™ into within the plug-ins folder, but the typical place for filter plug-ins like PhotoGIF Filter™ in Photoshop is the Filters folder within the Plug-ins folder.
PhotoGIF Filter™ is a filter plug-in and will appear in the same menu as the rest of your filter plug-ins under the sub-menu "BoxTop Web Tools", which is non-standard for plug-ins that export files but done for compatibility's sake. PhotoGIF Filter™ will work with nearly every application that supports Photoshop plug-ins.
2: General usage
For all practical purposes PhotoGIF Filter™ works identically to Export plug-ins. By using it you create a new file and do not alter your open document in any way.
There are three dialogs involved. The first is a color reduction dialog to allow fully interactive color reduction. You can make changes and see the results in image quality and file size as you make them. The second dialog is for setting GIF options. The last dialog allows you to set the name and location of the GIF file you are creating.
Given feedback from the last three months of testing, the controls in PhotoGIF Filter™ are for the most part intuitive and obvious. There is only one control that kept coming up in questions again and again, so special attention is given to it here.
The "Base" pop-up menu in the color reduction dialog is a control for protecting sets of colors and preventing color drift in color reduction.
The colors in the "base palette" will be preserved exactly in the final palette produced. For example, if you have created an image using a specific color from the Netscape palette and wanted to ensure that RGB value was maintained exactly in the final GIF's palette, all you would need to do was set the base palette to the Netscape palette.
If you did not set a base palette in this instance the RGB color values would "drift" slightly in the final palette. 204, 204, 102 might end up 205, 206, 101, for example.
3: A special not on the filter interface.
Bear in mind that since PhotoGIF Filter™ is a filter, the plug-in is only able to access channels and layers that are visible and active. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
It allows new possibilities, but does mean you have to take care to ensure that data you want to save is selected as needed for a filter operation.
4: Tips for best results.
GIF file size is almost completely determined by color reduction. In the color reduction dialog both before and after previews as well as an exact (but rounded off to whole K) file size display are available.
There is no more guessing of trial and error. You see it all as you do it with PhotoGIF Filter™.
Because you can interactively adjust the color reduction parameters you should always start at the bottom and work up. Set dithering to zero and the number of colors to a very low value, lower than you think the image really needs then increase the number of colors and the dithering setting until the image quality is acceptable. By going "bottom up" you will make sure that you don't end up with overkill settings that make your files bigger than they need to be.
In the GIF options dialog the exact size is shown in bytes, and then you will also be able to see the effect of interlacing, transparency and adding comments on file size.
You should note that PhotoGIF Filter™ does not create files that have resource forks. The file size shown in the finder will be an exact and accurate one of files created with PhotoGIF Filter.
5: Answers and help
Questions about PhotoGIF Filter™ and other BoxTop Software, Inc. tools should be addressed to: info@boxtopsoft.com
BoxTop Software, Inc.
101 N. Lafeyette Street
Starkville, MS 39759
(v) 1-601-324-1800
(f) 1-601-324-7353
http://www.boxtopsoft.com
ftp://www.boxtopsoft.com
info@boxtopsoft.com
PhotoGIF Filter™ is Copyright 1997 BoxTop Software Inc. All rights reserved. PhotoGIF™, PhotoGIF Filter™is a Trade Marks of BoxTop Software Inc., which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other trademarks are recognized as the properties of their respective holders.
Document published: 2/2/98
Copyright 1998 BoxTop Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
