Very Computer

by **j..** » Tue, 21 Jan 1997 04:00:00

Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2
Archive-name: graphics/fileformats-faq/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 20Jan97

Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 2 of 4): Image Conversion and Display
Programs

------------------------------

This FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list contains information on
graphics file formats, including, raster, vector, metafile, Page
Description Language, 3D object, animation, and multimedia formats.

This FAQ is divided into four parts, each covering a different area of
graphics file format information:

Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 1 of 4): General Graphics Format Questions
Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 2 of 4): Image Conversion and Display Programs
Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 3 of 4): Where to Get File Format Specifications
Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 4 of 4): Tips and Tricks of the Trade

Please email contributions, corrections, and suggestions about this FAQ to
j...@ora.com. Relevant information posted to newsgroups will not
automatically make it into this FAQ.

-- James D. Murray

------------------------------

Subject: 0. Contents of Image Conversion and Display Programs
Subjects marked with <NEW> are new to this FAQ. Subjects marked with <UPD>
have been updated since the last release of this FAQ.

I. General questions about this FAQ

0. Maintainer's Comments
1. What's new in this latest FAQ release?

II. Graphics Conversion and Display Programs

0. Image Conversion and Display Programs for MS-DOS
1. Image Conversion and Display Programs for Windows and OS/2
2. Image Conversion and Display Programs for Macintosh
3. Image Conversion and Display Programs for Unix and X Window
4. Image Conversion and Display Programs for Amiga
5. Platform-Independent Image Conversion Toolkits

III. FTP and WWW Graphics Software Archives

0. Graphics Software Archives for MS-DOS
1. Graphics Software Archives for Windows and OS/2
2. Graphics Software Archives for Macintosh
3. Graphics Software Archives for Unix and X Window
4. Graphics Software Archives for Amiga

IV. Kudos and Assertions

0. Acknowledgments
1. About The Author
2. Disclaimer
3. Copyright Notice

------------------------------

Subject: I. General questions about this FAQ

------------------------------

Subject: 0. Maintainer's Comments

This FAQ is for all of you looking for that special display or image
conversion program to run on your system and to work with all those
graphics files you've been downloading from the alt.binaries.pictures.*
newgroups for whose-knows-what reasons.

If you know of any MS-DOS/Windows/Unix/X/Macintosh/Amiga graphical
display, editing, or translation programs or application that are not
listed here then send me the information! I'm also willing to start
sections on VMS, NeXTStep, Atari ST, or just about any other operating
system that the masses demand.

------------------------------

Subject: 1. What's new in this latest FAQ release?

o A few small updates

------------------------------

Subject: II. Graphics Conversion and Display Programs

------------------------------

Subject: 0. Image Conversion and Display Programs for MS-DOS

Name: DISPLAY
Purpose: Image display and conversion
Version: 1.88
Author: Jih-Shin Ho <u7711...@bicmos.ee.nctu.edu.tw>
FTP: ftp://ftp.edu.tw/PC/graphics/disp/disp188?.zip
Imports: GIF, Japan MAG, Japan PIC, Sun Raster, JPEG, XBM, Utah RLE,
PBM, PGM, PPM, PM, PCX, Japan MKI, TIFF, TGA, XPM, Mac Paint,
GEM/IMG, IFF/ILBM, BMP, QRT, Mac PICT, VIS, PDS, VIKING, VICAR,
FITS, Usenix FACE, IRIS, YUV, RAW RGB, PCPAINT/Pictor, RAW GREY,
Photo-CD, DL, FLI, FLC, RAW, MPEG, AVI, GL, and PNG.
Exports: GIF, Sun Raster, JPEG, XBM, PBM, PGM, PPM, PM, Tiff, Targa,
XPM, Mac Paint, Ascii, Laser Jet, IFF/ILBM, Windows BMP,
Mac PICT, VIS, FITS, FACE, PCX, GEM/IMG, IRIS, YUV, RAW RGB,
Postscript, RAW GREY, and PNG.
Features: Batch conversion, image preview, command-line configuration,
contact sheet creation, slide shows.
Comments: I am impressed with the large number of file formats
supported, including all of their eccentric variations, and
several formats I have not seen supported in other packages.
The DOS file directory navigation and maintenance features are
easy to use and the command line usage is very convenient,
especially for batch format conversions of images.

Name: GIFBLAST - Lossless GIF file compressor
See GIFBLAST entry in the "Image Conversion and Display Programs
for Unix and X Window" section.

Name: GIFLITE
Purpose: Lossy GIF file reencoder
Version: 1.00 (Shareware)
Author: Mr. Tsung Hu <72070.3...@compuserve.com>
P.O.Box 938, Unit 105, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2R 6Z4 Canada
FTP: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/systems/ibmpc/garbo.uwasa.fi/gifutil/glite10.zip
Imports: GIF
Exports: GIF
Features: Lossy reencoding of GIF files providing a 15%-30% reduction in
file size. Reencoded files are readable by GIF file viewers and
conform to GIF87a or GIF89a format specifcation. Three levels
of compression. Dithered images, and images with fewer than 16
colors, do not compress well.

Name: Graphics Display System (GDS)
Purpose: Image display, conversion, thumbnail catalogs
Version: 3.1e
Author: Photodex Corporation <photo...@netcom.com>
FTP: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ph/photodex
CIS: GO PHOTODEX, GDS Viewing Software (Lib 3)
Imports: ANS (ANSI text), BBM, BMF, BMP, CUT/PAL (Dr. Halo), DIB, DL,
FLC, FLI, FLX, GDS, GIF, GL, HAM, ICO, IFF/ILBM, IMG, JFI,
JPG (JFIF), LBM, MAC, MP2 & MPA (MPEG Audio), MPG, PCC,
PCX, RAX, RFX, RLE, SC? (ColoRIX), TGA, TIFF and TXT (text).
Exports: ANS (ANSI text), BBM, BMP, CUT/PAL (Dr. Halo), GDS, GIF,
IFF/ILBM, IMG, JFI, JPG (JFIF), LBM, PCC, PCX, RAX, RFX,
RLE, SC? (ColoRIX), TGA, and TIFF.
Features: File viewing, batch conversions, easy thumbnail catalog
creation with many options, slide shows, automatic
configuration. Includes 5000+ lines of hypertext help
and prints 98 page cross referenced manual. Supports HGC,
CGA, EGA, S-EGA, VGA, SVGA, XGA, TIGA and VESA. Registered
versions print to HP PCL & 100% compatible laser and inkjet
printers.
Comments: Used by CompuServe sysops to catalog over 40,000 images
regularly. ASP approved shareware.

Name: pbmplus - Portable Bitmap Utilities (MS-DOS version)
Purpose: Graphical file format conversion
Version: 1.91d (10 December 1991)
Author: Mike Castle <mcas...@cs.umr.edu> and D.J. Delorie <d...@ctron.com>
FTP: ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/graphics/pbmp191d.zip
Imports:
Exports:

Name: NView
Purpose: Graphics file viewer
Version: 1.5
Author: Jacques Nomssi Nzali <nom...@physik.tu-chemnitz.de>
FTP: ftp://oak.oakland.edu/SimTel/msdos/graphics/nview150.zip
WWW: http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/~nomssi/nview150.zip
Imports:
Exports:

Name: PICTOPS
Purpose: PICture TO PostScript file compressor
Version: 4.02 (Shareware)
Author: Mr. Igor L. Vassiliev <vasilie...@mx.ihep.su>
FTP: ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/magps402.zip
ftp://ftp.uniovi.es/pub1/msdos/graphics/magps402.zip
ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/graphics/magps402.zip
WWW: http://www.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/msdos/graphics/magps402.zip
Imports: BMP, GIF, ICO, PCX, PBM, PGM, PPM, RLE, TGA, TIF
Exports: Compressed PostScript within Level 2 & 1
Features: PICTOPS V4.02 is powerful conversion program that converts
1-,2-,4-,8-,24-, and 32-bit image files to color, gray scale,
and bi-level PostScript file format. Analogous programs are
unknown. PICTOPS will compress (PostScript interpreter
will decompress) image data by CCITTFaxEncode, LZWEncode,
RunLengthEncode and then by ASCII85Encode or ASCIIHexEncode
filters. Creation of both ASCII(85) and binary PostScript file.
PostScript color features support simple 5-operand form
of the image, 7-operand form colorimage, and image dictionaries.
CMYK images will be translated to RGB images. PostScript image
source data may be provided by string, procedure, or filter.
Comments: Output from PICTOPS may have much smaller size than standard
PostScript outs from other programs with simply Level-1.
In most cases, PKZIP or ARJ cannot compress PostScript out from
PICTOPS more than 5-20%. If the PostScript device has no
implementation of level 2, then the program will be run
as level 1.

Name: TN-Image
Purpose: Image analysis software
Version: 2.09 (Shareware)
Author: tjnel...@helix.nih.gov
FTP: ftp://las2.ninds.nih.gov or ftp://las1.ninds.nih.gov
Imports: TIF (Mac or PC), PCX, JPEG, TGA, BMP, GIF, IMG, ASCII, and raw
bytes; all pixel depths from 1-32 bits/pixel, including CMYL,
medical grayscale images, and unusual color formats.
Exports: TIF, PCX, JPEG, TGA, BMP, IMG, and custom file formats. Saves
images in 1-32 bits/pixel as RGB, pseudocolor, CMYK, or grayscale.
FFT data can be saved in ASCII format.
Features: Menu driven GUI interface, many image editing operations, and
analysis features (calibration, strip/spot densitometry, area and
distance measurement, automatic background subtraction, 2D FFT,
image reconstruction using Fourier convolution and deconvolution,
automatic detection and quantitation of bands, spots, rectangular
areas and arbitrarily-shaped
...

read more »

by **j..** » Tue, 21 Jan 1997 04:00:00

Posted-By: auto-faq 3.1.1.2
Archive-name: graphics/fileformats-faq/part3
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 20Jan97

Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 3 of 4): Where to Get File Format
Specifications

------------------------------

This FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list contains information on
graphics file formats, including, raster, vector, metafile, Page
Description Language, 3D object, animation, and multimedia formats.

This FAQ is divided into four parts, each covering a different area of
graphics file format information:

Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 1 of 4): General Graphics Format Questions
Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 2 of 4): Image Conversion and Display Programs
Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 3 of 4): Where to Get File Format Specifications
Graphics File Formats FAQ (Part 4 of 4): Tips and Tricks of the Trade

Please email contributions, corrections, and suggestions about this FAQ to
j...@ora.com. Relevant information posted to newsgroups will not
automatically make it into this FAQ.

-- James D. Murray

------------------------------

Subject: 0. Contents of Where to Get File Format Specifications
Subjects marked with <NEW> are new to this FAQ. Subjects marked with <UPD>
have been updated since the last release of this FAQ.

I. General questions about this FAQ

0. Maintainer's Comments
1. What's new in this latest FAQ release?

II. Where to Get File Format Specifications

3DMF - QuickDraw 3D Metafile
3DS - Autodesk 3D Studio
ABF - Adobe Binary Screen Font
ADI - AutoCAD Device-Independent Binary Plotter Format
AFM - Adobe Font Metrics File Format
AI - Adobe Illustrator File Format
ART - Another Ray Tracer
Atari ST Graphics File Formats
AVS - Application Visualization System
AWD - Microsoft Fax At Work Document
BDF - Adobe Glyph Bitmap Distribution Format
BIN - SGI Powerflip
BMP - Windows Bitmap Format
BRender
BRL-CAD - Ballistic Research Laboratory CAD
BUFR - Binary Universal Form for the Representation of Meteorological Data
BYU - BYU Movie
CAD-3D
CALS - Computer Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support Raster Format
CAM - Casio Camera
CCITT - CCITT Group 3 and Group 4 Encoding
CDF - Common Data Format
CDF - Cyberspace Description Format
CDL - CADKey CADL Language
CGM - Computer Graphics Metafile
CIF
CMP - LeadView
CMU - Carnegie Mellon University Formats
COB - Calgari trueSpace2 File Format
CXS
Cyberware
DEM - Digital Elevation Model
DGN - Microstation
DKB - DKB-Trace
DLG - Digital Line Graph
DPX - Digital Moving Picture Exchange
DRW - Micrografx Designer/Draw Plus Format
DWB - Coryphaeus Software Designers Workbench
DWG - Autodesk drawing
DXF - Autodesk Drawing eXchange Format
EMF - Microsoft Enhanced Metafile
ENFF - Extended Neutral File Format
EPS - Encapsulated PostScript
FACT
FBM - Fuzzy Bitmap
FFIVW - File Format for the Interchange of Virtual Worlds
FITS - Flexable Image Transport System
FLASHPIX
FLT - MultiGen Flight
GDS - McDonnell-Douglas Things
GFO - SGI Radiosity
GIF - Graphics Interchange Format
GKS - Graphics Kernel System
GrADS - Metafile
GRASP - Graphical System for Presentation
GRIB - Gridded Binary
HDF - Hierarchical Data Format
HDS - Hierarchical Data System
HPGL - Hewlett-Packard Graphics Language
HPPCL - Hewlett-Packard Printer Control Language
HRF - Hitachi Raster Format
IFF - Electronic Arts Interchange File Format
IGES - Initial Graphics Exchange Specification
IM - Performer
IMA - Zenographics Mirage Graphics File Format
IMJ - Image JPEG
INGR - Intergraph Raster File Format
IRTP - Graphicon-2000 Interactive Real-Time PHIGS
IV - SGI Inventor
IV-VRML - Inventor VRML Format
JBIG - Joint Bilevel Image Group
JCAMP
JFIF - JPEG File Interchange Format
LSA/LSB - Lightscape Technologies ASCII and Binary
LWOB - Lightwave Object Format
MedFileS
MGF - Materials and Geometry Format
MIFF - Magick Image File Format
MNG - Multiple Network Graphics
MSDL - Manchester Scene Description Language
MTL - Wavefront
NAPLPS - North American Presentation Layer Protocol Syntax
netCDF - Network Common Data Format
NFF - Haines Neutral File Format
NFF - WorldToolKit Neutral File Format
NITF - National Imagery Transmission Format
OBJ - Wavefront Object
ODIF - Open Document Interchange Format
ODL - Object Description Language
OFF - Object File Format
OpenMath
PBM - Portable Bitmap
PCX - ZSoft Paint
PDF - Portable Document Format
PDS - Planetary Data System Format
PGM - Portable Greymap
PHD - PolyHedra Database
PIC - Lotus PIC Graphics Format
PIC - Micrografx Draw! Graphics Format
PIC - Pegasus Imaging Corporation Format
PIC - Video Show Graphics Format
PICT - Macintosh Picture
PIX - Inset Pix
PLY - ZipPack
PNG - Portable Network Graphics
PPM - Portable Pixmap
POL - InnovMetric Software Polygon Models Format
POV - Persistence of Vision Raytracing
PS - PostScript
PSD - Adobe Photoshop
PTU - Performer Terrain Utilities
QT - QuickTime
QTVR - QuickTime VR
RAD - Radience
RAS - Sun Rasterfile
RAW - Photoshop RAW
RAY - Rayshade
RFT-DCA - Revisable-Form Text Document Content Architecture
RIB - Renderman Interface Bytestream
RIFF - Microsoft Resource Interchange File Format
RIX - ColoRIX Image File
RTF - Rich Text Format
RWX - MEME Shape File
RWX - Criterion RenderWare
S1K - S1000 Simnet Format
SAF - Standard Archive Format
SAIF - Spatial Archive Interchange Format
SAT - ACIS
Scene
Scitex HandShake Formats
SCN - SCeNe RTrace
SDL - Alias Wavefront Scene Description Language
SDML - Spacial Data Modeling Language
SDTS - Spatial Data Transfer Standard
SFF - Scene File Format
SGI - Silicon Graphics Image File Format
SHG - Segmented Hyper-Graphic
Softimage
SPIFF - Still Picture Interchange File Format
STL - Stereolithography Interface Format
TDDD - Imagine Object File Format
TGA - Truevision (Targa) File Format
TIFF - Tag Image File Format
TRIF - Tiled Raster Interchange Format
TTF - TrueType Font
Type 42 Font Format
URT - Utah Raster Toolkit
VCA - Visual Clip Art
VICAR - Video Image Communication and Retrieval
VIFF - Visualization Image File Format
VIT - VITec Scanner Raster Format
VPF - Vector Product Format
VRML - Virtual Reality Modeling Language
WebOOGL - Web Object Oriented Graphics Library
WMF - Windows Meta File
WPG - WordPerfect Graphics Metafile
X3D - x3d and xdart Formats
XBM - X BitMap
XOF - RenderMorphics
XPM - X PixMap
WSQ - Wavelet-packet Scalar Quantization Format
XWD - X Window Dump

III. Document Sources

0. U.S. Government and Military Standards Sources
1. International Standards Document Sources
2. Commercial Document Sources
3. Other Standards Sources

IV. Kudos and Assertions

0. Acknowledgments
1. About The Author
2. Disclaimer
3. Copyright Notice

------------------------------

Subject: I. General questions about this FAQ

------------------------------

Subject: 0. Maintainer's Comments

One of the reasons you are looking through this FAQ collection is most
likely to locate the specification for one or more graphics file formats.
That assumption on my part makes this file one of the most important parts
of the Graphics File Formats FAQ collection. I therefore wish to make this
section as complete as possible.

If you have any suggestions for formats to include then please email me at
j...@ora.com and let me know!

------------------------------

Subject: 1. What's new in this latest FAQ release?

o Many URLs updated
o Updated MNG and PNG (thanks Tom)

------------------------------

Subject: II. Where to Get File Format Specifications

This section contains an alphabetical listing of file formats, the
names of the creators/caretakers, and where to obtain the official
specifications, and a brief description of each format.

If you are searching for detailed information on the internals of a
file format, then I suggest you check out the resources listed here,
and have a look at the books and journals articles listed in Part 1
of this FAQ.

Each format section contains a common header that is a quick reference to
the file format.

Type: Bitmap, Vector, Metafile, 3D, VRML, general data, PDL, multimedia
Extension: File extension(s) or type
Version: Latest version number
Compression: All supported compression methods
Color Depth: Pixel depth and maximum number of colors supported
Maintainer: Who created and/or maintains the format
Specification: Where to get a copy of the format

------------------------------

Subject: 3DMF - QuickDraw 3D Metafile

Type: 3D
Extension: 3DMF
Version:
Compression:
Color Depth:
Maintainer: Apple Computer
Specification: http://product.info.apple.com/qd3d/3DMFspec.HTML
http://www.mediatel.lu/mmedia/render/files/3DMF.pdf

Apple's 3D Metafile is a format used for the storage and interchange of
3D data.

------------------------------

Subject: 3DS - Autodesk 3D Studio

Type: 3D
Extension: 3ds
Version:
Compression:
Color Depth:
Maintainer: Autodesk
Specification: http://www.mediatel.lu/mmedia/render/h_3ds.html
http://www.mediatel.lu/mmedia/render/h_3DS_details.html
http://homepage.eznet.net/~frac/3dsform.txt

3DS is the native file format of Autodesk's 3D Studio program.
3D Studio is an interactive 3D modeling, rendering and animation
package from the makers of AutoCAD. 3DStudio runs under MS-DOS
and is used to create three-dimensional, photo-realistic images
for a variety of applications.

You can find Autodesk's home page and ftp site at:
http://www.autodesk.com/
ftp://ftp.autodesk.com/

Other 3D Studio Web pages include:

http://homepage.eznet.net/~frac/3ds.html
FRiC's 3D Studio Web Page

http://www.armory.com/~gandalf/3dsfaq.html
3DS Interactive FAQ

http://www.det.mun.ca/staff/gporter/3dsfaq.htm
3D Studio FAQ

And other 3D Studio information can be found on the
comp.graphics.packages.3dstudio Usenet newsgroup.

------------------------------

Subject: ABF - Adobe Binary Screen Font

Type: bitmap font
Extension: abf
Version: 2.0
Compression:
...

read more »