Re: Mac Graphics?

[Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- jci -dot- com]

>Marianne Patten wonders: <<I am trying to send a document that contains a
>pcx.graphic to an end user who has a Mac computer.  What is the best
graphic
>format to capture a picture in so a Mac user can see it?>>
>
>Most reasonably standard formats such as .EPS or .TIF should work, but
there
>are sufficient differences in even these standards that you can't always
>guarantee that everyone can read your graphic. GIF or JPG files are a
better
>bet, because the standards are <ahem> more standard; PNG might be a better
>choice for vector graphics, but not everyone can read these files without
>updating their software.

TIFF is a Bad Choice for cross-platform transfers; it relies on the
byte-order of two-byte numbers remaining the same on both systems, and it
doesn't in this case. Many (but not all) Mac graphic applications are aware
of this flaw in the specification, and try to compensate, but I wouldn't
rely on it happening.

GIF works well, probably better than the other formats. The choice of which
is best depends on information we don't have. What application are you
expecting the mac user to have to view this image? If you're only looking
for an application which ships with the Mac, then you're going to have to
use PICT, though it's quite possible .EPS can be used if you're expecting
MacOS X.

PNG is possible, but it might suffer from the fact that Apple liked to
force people to see a QuickTime Pro commercial announcement every time
QuickTime is launched, and the default PNG reader is QuickTime.

It's important to note that any graphic embedded in Word goes through the
Word Graphics engine whenever the platform is crossed, which imposes it's
own difficulties. The graphic might actually be converted in the process to
something the other platform can see, but it also get quite bollixed up by
the process.

Have fun,
Arlen
Chief Managing Director In Charge, Department of Redundancy Department
DNRC 224

Arlen -dot- P -dot- Walker -at- JCI -dot- Com
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