Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!uflorida!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!stat!fsucs!boyd
From: boyd@fsucs.UUCP (Mickey Boyd)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: GIF format ?
Message-ID: <647@fsucs.UUCP>
Date: 21 Nov 90 02:37:06 GMT
References: <2499@gould.doc.ic.ac.uk>
Reply-To: boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd)
Organization: Florida State University Computer Science Department
Lines: 33
To: adm2@doc.ic.ac.uk (Alan David Messer)
Followup-To:

In article <2499@gould.doc.ic.ac.uk>, adm2@doc.ic.ac.uk (Alan David Messer) writes:
>	Does anyone one out there knwo whether the '.gif' format is supported
>on the Atari St. I really want to be able to convert from popular standard
>Atari formats such as Degas or Neochrome to '.gif' and back again.
>
>+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
>|  JANET :- ADM2@DOC.IC.AC.UK  |  					     |
>+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The program of choice here is Digispec.  I believe Alpha Systems sells it.  It
will take a .gif file and convert it into a .sps file (spectrum 512).  It will
then look about as good as it can on the ST (it takes some time to process 
each picture).  The resulting .sps file is usually MUCH smaller than the 
original .gif.  There is a PD viewing program available for .sps files which 
also can compress them into .spc files (I may be backwards about .sps and .spc,
now that I think about it!).  Anyway, if cannot find an add for this company,
send me email and I will dig it out.  Oh, I checked out a couple of PD .gif
file viewers, and none that I saw even came close to the job that Digispec
does.  Usually, .gif files are scanned in at a resolution (and with more  
colors) than the ST can display.  Thus, any viewing/converting program must 
convert the file the ST's resolution, and reduce the number of colors to 
16.  Digispec converts them to have 512 colors, which really makes a difference!
All the PD programs I have seen use only 16 colors, which is what the ST was
designed to display in low rez (16 on the screen at one time).  Hope that 
helps!

 

-- 
             Mickey R. Boyd          |  "It's amazing how much growing up 
          FSU Computer Science       |      resembles being too tired."
        Technical Support Group      |
      email:  boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu  |                  - Heinlein