Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!agate!shelby!msi.umn.edu!noc.MR.NET!gacvx2.gac.edu!dan From: dan@gacvx2.gac.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: BAD NEWS FOR MAC -> NEXT PEOPLE Message-ID: <1990Dec1.165004.789@gacvx2.gac.edu> Date: 1 Dec 90 22:50:04 GMT References: <1040@toaster.SFSU.EDU> <36428@cup.portal.com> Organization: Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota Lines: 67 In article , scott@next-5.gac.edu (Scott Hess) writes: > > Which sounds to me like a standard, eh? I very much doubt that Apple > had this in mind when they created PICT and QuickDraw. NeXT had nothing > to do with the defining of TIFF, but they use it because it is an > "industry" standard, at least to the point where most programs on the > Mac and PC which are designed to handle bitmap images handle TIFF > images just fine. I am sure that Apple just wanted something. The only common "drawing standards" that existed at the time were raw bitmaps. > Now, for an answer to your problem (sorry, I should really have put this > in my first post, it just didn't occur to me): Get pbmplus off the > internet. This set of utilities allows you to convert between a wide > range of bitmap formats. From the manual pages: > > NAME > picttopbm - convert a PICT file into a portable bitmap > > SYNOPSIS > picttopbm [-extraskip ] [pictfile] > > DESCRIPTION > Reads a PICT file as input. Produces a portable bitmap as > output. > > Note that PICT is a drawing format, not an image format, so > this program interprets a very small subset of the opera- > tors. However, this subset includes the operators used by > such programs as SuperPaint and AppleScan when writing out > bitmap images so it's not totally useless. > > .... > > and > > NAME > pgmtops - convert a portable graymap into Encapsulated > PostScript > > SYNOPSIS > pgmtops [-rle] [-scale ] [] > > DESCRIPTION > Reads a portable graymap as input. Produces Encapsulated > PostScript as output. > > [It's trivial to convert pbm to pgm]. I have a version which > writes NeXT-acceptable eps files (Preview doesn't complain > about them with my version). I don't think there's a pgmtotiff > in the package itself, but I think I've seen one floating around > the internet somewhere . . . > > And all this runs swell on the NeXT. PICT to BITMAP is all fine and good, but PICT is an object oriented drawing language, in the terms of: it describes the image on the screen, but individual parts can be moved by changing a few coordinates. A more direct PICT to EPS converter would be best. If such a program existed then former PICT drawings could still be edited on a NeXT using a program that can manipulate EPS images. -- Dan Boehlke Internet: dan@gac.edu Campus Network Manager BITNET: dan@gacvax1.bitnet Gustavus Adolphus College St. Peter, MN 56082 USA Phone: (507)931-7596