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From: robertw@informix.com (Rob Weinberg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: BAD NEWS FOR MAC -> NEXT PEOPLE
Message-ID: <1990Dec2.194250.7810@informix.com>
Date: 2 Dec 90 19:42:50 GMT
References: <1040@toaster.SFSU.EDU> <40477@ut-emx.uucp>
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In article <40477@ut-emx.uucp> flank@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Brett Jacobson) writes:
>>there is NO support for graphics
>>generated on the Macintosh as editable files for ANY application on the NeXT.
>>. . .on a Macintosh are stuck there unless you are willing to import them as TIFF or
>>EPS (uneditable) formats.
>
>EPS is editable (by Adobe Illustrator)

>Chris Petrilli
>(forwarded by Brett Jacobson)

How do you edit EPS in Adobe Illustrator? I don't think this is possible -
you can import into Illustrator and do a few manipulations on the
object as a whole (rotate, resize), but Illustrator only really edits
its own highly-defined PostScript code. 

I don't really think it is a good idea for NeXT to create a PICT
transporter. The reason is that in the Mac world itself, PICTs created
in various draw programs are not easily transported from one Macintosh
application to another. Try experimenting with transporting a file
created in MacDraw into Canvas, for instance. It is very cludgy - 
a lot of inaccuracies result. And if you save a file from
a Macintosh draw program as a PICT, a good deal of the information that
went into the drawing is lost, and cannot be recovered later.

Many times, when importing a PICT from MacDraw into Microsoft WORD,
I have seen a disappointing loss of quality - the lines become
spikier where they should be smooth. And some of the lines may be
moved a bit, resulting in a figure that is not of acceptible quality.
I have had to have MacDraw and WORD open at the same time, so that
I could cycle into MacDraw, modify a drawing, save as a PICT,
reimport it into WORD, and print it out, again and again, until I
got a result that looked like my original MacDrawing. I have not
had this problem with Adobe Illustrator's graphics, which are
strictly PostScript code. They do not change when they are imported
into another program.

PICT is a cludge. The only real standard is PostScript, and the
real solution is a program that draws in PostScript, as directly
as possible.  Perhaps Illustrator for the NeXT, when it is released,
will generate files that are completely transportable between the
the Mac and NeXT (I have no idea if this is planned).

Sorry to sound negative. I just really had my fill of trying to
make PICTs work in Macintosh desktop publishing. They are not very
transportable on the Mac, and I hope we don't get invaded by them
on the NeXT.


-- 
* Rob Weinberg, graphics & publishing ***** Does a falling tree make a sound *
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