We fixed a bug saving interlaced files 4 pixels or less in height. In versions 3.0 and 3.0.1 clicking on the interlaced check box when saving a file that small would result in a repeatable application crash because the special case for files too small to interlace normally wasn't handled properly.
Q: What happened to the other PhotoGIFs? Weren't there more than one before?
In the beginning, there was only one PhotoGIF™. It just worked with Photoshop, so it seemed a good idea to make another version of PhotoGIF™ that would work with more host applications. We did that in January 1998 with the release of PhotoGIF Filter™ and PhotoGIF Illustrator™ as separate products in addition to the original PhotoGIF™.
That just seemed to confuse everyone and prompt a bazillion "Which one do I get?" questions, so now there is just one PhotoGIF™ product again, and it has a freeware lite version in addition to the commercial full version. This should be much easier to figure out.
PhotoGIF Illustrator™ has been discontinued due to irreconcilable problems with the Illustrator file-format API. PhotoGIF Illustrator™ was the first third party product ever written for that API, and if our experience is any measure, could be the last.
PhotoGIF™ and PhotoGIF Filter™ have been combined. Buy PhotoGIF™, you get both. They are more or less equivalent in capability, but differ in operation.
The price of PhotoGIF™ is $69.95 now, the previous price of PhotoGIF Filter™.
PhotoGIF Lite™, a limited file-format version of PhotoGIF™, formerly fully functional shareware, is now available as freeware. Even If you decide not to buy PhotoGIF™, we would still like you to benefit from PhotoGIF Lite™, which is in itself an extremely powerful tool.
Q: Will PhotoGIF work with (insert application)?
Probably. The filter implementation of PhotoGIF™ (PhotoGIF Filter™) was done specifically to make the product compatible with as many applications as possible.
It will work with all applications that correctly support the Photoshop 3.0 filter plug-in API. Note, the emphasis on correctly, though.
All you need to do to get the answer for your host application is download PhotoGIF™ (which you have) and try it out. We can only guarantee it works with Photoshop, but we have gone to a lot of effort to make it work with as many other applications as possible.
Q: Will PhotoGIF work with Photoshop 3/4/5 etc?
Yes, yes, and yes. PhotoGIF™ will work with any version of Photoshop from 3.0 up.
Q: How do I get the PhotoGIF 3.0 upgrade?
PhotoGIF™ 3.0 (which now includes PhotoGIF Filter™ 1.5) is an upgrade available to all registered users of any prior version of PhotoGIF™ or PhotoGIF Filter™.
If you are a registered user of any prior version of PhotoGIF Filter™, simply use your existing registration number for PhotoGIF Filter™ to activate both PhotoGIF™ 3.0 and PhotoGIF Filter™ 1.5. This package is a free update to you.
If you are a registered user of PhotoGIF™ 2.x and originally purchased PhotoGIF™ after October, 1997 this package is a free update to you. If you have not received your new registration number by February 15, 1999, email support@boxtopsoft.com to request it. This package is a free update to you.
If you are a registered user of any prior version of PhotoGIF™ purchased before October, 1997 PhotoGIF™ 3.0 is available to you for the reduced upgrade price of $19.95 directly from BoxTop Software, Inc. by calling 1-601-263-5410.
Q: What's the difference between PhotoGIF Lite™ and PhotoGIF™?
PhotoGIF Lite™ is based on a sub-set of the features found in the full version of PhotoGIF™. Some of the differences between PhotoGIF™ and PhotoGIF Lite™ are below.
- PhotoGIF Lite™ does not have built in color reduction, which is needed to produce generally smaller files than could be with Photoshop.
- PhotoGIF Lite™ has no GIF animation support. GIF animations can neither be opened or saved with it.
- PhotoGIF Lite™ has no user configurable behaviors (i.e. preferences settings) to tailor it to your individual work habits and needs.
- PhotoGIF Lite™ does not support actions.
- etc.
PhotoGIF Lite™ is in itself a powerful tool for preparing Web graphics with Photoshop that offers more ability and ease than the Compuserve GIF and GIF89a Export plug-ins put together, but it's not quite the GIF slinging, file shrinking, production powerhouse of the commercial version.
Q: I installed PhotoGIF™, but I can't find it in my filters menu, why not?
PhotoGIF™ isn't a filter. (Although PhotoGIF Filter™ is) It is a file format plug-ins. As that it isn't supposed to be in the filters menu.
PhotoGIF™ adds a new file format to Photoshop's Open and Save dialogs. You should see a "BoxTop PhotoGIF" format name in the format menu in those two dialogs if PhotoGIF™ is installed properly, and you should also see a "BoxTop PhotoGIF" item in Photoshop's About Plug-ins menu when PhotoGIF™ is installed correctly.
The About Plug-ins menu is the easy way to tell if Photoshop is recognizing a new plug-in easily.
Q: I saved the same file with PhotoGIF™ and GIF89a Export on my Mac and the one from GIF89a Export was a lot smaller when I got info for the file in the Finder, why?
The GIF file isn't larger when saved with PhotoGIF™, but because PhotoGIF™ is a file format plug-in, Photoshop automatically creates a resource fork for the file that it uses to store application specific information for the document such as custom icons and previews.
There is no way for a file format plug-in to control this behavior, although there is a way for an export plug-in, such as GIF89a Export, to control this behavior. GIF89a Export doesn't save resource information for files it creates making them appear smaller in the Finder, when in fact they aren't really smaller GIF files.
This makes it impossible to tell the true size of just the GIF file, which is the data fork of the file in the Finder, because the Finder's get info command shows the combined size of the resource fork and data fork of all Macintosh "files."
The Macintosh uses a file system that references two separate files, one called a "resource fork" and one called a "data fork", as a single file visible on your desktop.
In the "data fork" of a Macintosh file is your cross-platform GIF file. Anything in the "resource fork" is Macintosh, application specific information, and not part of the GIF file at all. There's no way in the Finder to see the separate sizes of the data and resource forks for a file, though you can use another program like ResEdit to see the separate sizes.
To make it easier to know just how big your GIF files are, we made a freeware utility called GIF Prep™, that strips the resource forks from GIF (and JPEG) files so the file size information reported by the Finder is really the size of the GIF (or JPEG) file.
GIF Prep™ is included in the PhotoGIF™ archive.
BoxTop Software, Inc.
PO Box 2347
Starkville, MS, 39760
voice 601-263-5410
fax 601-263-5412
http://www.boxtopsoft.com
info@boxtopsoft.com
PhotoGIF™ is Copyright 1995 - 1999 BoxTop Software Inc. All rights reserved. PhotoGIF Filter™ is Copyright 1997 - 1999 BoxTop Software, Inc. All rights reserved. PhotoGIF™ and PhotoGIF Filter™ are trademarks of BoxTop Software Inc., which may be registered in certain jurisdictions. All other trademarks are recognized as the properties of their respective holders.
Document published: 3/3/99
Copyright 1999 BoxTop Software, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
