From: Ed Kummel (tech_ed_at_yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jun 29 2001 - 07:58:58 PDT
No...it is not enough.
There are three primary reasons to encode a file.
1) reduce the space it takes up
2) maintain the integrity of the file through
transmission across the internet
3) combine multiple files into a single file
As was discussed earlier, as a Mac user, you live a
sheltered existance apart from what really goes on in
a file system. As such, you need to compensate for
this. Since the Mac can read and write the DOS/NTFS
format and the Windows machines cannot read Mac, then
it makes sense to use a format that DOS users can see.
The prevalent format is ZIP.
Here are some hints to make your users happy:
use the standard 8.3 naming convention. If you don't
know what that is, it's the file naming convention
used by most computers. The 8 = the file name and the
"." is the seperator and the 3 = the extension. the
file name is a single word with no spaces or
characters such as "/ \ * % ? . " There are others,
but these are the biggest problems. The extension is a
3 letter combination that identifies what the file is.
Kinda like the Mac resource fork, but not as
sophisticated. You can change the program that opens
the file just by changing those three letters. Make
sure that there is only a single "." in your file
name.
Compress the "ZIP" file for Speed, not size. Save the
image files in a universal format. Most people can
read *.bmp, *.gif, *.jpg and *.wmf files with no
external reader. Stay away from EPS files or Adobe
illustrator or propriatary Photoshop formats. Most Mac
specific files are also not readable on Windows
machines without a image viewer. (ACDSEE is the most
popular viewer). And most digital camera formats need
special readers (or at least an extension change)
I guess the most important thing you can do is to
"qualify" the end user. There are still a lot of users
who don't know what to do with a ZIP file and get
frustrated when they get an attachment and it gets
"put away" somewhere and they can no longer find the
attachment. (they don't pay attention to where they
are saving it) Keep this in mind when you choose your
sending format. If you know the end user is proficient
in operating his/her computer, then ZIP it up. If
you're sending to a computer neophyte, then perhaps
the best way is to include each raw image as an
attachment to the email.
Idealy though, your best method of distributing your
images is to put them up on a website and put the link
to your images in the file. Using this method you
don't have to worry about formats and you'll make a
lot of network admins and mail admins very happy! And
if you format the email in HTML, you can create active
links in your email that show up in the client's email
reader...yet the image never leaves your website!
Remember to consider your copyright, and use DigiMark
on all of your unique images. And do not send any high
resolution images to anyone who hasn't paid for the
right to use your image (stick with monitor
resolution...72 X 72 DPI...this creates a beautiful
screen image, but a crappy printed image.) If you're
using JPEG, compress to either a 3 or 5...don't go
much higher because the image will be reproducable on
most printers. A 5 compression introduces slight
artifacts that show up on printed images but are hard
to discern on monitors...Oh...and only save final
images in JPEG...you should always retain the original
image as it exists before you use a lossy compression
format.
Sorry for being so long winded...
Ed
web/gadget guru
--- bob barkany <bob_at_barkany.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks for all the replies
> I'm still a bit in the dark
> Outlook express encodes the attachment for mac or pc
> or both.Is this enough
> to get a pc to read the files?
> When I tried stuffit to stuff the folder as a Pc
> readable folder, it turned
> the folder into a .exe file and it didnt open on a
> PC
>
> Is it simply a question of naming the file .zip to
> get it to open ona PC
> That is what is confusing me I think
> --
> bob_at_barkany.com
> http://www.barkany.com
>
> Bob Barkany Photographer
> +44 (0) 7973 666 243
>
> > From: "Eric L. Strobel" <fyzycyst_at_home.com>
> > Reply-To: newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net
> > Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001 09:50:06 -0400
> > To: <newtontalk_at_newtontalk.net>
> > Subject: Re: [NTLK] offtopic .sit/.zip files
> >
> >
> > on or about 6/29/01 9:23 AM, the following may or
> may not have been typed by
> > bob barkany at bob_at_barkany.com:
> >
> >>
> >> Can you wonderful people help me.
> >> Its not newton related but you guys always come
> up with the goods.
> >> As some of you know, I am a photographer and
> >> I use a great program called Ivue to catalogue my
> work and it can make web
> >> pages up of any number of images.
> >> I have been trying to send small files of three
> or four images to
> >> prospective clients as a taster via email rather
> than the usual
> >> channels,phone , appt to show work etc.
> >> no problem with macusers, but PC users cannot
> open the files.
> >> How do I compress these files so that anyone can
> open them in explorer or
> >> navigator or indeed Icab.
> >> I dont want to attach an example so as not to use
> up too much space.If you
> >> need to see it, I would gladly send it to you
> offlist
> >>
> >> Thank you all for a great new list
> >> Bob
> >>
> >> bob_at_barkany.com
> >> http://www.barkany.com
> >>
> >> Bob Barkany Photographer
> >> +44 (0) 7973 666 243
> >>
> >
> > From the context of your message, it sounds like
> you mean "encode" when you
> > say "compress". AFAIK, virtually every e-mail app
> on Mac or Windows
> > understands all the STANDARD methods of encoding
> (i.e., those established by
> > a standards body, not just some "Microsoft"
> standard) such as uuencode or
> > base64. Additionally, I *think* the major Windows
> e-mail apps understand
> > the so-called AppleDouble format. At least,
> Outlook offers that as the
> > option to encode for any computer. Every once in
> a great while I run across
> > a Windows user that has some problem like this and
> it often traces to the
> > local server/firewall assuming that all e-mail is
> encoded in a particular
> > way, rather than CHECKING for the encoding type.
> The solution is invariably
> > to force your e-mail app to use MIME/base64
> encoding. I don't know a thing
> > about Windows and don't have any need to, but it
> appears that this is sort
> > of a default encoding choice in Windows. (Windows
> experts feel free to
> > chime in.)
> >
> > Next thing to check out is... Are you putting the
> proper file extension on
> > the file? (i.e., .jpg for JPEGs, etc.) Without
> it, Windows doesn't have
> > any idea what app to use to open the file.
> >
> > Finally, if you truly are interested in
> compression, you *can* use StuffIt.
> > Windows folks will need to download the free
> decompress utility. Or, with a
> > modern version of StuffIt, I think you can make a
> Windows self-extracting
> > archive. Or you could just compress it as a .zip
> file. Your Mac users will
> > be able to decompress it with StuffIt, and the
> Windows folks will also be
> > able to use it.
> >
> > - Eric.
=====
note: This does not constitute a sig file...
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