DjVu formated inline image

[John F Dye]

Hi Ross,
I also have been playing with this program and it is very powerful for images going to the web. However the only export option (I think)is to convert to Windows Bitmap (bmp) so you really must have the art in final form before converting. It also would seem to mean that it can only be used for undemanding printing where you print drectly from the software. Am I missing something?
I can see where it would be great for web stuff though.
John

[Ross Macintosh]

Everyone - I've received an email from a LizardTech representative saying he is very pleased we are discussing their product in this special interest forum. He said he is passing along the link to this forum thread to others in his company.

John - I suppose you could be trying to say that once the file is in djvu your options of what to do with it are limited. That statement has some merit relative to more widely used formats like tiff, jpg, gif, etc. Still if the purpose is to simply view a image without further editing or manipulation of the actual file, then this technology is great. Including the djvu files in a HTML document provides considerable flexibility. If the embed tag works in HTML it would presumably work with XML provided a web browser with the plugin is used to interpret the XLM document. (I'm stretching the limits of my knowledge here).

The MrSID's technology seems to be a little more developed as a general purpose format. There are for it, plugins for the Microsoft Office group of applications. I haven't tried it but presumably this means you can include MrSID's compressed images in your MSword docs, your powerpoint presentations, excel spreadsheets, and access databases. Additionally they have some type of photoshop plugin (maybe it works with xara???) and one for Quark.

All in all I think there are more opportunities with this technology, than obstacles.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[Ross Macintosh]

This 8k (!!!) DjVu'd example of my xara-mercury is different than the one I posted earlier in this thread. For this one I utilized DjVu's amazing codeless ability to incorporate hyperlinks into the compressed image. By "codeless" I mean after identifying the links you want in the DjVu Solo encoder, you don't have to do anything else to have working links! This is much easier than Xara's method of adding imagemap links. My head swims with the possibilities - imagine zooming in on an image and it contains dozens of links...

<EMBED TYPE="image/x-djvu" SRC="http://www.designstop.com/test/mercury2.djvu"HEIGHT=600 WIDTH=600 PASSIVE=yes>

Regards, Rossy-Baby

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[This message was edited by Ross Macintosh on April 12, 2001 at 06:46 PM.]

[Ross Macintosh]

The images that have been posted here depend on being hosted somewhere else and have the embed tag make a server call to them.

In the past I've tried to explain how to take advantage of TalkGraphic.com's "Test" thread to get your image on their server and then call it up as an inline image in another thread. When I try a similar method with the DjVu files it unfortunately doesn't work.

I have a "work-around" of sorts for those who want to display their DjVu images here but who don't have access to a server. Simply email me your file as an attachment, I'll upload it to my server and email you back the url you can use to access it. (Note: I reserve the right to reject any images that would get me in trouble with my host). If you email me your file I'll do my best to get it uploaded promptly.

I hope this offer helps more xarans experience this technology. I'll make DjVu'ers of you yet!

Regards, Ross

(I'm still hoping Erik will post a DjVu'd high-resolution image of his magnificent paintings).

[RTK]

Ross,

Got around to downloading the plug-in... and I'm suprised - no shocked - over the quality of the compression.

Truly an amazing product.

Risto

[John F Dye]

Ross,
I understand the value of this compression, I was just hoping for more.
I will look at the MrSid application. I think the Photoshop addin is limited to Macs. [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif[/img] I have this dream of scanning a photo at 1200dpi and importing it into XaraX for manipulation all using little bitty tinny files. I get the impression this technology is pretty new, it may take some time for it to spread beyond the internet perspective.
John

[Ross Macintosh]

Risto - That's good! Since posting the mercury with the links I've been thinking about how that feature plus DjVu's ability to have multiple "pages" suggests it could be used to tell a story in the cartoon sense. One image leading to another. I presume that when you specify a multipage document all the pages load at the same time so when you click a link on one page to another, the second and successive pages will all appear instantly. I hope someone will try this. (Hint-hint Risto!).

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[Ross Macintosh]

JohnD - I first came across DjVu about two years ago. Noticable changes in that time are the addition of the MrSID variation and the participation of LizardTech, who seem more polished than AT&T's earlier partner.

If I can dream, I'd like to see the next version of xara take advantage of this compression technology. Apparently it is open source and developer resources are offered. Wouldn't it be great if Xara could import a DjVu format bitmap and manipulate it like any other bitmap format that it now recognizes? Add to that the ability to export directly in this format and Xara could open up some new markets.

This format is being used for creating archival records of document collections. Batch encoding software is currently available. I'm optimistic that xara could position itself as the first djvu editor. If Xara Ltd. checked into the available developer resources, I'm sure they could easily assess if integrading this technology into Xara is practical.

Regards, Ross

<a href=http://www.designstop.com/>DesignStop.Com</a>

[RTK]

A long, nice weekend coming up and I have to travel to the in-laws... 3 days without Xara - I don't know if I can make it!

I have so many things I need to try out in Xara and so little time... the idea is great and I will most definately have a look at it.

Tao has a great imagination - perhaps the Zen Mouse would come even more alive with this?

Tao - hint!, hint... [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Risto

[John F Dye]

Ross,
That would be great! I am a little aprehensive about useing DjVu for the archival drawings at Battleship Cove. It is very tempting to scan the drawing directly using DjVu and save a lOT of file space. But I have to take a long view. 10 years from now if someone wanted to make a fresh set of paper drawing (assuming paper still exists [img]/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif[/img] ) is the application and format still available. It would not be good if the only option is to export as a windows bitmap. Do you have any feel for how broadly the format is supported?
John