ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ Information on different picture viewing programs - Updated 5th Oct 1991 ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; The following notes provide a guide to help people choose which picture viewing program to use. All the programs listed below are available for download from the State Of Chaos BBS, Ph (09) 410-3815. CSHOW833.ZIP - Cshow v8.33a - Latest version at 19-6-91 This is one of the best known viewing programs. It allows viewing of the following picture types : CompuServe GIF Rix CompuServe RLE Targa MacPaint Deluxe Paint LBM, BBM PC Paintbrush PCX Windows BitMaP PC Paint PIC TIFF Dr. Halo Main Features : Supports EMS memory for panning of 1280x1024x256 pictures Microsoft mouse compatibility Tag groups of files for viewing and slideshows Supports most SVGA cards and video modes Scripts for controlling slideshows Images can be scaled to screen size Print pictures on a variety of printers *NOTE : I have seen several other copies of Cshow (up to version 8.51) claiming to be the latest. All of these have actually turned out to be quite old versions in spite of the version number. Version 8.33 is the latest as of June 91 and was received direct from the programs authors. GDS109.ZIP - Graphics Display System v1.09 This program is quite new, the 1st release was Feb 91 It allows viewing of the following picture types : CompuServe GIF Rix MacPaint Deluxe Paint LBM, BBM PC Paintbrush PCX Gds can alter brightness, contrast, colour, etc and write the changed picture back to disk. One especially good feature of Gds is its ability to create visual catalogs by grouping reduced pictures together to create a single picture file. Hundreds of individual pictures can be combined within a single picture. Main features : Supports EMS memory Uses mouse or keyboard Supports up to 60 rows by 132 columns Tag groups of files for processing Supports most SVGA cards and video modes Slideshows Alter colours, size, shape Zoom and clip sections of pictures Catalog multiple pictures into a single display file High quality image reduction Convert between different picture formats Most options user configurable GRAFWK60.ZIP - Graphic Workshop v6.0 This version is a complete rewrite and represents a great improvement over previous versions I have used. It allows viewing of individual images but is really intended for conversion and manipulation of pictures rather than use as a straight picture viewer. It handles many different formats and is able to convert images between any of them. It can also produce self displaying *.EXE files for splash screens etc in a similar manner to GIFEXE. It allows viewing of the following picture types : CompuServe GIF Ventura GEM/IMG MacPaint TIFF PC Paintbrush PCX Deluxe Paint/Amiga IFF/LBM PC Paint Pictor PIC WordPerfect Graphics WPG Windows 3 BMP Encapsulated PostScript EPS Microsoft Paint MSP Text files Truevision Targa 24-bit files Main features : Supports Expanded/Extended/Virtual memory Print images on LaserJet, PostScript and other printers Self displaying pictures (doesn't support SVGA) Rotate, Flip and Scale images Produce clip art from colour images Special effects : Colour reduction, Grey scale, Sharpen Soften, Smudge, Posterization Script language Supports many SVGA cards Many options user configurable GIFDES40.ZIP - Gif Desk v4.0 This program allows viewing of individual pictures or alternatively up to 80 Gifs on screen at one time. The multiple Gif mode can be used to create visual catalogs in a similar way to GDS109, however the quality of its image reduction is not as high and it cannot display as many images at once as GDS109. Main features : Supports most SVGA cards Catalog multiple pictures into a single display file Print pictures on Laserjet compatible printers Allows command files for automated usage. GIFEXE.ZIP - Gifexe v1.0 This program is not a normal picture viewer. It is used to convert any Gif image into a self displaying *.EXE file that can be run from the Dos prompt. This is useful for displaying fancy splash screens before starting up an application program etc. Unfortunately the self displaying image is rather slow. The registered version supports SVGA modes. GIFFIE12.ZIP - Giffie v1.2 This program is fairly ordinary but does have a couple of features the others don't - special effects & descriptions. Giffie allows you to choose whether the pictures 'fade in', 'zip up/down' or simply replace - only works for 320x200. It can also attach a description to each Gif file to help you keep track of what each picture is. Supports mouse and slideshows Print pictures on HP Paintjet or Plotter Supports standard Vga but SVGA support is very limited GIFWARP1.ZIP - Gif Warp v1.0 This program is not actually intended as a viewer. It allows you to display a GIF file and then stretch parts of it to create weird effects. If you feel like putting long noses and big ears on people then this is the program to do it. Works with pictures up to 256 colours. Shareware version only works in 320x200 resolution. Registered version supports SVGA. Uses microsoft compatible mouse. Save warped Gifs to disk. PICEM21.ZIP - Picem v2.1 This program is different to the others mentioned here in that it does not draw the pictures line by line but rather displays the completed image all at once. It allows viewing of the following picture types : CompuServe GIF PC Paintbrush PCX PC Paint PIC Main features : Tag groups of files for slideshows Alter brightness & contrast Write changed pictures back to disk Scale images to screen size Supports most SVGA modes Can utilize Bios modes specific to your video card Convert between different picture formats VUIMG.ZIP - VuImage v2.92 This program displays both Gif and Tiff files. It can also print both picture types. Main features : Supports various SVGA cards (external drivers needed) Images can be scaled & zoomed Alter brightness and contrast Tag groups of files for slideshows Many options can be configured via command line switches ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ So which viewer is best? ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ The viewer you choose will depend on what hardware you have and what features you require. The following is therefore my opinion on what I have found suits my requirements best. Firstly a quick list of a few areas in which some of the above viewers are lacking or have problems. PICEM can't handle very large pictures due to memory constraints CSHOW can't save a changed picture although it can save settings in a separate file that it uses when redisplaying a picture GIFDESK quality of image reductions is fairly poor, and it can't alter contrast or brightness GIFFIE doesn't support very many video cards or SVGA modes I use 3 of the above programs regularly - CSHOW, GDS & PICEM - Cshow is good if you want a general purpose picture viewer that supports more than just the Gif format. It has a convenient mouse & keyboard interface that is easy to use. It handles the largest pictures and all video modes. - Picem is the viewer I use most. I find it convenient for quick command line viewing of single images. I also prefer its method of displaying the completed image rather than the line at a time method; this makes it good for slide shows. It also displays images automatically centred on screen. - Gds is the program to use if you are into 'patching' Gifs. It has an excellent mouse & keyboard interface. It supports several picture types, both viewing and writing them. Its editing features allow rotating & flipping images. It can alter aspect ratios, clip sections, zoom (magnify), change brightness, contrast, colour saturation etc. The quality of its image reductions is excellent and the cataloging feature is very versatile. I should point out however that some of its features are only available in the registered version. I believe that the 3 programs above should cover most users requirements. The other viewing programs, and others I have used but not mentioned here, do not in my opinion possess any worthwhile features not already covered by Cshow, Gds & Picem. However I should also make special mention of Graphic Workshop. Although I don't make much use of it myself, it is definitely a quality program. Its image conversion facilities are very good. The self displaying *.EXE files appear much faster than those produced by GIFEXE. ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ³ For The Highest Quality GIF Pictures, Dial ... ³ ³ ³ ³ Ûßß ßÛß ÛßÛ ßÛß Ûßß ÛßÛ Ûßß Ûßß Û Û ÛßÛ ÛßÛ Ûßß ³ ³ ßßÛ Û ÛßÛ Û Ûß Û Û Ûß Û ÛßÛ ÛßÛ Û Û ßßÛ ³ ³ ßßß ß ß ß ß ßßß ßßß ß ßßß ß ß ß ß ßßß ßßß ³ ³ ³ ³ Phone (09)-410-3815 24hrs ³ ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ; Written, and hopefully updated occasionally, by Geraint Bycroft (Sysop - State Of Chaos)