Many graphic programs store their files in a "native" file structure that you cannot read with other programs. However, users want to transfer images between applications, so programmers developed a series of common file formats that the industry now uses to share art created in graphic programs. The most commonly used file transfer formats are Paint, PICT, EPSF (also known as EPS), and TIFF.
Most programs can save their graphic images in multiple formats. For example, Paint programs can usually save in both Paint and PICT format files. Thus, you cannot determine the type of art stored in a file from the type of file on the disk.
As a ClarisWorks user, it is comforting to know that you can import art stored in any of the commonly used formats. But you should know the advantages and disadvantages of each format so you can select the most appropriate art for your application.
Paint Format
Paint format (also called MacPaint format) is the most limited of the file formats. Documents stored in Paint format can be no larger than 8 inches by 10 inches and must be a black and white image.
However, Paint format files are generally small, and art stored in Paint files often contains a great deal of visual detail.
Paint format art stores images in a single large bitmap, and thus offers the poorest resolution of all the graphic formats. For example, circles are not "objects" but instead consist of a series of darkened pixels that form the shape of a circle. As a result, the edges of the circle are not smooth, and enlarging the circle magnifies the "jaggies".
The resolution of Paint files also suffers because these files store shades of gray as patterns of white and black pixels. This can result in unpleasant patterns or stripes (called "banding") when you import these images into ClarisWorks.
Finally, the Paint programs used to create these files convert all text in the image into a bitmap. The text becomes part of the picture instead of a collection of letters, and any programs you use to improve text output will have no effect on the text in these files. In addition, Paint format files do not contain Postscript or TrueType information that your printer can use to enhance your output.
ClarisWorks can import Paint format files, and you can resize and rotate images stored in Paint files. However, you cannot edit these images.
PICT Format
PICT files are compact and can store black and white or color images. The PICT format does not set limits on document size or the number of colors used in your graphics; these limits depend on the application used to create the image.
PICT is the most flexible of the commonly used image storage formats because PICT files can contain images created with Paint or Draw programs. However, this flexibility can cause confusion because PICT art maintains the characteristics of the Paint or Draw program used to create each graphic.
Thus, PICT files created by a Paint program contain the same bitmapped images and suffer from the same resolution problems as bitmapped images stored in Paint format files. Specifically, (a) these images lack the resolution of objects drawn with Draw programs, (b) any text in the image is treated as a graphic, and (c) resized images can suffer from the "jaggies" and "banding".
ClarisWorks can import, resize, and rotate bitmapped graphics stored in PICT files but does not offer the tools you need to otherwise modify these graphics.
This stands in contrast to object-oriented art created by a Draw program and saved in a PICT file.
The object-oriented art uses the QuickDraw routines in your Macintosh to mathematically create the images that appear on the screen. Thus, art created with Draw programs maintain higher resolution when you resize or scale the image with ClarisWorks. In addition, images created with these programs automatically print at the highest resolution available from your printer. This is also true of text included in your images, since Draw programs use all the font enhancement technologies installed in your system.
Finally, and most importantly, ClarisWorks gives you the tools necessary to modify Draw images. You can import these object-oriented graphics in ClarisWorks, ungroup the image, and edit the illustration.
EPSF
Bezier Draw programs can create high-quality, detailed images. These programs store their images in EPSF (for Encapsulated Postscript) format to capture all the detail in these drawings. EPSF files contain a PICT screen image and the Postscript language definition of the image for your printer. These images are optimized for Postscript printers but produce the highest quality output possible from any printer.
ClarisWorks can import, rotate, and resize images stored in EPSF files, but the program does not have the tools needed to edit these graphics.
TIFF
TIFF (Tag Image File Format) files, usually generated by scanning programs and high-end drawing programs such as Adobe PhotoShop, contain detailed information about a graphic. These files can store the most attractive and elaborate color graphic images. But the files are often enormous.
If you allocate enough memory to ClarisWorks, you can import, rotate, and resize TIFF format images with ClarisWorks. However, ClarisWorks does not provide the tools needed to edit these images.
Telling Them Apart
As a ClarisWorks user, you should know the type of art stored in a graphics file. This is particularly true because ClarisWorks lets you modify object-oriented but not bitmapped images. Thus, given a choice between two PICT files containing the same visual image, you should choose the object-oriented graphic instead of the bitmapped graphic.
Most clip-art libraries identify the file formats of the art on their disks. For example, the CWUG Public Domain Library includes disks with PICT, EPSF, and TIFF art. You know that you can import, resize, and rotate all the art. You also know that you cannot otherwise modify the EPSF and TIFF graphics.
The problem is determining what you can do with the art stored in PICT files, because those files can contain either bitmapped or object oriented art.
Dissecting PICT Files
Here is a way to use ClarisWorks to determine the type of art stored in a PICT file. Follow these steps:
1. Launch ClarisWorks and indicate that you want to create a new graphics document.
2. Select "Insert" from the File Menu. Scroll through the files on the Insert Window until you find the file you want to check, click on that file, and click on "OK".
3. Select "Ungroup Picture" from the Arrange Menu (or press Command-Shift-G) to ungroup the image. If the image was created in an object-oriented program, it will separate into several shapes, each with four "handles". You can modify the image with ClarisWorks.
If the object does not ungroup, the image was created in a Paint program.