#URGENT BMP Saver problem
10 messages in this thread
I have been attempting to save a bitmap IFF file as either a BMP or
PCX file in ADPro so that I can use the file as a template in Adobe
Illustrator on my IBM PC Windows machine. However, the file, no
matter how I save it, seems to be unusable by the Adobe software. I
believe I need to import a 1-bit image (the bitmap is a black and
white, 2/C hand-drawn logo typeface), but when I try to save the file
in ADPro, it automatically saves it as a 256-color image, which can't
be used as a template. When I convert the BMP 256-color image to
2-color and then try to save it again as a 1-bit file, the program
does seem to save the image. However, when I attempt to reload the
file, all I get is a garbled image consisting of a bunch of diagonal
lines. Trying to save the image as a PCX format image produced even
stranger results.
I then attempted to try to save the 2-color bitmap as an encapsulated
postscript file, thinking I could just import it into my document and
work around it. However, the program said that the EPS file I saved
was garbled, and the "offending" character was " ' ".
I had hoped that by using ADPro, I would be able to do my scanning on
the Amiga using my ES-300C, and not have to purchase PhotoShop for my
IBM. However, if the images are garbled when being saved by ADPro,
there may be no other choice.
Is there any way to save a bitmap in ADPro as a 1-bit BMP image so
that I can import it as a template? Any insights would be most
appreciated.
PS: I have ordered the ADPro 2.5 upgrade, but I am working on a
freelance newsletter which has to be out this week, so I don't think
that the upgrade, if it would solve this problem, will come in time.
We have used BMP files of various types created by ADPro in Adobe
Photoshop on the Mac and have experienced no problems. Same goes for
EPS. We have also tested w/ Quark Express, Adobe Premiere, Aldus
Freehand, Infini-D and Strata Vision as well as Microsoft Word for
Windows, Harvard Graphics, Windows Draw, Corel Draw and Image
Alchemy.
I will attempt to duplicate your problem but I seriously doubt that it
is a problem with ADPro or any of its modules.
The problem I'm experiencing is really not with the BMP saver per se.
I have been successfully scanning and saving files through ADPro and
porting them over to Quark Express on my PC, as long as they are 8
bit files. They look fine on a page. My only question in that
regard is that they seem to be porting over very small, even though
I've scanned in a large image, I have to blow up the image by over
800% to get it to fit a window just 1" x 1" in size. However, it
still manages to print okay, even though this seems like a
ridiculously large increase over how the original image was scanned
and saved.
Like I said, I'm not having problems saving the BMP 8-bit file and
porting it over, only getting a BMP file to come up in Adobe
Illustrator as a template. Evidently, Illustrator will only accept
1-bit images as templates, not 8-bit images, but when I try to save a
1-bit BMP file, that's when I get the garbled file. Even though
ADPro seems to be saving the 1-bit file, it turns into garbage, even
when I retry to load it back on my Amiga screen before trying to port
it over.
I noticed that in your message you tried a number of different
software packages, but Illustrator was not among them. Could you
possibly try to duplicate this sequence and let me know how I should
save the BMP file so that it will port over as a pure b/w BMP image
(not grey scale).
I don't have the Pro Pack, so I was unable to try to save the image as
a TIFF file. Would saving the file this way work out any better?
Without the Pro Pack, I can't test it for myself, but if it doesn't
work, there's really nothing else in the Pro Pack that I need at this
time (although later, maybe).
Thanks for looking into this. I appreciate your help.
It sounds like the program you are using is reading the DPI resolution
of the image and using that (ADPro defualts to saving images at 300
DPI). Try using the Def_Pxl_Aspect operator and change the DPI res to
75. The image should look full size in your PC program.
Unfortuantely, we do not have a copy of Adobe Illustrator to test with
but I can run it through other Adobe software to see if the same
thing happens.
Thanks for the suggestion about the size problem. I'll try that and
let you know if it works.
I wanted to update you on the BMP problem. I had a deadline to meet,
so I brought my IBM disk on which I had saved the ADPro-saved BMP
24-bit file which I wanted to use as a template, to work and loaded
it up on our Mac Quadra there. The 24-bit BMP file loaded fine into
PhotoShop on the Quadra, and I was easily able to convert it first to
a grayscale, and then to a 1-bit bitmap BMP file. I brought the same
disk home with the 1-bit BMP file saved with PhotoShop, and that
loaded just fine on my Adobe Illustrator program as a template. So at
least I know that the Illustrator program was not the problem. I was
able to do a trace and finish the art (a title headline for a
Newsletter).
However, I still haven't been able to figure out how to save a 1-bit
BMP with ADPro. Was the BMP saver created mainly to save
photographs? If so, it works fine, but maybe the developers there
didn't consider the use of templates, so maybe they made no provision
to save it in this way. The manual is sort of vague in this regard
and mentions saving 24-bit and 8-bit BMP files, but not 1-bit
(although it's sort of infered from the 'n Color Image' option. And
in fact, that's what I had tried to use, and it seemed like ADPro
attempted to save the 1-bit file in that way. But like I said before,
when I tried to redisplay it, it turned into garbled diagonal lines.
I just wanted to let you know that I accomplished the task with
PhotoShop (and the AdPro original scan), but in a very roundabout
way. And I can't always be sure I'll be able to use the Quadras at
work whenever I have a freelance job to finish.
Now, if I could only somehow get one of your Amigas to duplicate the
A4000/ES-300C problem so many of us are having……
Saving 1-bit BMP files is simple. Just render the image as 2-color and save as
BMP.
Chris Edgin ASDG tech.
Chris,
That was the first thing I did before I called you the first time! I rendered
it as a 2-color image and saved it under the middle option 'n Color Image'
which appeared to actually save the image successfully. However, when I then
tried load it back into ADPro, it was garbled…just a collection of horizontal
lines. I tried to save the 2-color image as the 1-bit image under the 'Cropped
Screen Image' option, and the same thing happened. I obviously couldn't save it
under the Bit-Plane Raw Image option, because that saves only 8-bit or 24-bit
images.
Did you try to load the image back after you saved it? And was it not garbled?
I've been working with ADPro for over 4 years, and I consider myself a somewhat
experienced user, so your suggestion was, of course, the first thing I had
tried…but it didn't work, which is why I contacted you in the first place.
Also, did you try to load the image into Illustrator?
I hate to keep harping on this, but I followed the obvious proceedure, which
you just suggested, but it didn't work!
Jeannine
Well, the obvious procedure is really the only procedure. Unfortunately, we do
not have Adobe Illustrator to test with, but we have a gaggle of other Adobe
software (like PhotoShop and others ) which exhibit no problem.
We have tested the files going both ways (to and from ADPro and Photoshop) and
have found no problem. We will need to check w/ some of our beta testers and
see if they hav Adobe Illustrator for the PC and see if they can duplicate
[Ayour pr [CChris Edgin ASDG tech.
I'm sorry that you were unable to find the problem I am having. Actually, you
wouldn't need Illustrator to recognize the problem, just trying to call back
the 1-bit BMP image would exibit the program in ADPro. Like I had mentioned, if
I try to just save a 2-color image with the BMP saver as a 2-color image
(rather than an 8-bit image), I get a garbled image when I try to reload it
into ADPro. It doesn't only exibit this problem when I load it into
Illustrator, but when I try to call up the image anywhere.
I've tried saving the BMP under different dither routines, but that doesn't
seem to have any effect on the final result. It just appears that my copy of
ADPro cannot save a 1-bit BMP image at all. Maybe the same bug (in the program
or on the Amiga itself) which causes this problem has something to do with the
ES-300C problem as well (just a conjecture, since you don't seem to have either
problem at your end).
It's very frustrating (for you as well, I assume) to have these type of
problems, doing all the right things as described by the software, but not
getting the proper results. Maybe the upgrade will somehow fix this problem.
I'll test it when I get the 2.5 package and let you know. I was really hoping
not to have to rely on PhotoShop for image processing, because I do prefer
working on the Amiga rather than on my IBM for my more creative work.
Thanks for trying to solve my problem anyway.
Jeannine