[comp.sys.amiga] IFF -> HPGL?

milano@dtrc.dt.navy.mil (Milano) (12/06/90)

I would like to generate images stored in IFF format on a HP 8-pen plotter.
Can anyone recommend a program that will either:

    - convert a IFF format to HPGL
    - drive a HP plotter from a A500
    - or at the very least, vectorize an IFF format file

Thanks in advance,

Joel

Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com (12/08/90)

IFF to HPGL

Now, the easiest way I can see to accomplish this would be to bug EA to
get an ARexx port into DPaint.  (Something I've really been missing in
DPaint III.)

This way you could capture the commands to a file.  HPGL is a fairly
straightforward vector-based language.  You could easily translate commands
such as circle and rectangle with x,y coordinates to HPGL.  It supports the
fills as well as many other primitives available in DPaint.

However, you probably want something 'now'.  Most of the conversion utilities
I've heard of unfortunately don't really translate into the vector format,
they create a rasterized image on the plotter which doesn't take advantage
of its vectors and resolution.  You're really better off using a CAD-based
program if you want to output to HPGL.  They store the files in vector
format which either supports HPGL already or can more easily be translated.

There are several CAD packages for the Amiga, some of them public-domain.

                                                   Julie Petersen