[comp.sys.mac.misc] Displaying GIF files on desktop using custom palette

tony@scotty.dccs.upenn.edu (Anthony Olejnik) (08/22/90)

I currently use 'Giffer' to convert a GIF file to a PICT file.
I then use 'DeskPict' to diplay that PICT file on my desktop.

However, I'm unable to use the picture file's custom palette.
This limits the quality of the pictures that I wish to display.
Either 'DeskPict' is unable to recognise the picture's custom palette,
or the custom palette is being lost in the GIF to PICT conversion.

So, does anyone know of a (PD) utility that will display GIF files
on the desktop *AND* use the picture file's custom palette?

Thanks in advance.

==tony

starta@tosh.UUCP (John Starta) (08/25/90)

tony@scotty.dccs.upenn.edu (Anthony Olejnik) writes:

> However, I'm unable to use the picture file's custom palette.
> This limits the quality of the pictures that I wish to display.
> Either 'DeskPict' is unable to recognise the picture's custom palette,
> or the custom palette is being lost in the GIF to PICT conversion.

I believe the problem is that DeskPict will only use the System palette.
I have no more information that, but for some reason I recall that as a
limitation of DeskPict.

John

stuart@cbnewsc.att.com (S. D. Ericson) (08/27/90)

In article <DV9eo2w162w@tosh.UUCP>, starta@tosh.UUCP (John Starta) writes:
> tony@scotty.dccs.upenn.edu (Anthony Olejnik) writes:
> 
> > Either 'DeskPict' is unable to recognise the picture's custom palette,
> > or the custom palette is being lost in the GIF to PICT conversion.
> 
> I believe the problem is that DeskPict will only use the System palette.
> I have no more information that, but for some reason I recall that as a
> limitation of DeskPict.

Well, there was an init that came with DeskPict that was supposed to
fix the palette, (cRGB init, I believe) but it never worked for me.

However, there was a recent addition to the sumex archives (and maybe
to the mac binary group) called "Thor's INIT" which looks for a 
DeskPicture file, and puts that picture's palette into the system.

I've tried it, and it works.  Don't forget, however, that it will do
some crazy things with with the default colors in the colors menu,
and any other color you use on your screen (Like SunDesk).

Stuart

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jkellow@mozart.helios.nd.edu (John Kellow) (08/28/90)

I work around the problem of displaying desktop pictures with non-system
colors by changing the picture's palette instead of trying to change
the system palette.  I think Giffer has an option "Use Default Palette..."
or something like that.  It seems to do a quick and dirty remapping of the
picture to the system palette.  If the colors are close, then the picture
will look pretty good and you can just save the remapped image.  If the
picture has a lot of colors that are not in the system palette, then
it probably will look pretty bad in which case I use a public domain
image manipulation package called FBM that runs on unix machines.  The
FBM utilities can remap the colors in an image by dithering the image
with a specific set of colors ( in this case, the Macintosh system palette).
You lose some resolution that way, but the results are generally pretty good.


John Kellow
kellow@ndcheg.cheg.nd.edu

hammen@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Robert Hammen) (08/28/90)

>> However, I'm unable to use the picture file's custom palette.
>> This limits the quality of the pictures that I wish to display.
>> Either 'DeskPict' is unable to recognise the picture's custom palette,
>> or the custom palette is being lost in the GIF to PICT conversion.
>I believe the problem is that DeskPict will only use the System palette.

Someone wrote an INIT (cRGB INIT, I believe) which reads the CLUT from
the picture, I do believe. The commercial version of DeskPict, DeskPicture,
a part of the NOW Utilities, has an option to use the picture's color table.

Robert

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