save icons/thumbnails as (transparent) GIF for use in HTML as thumbnails. Does someone have a Rexx script to extract the thumbnails from the EAs? (inspired by ImageGen under WinOS2).
to do batch resize plus convert into a give frame, e.g. resize a batch of files to fall within 640x480 boundaries with proportions intact. Better yet, landscape and portrait files would fall into flipped frames, i.e. the maximum height of a portrait-oriented file would be 640 whereas the maximum height of a landscape file would be 480 pixels. (inspired by Image Alchemy and hard labour).
saving the cropping mask size and position, i.e. start the cropping function with the parameters of the previous crop. Perhaps even batch cropping or auto-crop by color (getting rid of white borders, magic wand-like). (inspired by lots of work).
also, the reverse: adding a border of specified pixel width (with different widths for all four sizes) and custom colors (for 3d shaded frames). (inspired by Polaroid pictures and lots of work again).
generate straightforward HTML (title, thumbnails/links, footer) from the slideshow collection screen, i.e. using sorting options and allowing subsets from a directory. (inspired by ImageGen).
create an AVI file from the slideshow collection screen. (inspired by the AVI file utility included with Warp).
Concerning palettes.
make files conform to a given customized palette (like the palette used by Microsoft for their art CDs), i.e. match every pixel to the closest color from the palette. (inspired, yes, by Microsoft).
Most important:
calibrate the display (like Colorworks (R.I.P.) and Photoshop) for improved color correction capability. Currently, I start PMView with command line parameters (/Red=-1% /Gamma=1,65) to get color levels adjusted, but unfortunately, these settings are taken as image processing commands instead of monitor calibration settings. Best of all would be the optional ability to import the ColorWorks setting into PMView. (inspired by unexpected print results and off-color monitors).
FlashPix support, which will make some of the issues here entirely moot. .WIF support, perhaps? Maybe even PCD-write support? At selected bases? E.g. skipping base*16 and base*64. (inspired by Kodak).
create, manipulate and save multi-image files, most importantly animated GIF. (inspired by the GIF Construction Set and MainActor/2).
Extended Attribute stuff:
use PMView to create/edit/delete extended attributes. Specifically, modify .classinfo, .icon, .poster, .longname, .mmpref_mmimage. At times, icons generated by PMView will be overwritten by other programs. It might be nice to save the thumbnails outside the .icon EA, preferably in .poster for LightTable compatibility and relatively safe from .icon changing programs. (inspired by accidents resulting from the use of IBM's default viewer and the waste of diskspace incurred by having .icons as well as .poster EAs).
Nice extras:
use a slideshow as screensaver, in other words: have PMView running and start a designated screenshow after some idle time. Might need some tiny resident clock program to kick PMView into action. (inspired by those nice configurable bitmap screensavers on the other side of the great OS divide).
the same timer could be used to start off system-wide thumbnail creation or to start off thumbnail creation in specified directories at specified time intervals. (inspired by USEnet questions).
GhostScript and PrintMon for printing directly to TIFF and FAX files (better quality than FAXworks, especially from WinOS2, and including EPS) (outputting color TIFFs to roughly 1.5-2 times the size required, as resizing will improve the quality due to pixel interpolation).
Image Alchemy and ImageGen for batch conversions and batch resizing in one run.
ImageGen for batch producing thumbnail GIFs of normalized proportions, and creating HTML as well.
JASC BatchMaster for the odd batch correcting and/or enhancing a run of scans.
ColorWorks and Photoshop for the serious stuff.
Photoshop for producing files with customised palettes.
Gif Construction Set (previously) and MainActor/2 (currently) for producing animated GIFs.
IBM AVI file utility for producing quick-and-dirty slideshows from a bunch of JPEGs. Incidentally, could anybody tell me how to tweak the AVI header into a frame rate of one frame per five or ten seconds?
And one (recurring) example:
Let's say I have a PowerPoint presentation to put into slides, prints, transparencies and HTML. I print PostScript files which I am going to need anyway. Using GhostScript, I convert PS into FAX for the customer to check the presentation, next convert PS into 24-bit uncompressed TIFFs. These TIFFs I manually resize (if anti-aliasing is required) and batch-convert into JPEG. Then I may produce an HTML background (GIF with a customised palette, 1024x768 running as low as 6K) and create the HTML file.
Later on, those same Postscript files that were faxed and tiffed are put through other RIPs to make slides, prints and overheads on a film recorder and a dye-sub or inkjet color printer at the service bureau.
It's a bit of work but it smoothly produces WWW pages, prints, slides and faxes. And, it takes only one set of PS files to produce everything I want.
Please let me know your suggestions and additions as well as answers and workarounds for these practical problems.
Cheers/2 you all.