X-Message-Number: 2952
Subject: CRYONICS: formats
Date: Sun, 31 Jul 1994 12:00:12 -0400
From: "Perry E. Metzger" <>

> From:  (Thomas Donaldson)
> 
> Yes, the result of GIF is a binary file, which strictly speaking can't be
> sent as such on the net.

Huh? Of course it can. What made you think you couldn't transfer binaries?

> The other side of this issue, however, is that it
> allows the widest possible audience. My main problem with Postscript files
> is simply that not everyone has a printer that will take postscript files.

There are free viewers that will let you look at postscript on almost
any screen in existance -- pc's, macs, Sun workstations, etc -- anyone
who wants to can view postscript at little or no cost, even if they
can't necessarily print it. (If you have a printer that will take
bitmaps, you can use these tools to print postscript for free, but the
quality ends up crappy and it takes a long time. None the less, it can
be done.)

> Cserve has made GIF decodable on the widest possible set of computers, and
> distributed the executables to do this decoding. (My problem with Postscript
> is NOT personal. I have my own postscript laserwriter. But it's very clear
> to me that not everyone does).

Well, regardless, either format can be viewed by almost anyone, but
they have different uses. Postscript is ideal for drawings and graphs
and tables and the like -- GIFs are best for things like the
reproduction of photographs. If you are transfering entire documents,
the best bet is just to send the postscript for the document since it
will print for most people in one pass.

Perry

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