9.367 text to image

Humanist (mccarty@phoenix.Princeton.EDU)
Sat, 9 Dec 1995 01:35:20 -0500 (EST)

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 9, No. 367.
Center for Electronic Texts in the Humanities (Princeton/Rutgers)
http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/

[1] From: John Unsworth <jmu2m@virginia.edu> (16)
Subject: Re: 9.364 text to image

[2] From: Patrick John Coppock <patCoppock@avh.unit.no> (12)
Subject: 9.364 text to image

[3] From: rbh <R.B.Hardy@ukc.ac.uk> (38)
Subject: gif

[4] From: Leo Robert Klein <kleinl@is2.nyu.edu> (5)
Subject: Re: 9.364 text to image

--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 1995 20:37:17 -0800
From: John Unsworth <jmu2m@virginia.edu>
Subject: Re: 9.364 text to image

Willard,

You want to:

>
> 1. Import a pre-existing text file, preferably in the format of a
> common wordprocessor, perhaps modify it, then
> 2. Output it as a .GIF image, or in any image format easily
> convertable to .GIF without loss.
>
> Suggestions, please.

How about a fax-modem program? Many of these come bundled with fax
modems, and they attach themselves to the file button in windows
word-processors, allowing you to fax the document from your
word-processor program. How would this help, you ask? Well, you can set
the fax program to store the fax rather than send it, and it will store
it as a .tiff file. You can then use any of a number of programs the
..tiff files to .gif format.

John Unsworth

--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 09:00:32 +0100
From: Patrick John Coppock <patCoppock@avh.unit.no>
Subject: 9.364 text to image

Willard, I'm not sure about this, but I believe that Omni-Page Pro, the scanner
software might do this if you open the text file in the text format and save
as an image file. I haven't used Omni Page for some time myself, but seem to
remember that this might be a possibility there.
Best wishes
Patrick

Patrick Coppock
The University of Trondheim
College of Arts and Science
Dept. of Applied Linguistics
N-7055 Dragvoll
Norway
http://www.hf.unit.no/anv/wwwpages/PJCHome2.html

--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 10:00:39 -0500
From: rbh <R.B.Hardy@ukc.ac.uk>
Subject: gif

1. `Without loss' is ambiguous. `Loss' has a special meaning in
the graphics world. Roughly, loss = loss of graphical detail;
loss primarily refers to that detail which is lost when a
graphics file is compressed, and then decompressed. gif is
a format primarily disigned for storage of an image, though
it can be used for that purpose. Its primary purpose is for
transmitting an image between platforms.

2. `Loss' in the world of typography is another kettle of fish.
Letters can be formed in two basic ways: bit-mapped or
(here the name varies) rasterized. The first way tries
to form the letter by filling in squares on a `chessboard'
structure, the size of the squares selected so as to minimumize
the viewer's perception of jagged edges. It is difficult but
not impossible to magnify a bit-mapped image without increasing
the viewer's perception of jagged edges in a character. (N.b.,
most characters have curves in them, even many characters which
at first sight seem `straight'.) Rasterization involves the
construction of a character out of various datum points on a
grid, and the connection of these datum points by curves generated
by equations.

3. Gifs are bitmaps, i.e., they are based on the `chessboard' method.
The most prominent program for dealing with letters in the
curve-drawing way is PostScript. The latter language/program
allows for easy magnification and reduction of letterforms,
and is practically universal nowadays among people who
deal with mixtures of letters and images.

4. So a kludge. Use a program like PageMaker 6.0 to assemble
your stuff from a wordprocessor and ? an image generator.
Print output. Use a scanner that will generate gif.

5. For an informed answer to your question, why not mail one
of the graphics newsgroups?

6. One problem with your queries is that the reader does not
know what your goal is, except at the lowest level. Why,
for instance, must you have gif output? Are you trying to
mail someone an image, and the receipient can only (so the
recipient claims) read gif? Are you simply trying to combine
text and image? Are you trying to resize text? Let us
chew on the problem in its worldly form.
Roger Hardy (R.B.Hardy@ukc.ac.uk)

--[4]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 1995 23:59:59 -0500
From: Leo Robert Klein <kleinl@is2.nyu.edu>
Subject: Re: 9.364 text to image

A good dumb way (i.e. how I'd do it):

On the Mac you can take a screen snap shot creating an image of whatever
you have on the monitor at the time; this could include your text. Then
with a little minor cropping--eccolo. There's got to be an equivalent in
the Wintel world (especially in these days of '95).

LRK