JPEGView
Version 3.3 Ñ May, 1994
written by Aaron Giles


What is JPEGView?

In simplest terms, JPEGView is a fast, powerful postcardware utility for the Macintosh designed to provide simple, high-quality viewing of PICT, JFIF, GIF, TIFF, BMP, MacPaint, and Startup Screen images.

JPEGView is not an all-purpose format conversion utility; however, it does support a save function to allow QuickTime previews and custom color icons to be added to images of any format.  It can also perform the very simple translation between JPEG-compressed PICT files and the standard JPEG interchange format JFIF.

JPEGView is postcardware, so if you find yourself using JPEGView regularly, you should send me a postcard (and for the last time, email does not count as a postcard Ñ sorry!).  Details, including my current address, are given in the chapter titled Contacting the Author, later in this document.

Important: while I love hearing from JPEGView users through email, I would like to ask that you take the time and effort to send in a real paper and ink postcard.  Not only are they more colorful, but they last a lot longer, and donÕt disappear when my hard drive crashes.


WhatÕs new in JPEGView 3.3

JPEGView 3.3 has been designed to fix several problems that were found in the version 3.2 release, and to add a few more interesting bits to JPEGViewÕs functionality.  Specifically, hereÕs an overview of whatÕs new, and in which chapter the associated changes are reflected:

Improved JPEG support.  JPEGView started its life as a QuickTime-dependent JPEG viewer, and has since evolved into something much more.  Beginning with version 3.3, QuickTime is no longer even needed to view JPEG images, as JPEGView incorporates the Independent JPEG GroupÕs code for decoding JPEGs.  The new code is much more robust than QuickTime, but significantly slower on 680x0 Macintoshes (and about the same speed as QuickTime on a Power Macintosh).  Thus, you can trade off speed for robustness by choosing not to use QuickTime for JPEG images; this choice is controlled from the last panel in the Preferences window (Preferences Settings).

Better icon creation.  This latest version of JPEGView now supports four distinct icon styles, so you can create your icons in your favorite style; this choice is made in the ÒSavingÓ panel of the Preferences window.  In addition, you can now select a smaller area of the image to be represented by the icon, thus ensuring that you can accurately distinguish your files from within the Finder.  (Preferences Settings, Saving Images).

Faster drawing.  A new scaling algorithm has been incorporated into JPEGViewÕs High quality drawing, resulting in a 25-75% speed increase when using this drawing mode.  Image quality under the new algorithm is slightly worse than in previous versions, so the default quality is now Very High, to ensure the best quality drawing.  (Colors and Color Reduction).

Drag and drop support.  If you have the Macintosh Drag and Drop extension installed in your System Folder (or if you are running System 7.5 or later), JPEGView can now take advantage of it in several ways.  First, you can drag a selection made in JPEGView outside of its original window and drop it into any other application which supports dropped pictures.  This is similar to copying the selected portion of the image in JPEGView and pasting into another application, only much faster.  You can also drag the text from JPEGViewÕs Statistics and Comments floating windows into another application.  Finally, when using Finder 7.1.2 or later, you can drag a folder from the desktop into the Slide Show Options window to choose that folder for a slide show.  (The How and Why of Floating Windows, Special Effects, Slide Show).

More robust memory management.  The tricks that JPEGView uses to reign in QuickTimeÕs use of memory on systems running with virtual memory or with ConnectixÕs RAMDoubler product have been improved.  Previous versions of JPEGView would sometimes incorrectly report corrupt images or prevent certain system extensions from working.  The memory management in JPEGView 3.3 should fix most if not all of these problems.

Additional minor features.  Cropped images of any format are now allowed to be saved from JPEGView, and their cropping rectangles will be remembered in the future (Saving Images).  A redesigned Òmarching antsÓ animation technique allows selections to be seen much more clearly.  PICTs saved at other than 72dpi are always opened to their full resolution.  And a new version of the JPEGView JFIF Preview extension works more smoothly as a fat binary.

If you have been using JPEGView 3.0 or later, you should have no trouble adjusting to the new features in 3.3.  If you have used any versions of JPEGView prior to 3.0, it is highly recommended that you familiarize yourself with the operation of the new features by reviewing this updated documentation carefully.  The most important new features are described in the Scripting JPEGView, Colors and Color Reduction, and Slide Show chapters.


Postcards, registration, and licensing

Once again, I am releasing JPEGView to individual users as postcardware, meaning that if you use it, even casually, you are asked to send me a real Òsnail-mailÓ postcard of some sort Ñ and no excuses!  Even if you live next door to me, or have sent me an email message, please take the time to drop me a real pen and ink postcard anyway.  I guarantee you that the dollar or so that you spend is one of the best software bargains youÕll find anywhere Ñ and IÕd really love to have tangible proof that youÕre using JPEGView!

Any user of JPEGView 3.0 or later also has the option of becoming a fully registered user.  Registered users who send in a one-time registration fee of US$20 receive a printed, bound copy of the full JPEGView documentation, along with an official JPEGView 3.3 release disk, containing the complete JPEGView 3.3 release plus a few of my favorite JPEG images.  My current U.S. Mail address can be found in the chapter Contacting the Author, later on in this documentation.

Overseas users who wish to avoid the hassle and fees of international money orders are asked to simply send the equivalent of US$20 in cash, plus about US$3 extra for postage (everything is sent airmail).  Although this is not recommended by the post office, you can usually get away with it as long as you do well to mask the fact that there is cash enclosed, i.e., make sure it is wrapped in sufficiently opaque paper.

Note that registration is optional; the only ÒpaymentÓ that is required for individual use of JPEGView is a postcard.

Finally, a very simple unlimited site license is available for universities and companies that wish to make JPEGView 3.3 an officially supported product Ñ and it typically only costs you the low low price of a few individual registrations (US$50 to be exact)!  Contact me via email (giles@med.cornell.edu) or U.S. Mail (in Contacting the Author) for full details, or just go ahead and send in the cash (most people seem to do it anyway!)  Purchase orders are welcome.

Organizations and individuals who are interested in distributing JPEGView with their products should contact me first before doing so.  IÕm usually pretty flexible about licensing, especially for Ògood causesÓ, so if youÕre interested, please donÕt hesitate to get in touch with me about it!


Legal mumbo jumbo

The JPEGView application, documentation, and all associated items in the JPEGView package are copyright © 1992-94, Aaron Giles.  All Rights Reserved.  The only exceptions to this are the Infinity Windoid WDEF, which is copyrighted by Troy Gaul; the Mercutio MDEF, which is copyrighted by Ramon Felciano; and the Independent JPEG GroupÕs JPEG decompression code, which is copyrighted by Tom Lane.

A license to the use of this software is freely granted.  This software may be freely copied on an individual basis, provided that the original, unmodified package, including all supplementary documentation, all support code, and all examples, is provided intact.  The distribution of this software in conjunction with any other product is prohibited, without the prior consent of the author, Aaron Giles.

This software is provided Òas isÓ without warranty of any kind.  The entire risk as to the quality and performance of this software is with the user.  The author, Aaron Giles, shall have no liability or responsibility to the user or any other person or entity with respect to any claim, loss, liability, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this software.  This disclaimer includes but is not limited to any interruption of services, loss of business or anticipatory profits or any incidental, consequential and/or other damages of any kind resulting from the use or operation of this software.