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8  TIFF Image Library Hooks

(First available in 4.1C.) The SPTIFF32.DLL TIFF graphics '134special handler has been upgraded to call upon the LIBTIFF.DLL TIFF-graphics library for reading bit-mapped files in WIN32 environments. The SPEPSF32.DLL PostScript graphics '134special handler is likewise upgraded for handling bit-mapped previews in EPSF PostScript files, which use the TIFF format (EPSI format files use ASCII, not TIFF, bit-map data).

LIBTIFF.DLL is a 32-bit DLL which supports a wide variety of TIFF file variations (including black-and-white, grayscale, and color), a wide variety of color models (including 1- to 8-bit RGB palettes, 24-bit RGB triples, CMYK, and YCBCR), and a wide variety of compression methods (including uncompressed, PackBits, CCITT, LZW, and Thunder). LIBTIFF.DLL is a new, proprietary component of TRUETEX, and is based on the excellent TIFF library software of Sam Leffler of Silicon Graphics, Inc.

With the addition of this new TIFF library, the hooks which called on the shareware SimSoft Image Library have been deleted from the TRUETEX '134special handlers. While that library claimed to support a wider variety of image file formats, it was unreliable in practice, and for legal reasons could not be distributed directly with TRUETEX (although it could be downloaded readily via the Internet). An optional '134special handler will be made available that provides backward compatibility for those needing SimSoft features.

The 16-bit TIFF '134special handler still uses the Black Ice TIFF.DLL. (You can tell which version of the previewer is running by examining the Help About message box.)

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