The Program: 'IMG 2 PS v1.0'
The City:  San Diego
The Time:  1:53 am

The Copyright Notice:
Copyright 1990 by Michael Bergman
3368 Governor Dr. #F-223
San Diego, CA 92122


     This is the initial release of IMG 2 PS, a .IMG --> 
PostScript file conversion program.  This program generates 
PostScript and Encapsulated PostScript files from .IMG files.

     As the program grows and becomes more sophisticated, I will 
add features that will allow you to place the image anywhere on 
the page, to read external .IMG files, and other assorted goodies.  
But, for now, it's one step at a time.


THE PROGRAM:

     The program is fairly straightforward:  You select the .IMG 
(or the .MAC or the .P?3 or the .CL?) file that you want to 
convert; you select whether you want to write the file as 
PostScript or Encapsulated PostScript (.PS or .EPS); you select 
the name of the PostScript file.  IMG 2 PS does the rest!  The 
assorted alert boxes will step you through the process.


ABOUT EPSF
     IMG2PS will save pictures as PostScript or non-displayable 
Encapsulated PostScript at your command.  PostScript files can be 
sent directly to the printer via UltraScript or to PostScript 
printers.  Encapsulated PostScript files will not print out on 
printers all by their lonesome.  Instead, the EPS file should be 
imported into a program that will accept EPS files such as 
PageStream (in fact, as far as I know, PageStream is the only 
program that will accept EPS files).  With PageStream, if you have 
a PostScript printer, then you can import an EPS file and have 
PageStream send it directly to the printer.  If you do not have a 
PostScript printer but you have UltraScript, you can print the 
document to disk using the PageStream PostScript Printer Driver 
(under Set Printer Configuration menu) and then print out the 
document using UltraScript.  If you have neither, a PostScript 
printer or UltraScript, then IMG2PS is useless to you...  


THE PROVERBIAL FLY IN THE OINTMENT:

     PostScript files are laid out as ASCII text files with no 
compression scheme whatsoever.  This means that the PostScript 
image files will be significantly larger than the .IMG file from 
whence it came.  I have seen 5K .IMG files expand to over 20K 
PostScript.  I have estimated that a full size picture at 300 dpi 
will create a file whose size is over 1 megabyte.  If this is a 
concern, you can always use such compression programs as ARC and 
LHARC to bring the size back down to a reasonable level (I have 
seen compressed PostScript files that were smaller than the 
original .IMG files!)

     Also:  currently, this program will set the picture in the 
lower left hand corner.  In later versions, the program will allow 
you to put the picture anywhere on the page.

Caveat:  the program has certain scaling defaults.  For MacPaint, 
the scale equals the picture dimensions; for Degas Elite, the 
scale is proportional to the dimentions by a factor of 0.24 which 
is 300 dpi.  This program will use the default values contained in 
the IMG file to set the scaling.

Since PostScript is a language and contains strictly ASCII 
characters, you can load a PostScript file into a text editor and 
play around with some of the numbers.


ISN'T THERE A MORE CLEVER WAY OF DOING THIS?:

     Yes, but I've only been studying PostScript for a coupla 
weeks!  I expect to develop a PostScript algorithm that will read 
an external .IMG file.  At the same time, I may be working on 
similar algorithms for Degas Elite and MacPaint and, possibly, 
TIFF.  If there is anything you want to see, please feel free to 
let me know.


     Although, it hasn't taken me that long to develop this, it 
has taken money.  Specifically, the cost of several books on 
PostScript and the purchase of UltraScript (which ain't cheap!)  
If you like this program and want to see more, you should send a 
donation of $5.


     If you find a bug in either IMG 2 PS or a resulting 
PostScript file, you should let me know so I can fix it.

     The author or anyone else remotely connected with IMG 2 PS 
cannot be responsible for any damage to your hardware, software, 
physical state, peace of mind, killer bee migration, or anything 
else caused directly or indirectly by the use of this program.


PostScript and Encapsulated PostScript are trademarks of Adobe 
Systems Inc.
UltraScript is a trademark of Imagen.
PageStream is a trademark of Soft-Logik Publishing Corp.
MacPaint is a trademark of Apple Corp.
Degas Elite is a trademark of Electronic Arts.


Thanks to Steve Kiepe of SDACE for beta-testing and letting me 
know when he got blank pages and distorted images!