Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
ALL THINGS COME TO AN END: BYE-BYE, OLD FORMATS
Elements used to be able to open a wide variety of obscure file formats, but starting with Ele-
ments 11, Adobe decided to remove the ability to open a lot of these. Mostly, they're formats
hardly anyone uses anymore. And in some cases, like Photoshop Raw (which has nothing at all to
do with the raw files produced by cameras), they just caused confusion.
Here are the formats you can't open in Elements anymore: Filmstrip (FLM), Wireless BMP
(WBM, WBMP), PCX, Targa (TGA, VDA, ICB, VST), Photoshop Raw (RAW), PICT (PCT,
PICT), Scitex CT (SCT), Photoshop EPS (EPS), EPS TIFF Preview (EPS), Generic EPS (AI3,
AI4, AI5, AI6, AI7, AI8, PS, EPS.AI, EPSF, EPSP), IFF Format, Photoshop 2.0, Alias PIX, and
PICT Resource. Also, JPEG 2000 has been gone since Elements 9.
Fortunately, there are ways around this if you need to open some of those formats. For example,
here's how you can work with JPEG 2000 files (which are still used by many topics that include
practice images on discs and for a lot of downloadable artwork):
Windows : Download the free ImageMagick program ( www.imagemagick.org ) and use it to
convert your JPEG 2000 images to another lossless format.
Mac : Use Preview (it's part of OS X) to open your JPEG 2000 files and save them in the
format of your choice.
For the other old and obscure formats, in Windows, try IrfanView ( www.irfanview.com ), a won-
derful free program that can open almost any Windows-compatible format. You can sometimes
even use IrfanView to salvage damaged files, especially if you get an “invalid JPEG marker” er-
ror. If Elements balks at one of your files, first try opening and resaving the photo in IrfanView. If
you're lucky, that may be all you need to do to make Elements recognize the file.
On a Mac, try GraphicConverter ( www.lemkesoft.com ) , a great little program that can open darn
near anything. It does great batch conversions, too, and even offers some basic image-editing fea-
tures. GraphicConverter is shareware (it currently costs $40) with a generous demo period, and
it's worth every penny.
Backing Up Files
With computers, you never know what's going to happen, so “Be prepared” is a good motto.
If your computer crashes, it won't be nearly as painful if all your photos are safely backed up
someplace else.
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