Re: Which format for image file resources in Cocoa application?
Re: Which format for image file resources in Cocoa application?
- Subject: Re: Which format for image file resources in Cocoa application?
- From: John Stiles <email@hidden>
- Date: Fri, 5 May 2006 11:12:27 -0700
On May 5, 2006, at 11:00 AM, Ondra Cada wrote:
On 5.5.2006, at 18:55, Lawrence Sanbourne wrote:
I've noticed that Apple Cocoa apps store all their image resources in
TIFF format. I've been using PNG to reduce the time it will take
users
to download my application, but I generally like to follow Apple
conventions.
Unless you have lots, and I mean *lots* of images, it would hardly
make any noticeable difference.
It only takes one big image to make a difference, I've found.
Why does Apple use TIFF for their images? Maybe TIFFs are faster to
display because they're uncompressed?
I don't know the PNG format that well, does it--like TIFF--support
all the nice flexibility of having a number of reps in one
container, letting you select uncompressed/nonlossy compression/
lossy one, and so forth, generally all the niceties which go with
it being a *tagged* image format?
If you're using that functionality. It's nice if you care, but few
apps actually do anything like that. Most of us just want pictures;
if the PNG holds the same bits and is smaller, that's compelling.
Anyroad, TIFF used to be the native bitmap format of the Mac OS X
direct predecessor, so the main reason would be just legacy, along
perhaps with the fact TIFFs are flexible and pretty widely
supported (at least ten years ago *much* better than PNG, does not
have to apply today).
PNG barely existed at all in 1996! I'm not sure exactly when it came
into its own, but it's certainly a more recent format than TIFF.
Times have certainly changed.
Rather, I have never seen a reason for using ICNS over TIFF: if it
supports any service TIFF does not, I am yet to bump into it.
Much like TIFF, it exists due to legacy. It's a simple format; the
goal wasn't to be packed with features, it was simply to deliver an
icon at all the necessary sizes.
Well, It boils down to that you can use whatever seems appropriate
to you. Oh, you may consider using a container which supports more
reps with different DPIs, since the scaleable GUI is definitely
coming :)
That's a compelling argument for TIFF that I hadn't heard before.
Let's get some value out of this discussion, instead of just file
format debate. I'm genuinely curious—how would a savvy developer
assemble a multi-resolution TIFF in such a way that it work "right"
in 10.3+ (the OS should pick the 72DPI version) and be high-DPI savvy
in 10.5+ (the OS should pick a DPI appropriate to the user's prefs)?
I know how to do this with ICNS today, since Apple provides the
tools, but not TIFF (and I haven't experimented with PNG at all in
this regard).
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