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Supported File Formats
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The following file formats are currently supported by Easy Thumbnails:
| · | JPEG (*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.jpe)
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| · | JPEG 2000 (*.jpc;*.j2k;*.jp2)
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| · | Portable Bitmap (*.pbm; *.pgm; *.ppm)
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| · | Portable Network Graphics (*.png)
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| · | Tagged Image File Format (*.tif;*.tiff;*.fax)
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| · | Truevision Targa (*.tga;*.targa;*.vda;*.vst)
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| · | Windows Enhanced Meta File (*.emf)
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| · | Windows Icon File (*.ico)
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| · | Windows Meta File (*.wmf)
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| · | Windows or OS/2 Bitmap (*.bmp;*.dib;*.rle)
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| · | Zsoft PC Paintbrush (*.pcx)
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GIF and TIFF Support
The LZW compression algorithm used in Compuserve's GIF file format and in some TIFF files requires licensing from UniSys, as they have a patent on the algorithm. Unfortunately, the heavy licensing fee and restrictions on distribution currently make it impossible to support these file formats in Easy Thumbnails. The LZW patent expires on 20 June 2003, so we plan to add support for those file formats after that date.
Several users have commented that some popular freeware programs support GIF and LZW TIFF formats, so why doesn't Easy Thumbnails do the same? Unfortunately, most of these freeware programs (as well as some shareware) do so illegally without license from Unisys. If the program you use to create GIFs for your Web site employs an unlicensed copy of the LZW compression algorithm, then Unisys says you are guilty of "contributory infringement" on its patent for the algorithm. In order to display such images legally on your Web site, you would have to pay Unisys at least $5000 US.
Visit the following links for further information on this issue:
http://www.unisys.com/unisys/lzw/
http://burnallgifs.org/