Certain parts of this article requires Netscape or similar for frames
and colours ~ sorry.
QUARK , STRANGENESS
& CHARM
Quark is a soft, spreadable, German cream cheese with a tangy flavor.
It is available in textures that range from creamy and spreadable to firm.
It is an acid set cheese, not a rennet set cheese, as well as being a DTP
program.
Whilst working on a non computing project I found PDF files that
sounded ideal for the job. One of them, when viewing in Acrobat reader
5, turned out to have a page sized something between A3 and A2 along with a
warning when opening that it was:
Made in Adobe Distiller 6 and some features may not be
'etc'
|
|---|
As my budget is nowhere near paying out for a print bureau large format
print job, work was needed and I didn't want to just use screen captures
& paste them up as graphics ~ which would take quite some time with
editing the amount of pages needed.
A search for tools to do the job needed proved inconclusive for what
I wanted. Versions 4 and above of Quark can import PDF files as graphics
~ putting a PDF filter into the extensions folder of Quark 3.3 alone dosn't
work. Luckily, lurking in my odds drawer was a demo CD of Quark passport
5 .
Quark automates the process of creating segmented printouts to deal with
pages larger than your printer ~ just trim away any unwanted white edges,
then paste together in a numbered X/Y sequence up to a poster size of 1219
mm by 1120 mm. That way it could be printed out as A4 tiles.
Installed ~ okay ~ next import the PDF in question.
It declared unknown version and no import.
Oh dear says Ken.
Checking Creator & Type showed it was same as the others it could
see.
However, looking at the two types with Hexedit:
(HexEdit is a Freeware hexdump viewer and editor that works similarly to
the hex editor provided with Apple's ResEdit. It allows you to edit either the data fork or the resource fork of a file.)
| Quark 5 didn't like | | but did
like |
|---|
%PDF-1.5 %......
1 0 obj<
2 0 R]>>endobj
2 0 obj<
t3>>.endobj.3 0
obj<
Kids[331 0 R 330
0 R]/Type/Pages
>>endobj.5.0ob
j<
040901102929-04'
00')/CreationDat
e(D:200409011022
45-04' 00' )/Title
(untitled)/Produ
cer(Acrobat Dist
iller 6.0 for Ma
cintosh)>>........
|
compared to |
%PDF-1.3 %......
1 0 obj<
2 0 R]>>endobj
2 0 obj<
t 3>>.endobj.3 0
obj<
Kids[331 0 R 330
0 R]/Type/Pages
>>endobj.5.0ob
j<
040901102929-04'
00')/CreationDat
e(D:200409011022
45-04' 00' )/Title
(untitled)/Produ
cer(Acrobat Dist
iller 5.0 for Ma
cintosh)>>........
|
|
So, altering the 2 bytes belonging to the PDF version and the Adobe
distiller version, in the PDF that Quark 5 didn't like, enabled things to
proceed as it could be seen and imported.
SILVER MACHINE
Some readers will have noticed that Mr Grainger and I at times have
differing views on certain subjects!
One of these is Quicktime.
During the normal course of events, Windows Media files are items that
I don't touch with a metaphorical bargepole. In the interest of
research I created a clean duplicate system folder on my 2nd HD partition
and installed Windows Media Player into it using the duplicate system as
the startup disc.
Short version? ~ Skoda Trabant!
Duplicate System Folder etc ~ deleted after testing ~ it was the kindest
thing to do!
After this I decided to check out my Quicktime extensions in my system
folder to see what was there. I'll admit that I've got no idea how things work over there in the evil empire, but, as you can see, there are some items installed that my Mac
can live without, so I delete them to reduce the system folder size.
| Extension Name |
Apple System Profile Note |
Ken Note |
| QuickDraw 3D |
Enables you to create, view, save, and directly
interact with three-dimensional graphics in
applications that support QuickDraw 3D |
_ |
| QuickDraw 3D IR |
A QuickDraw 3D plug-in renderer that enables
QuickDraw 3D applications to rapidly render shapes. |
_ |
| QuickDraw 3D RAVE |
Allows QuickDraw 3D and RAVE based applications
to be accelerated by 3D hardware cards.
(RAVE stands for Rasterization Acceleration
Virtual Engine.) |
not having this card
this should be trashed ! |
| QuickDrawª 3D Viewer |
Presents a standard interface within applications for
viewing QuickDraw 3D models. |
_ |
| QuickTime Authoring |
Adds Multimedia Authoring capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Capture |
Adds Video and Audio capture capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Effects |
Adds Video and Photo digital effects capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Essentials |
Adds Playlist and Media Skinning capabilities to QuickTime
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Firewire DV |
Allows applications to capture and export DV material,
and control DV equipment over FireWire. |
My mac isn't capable of firewire
~ so again this is for trash |
| QuickTime Image |
Adds Still Image capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Internet Extras |
(NO PROFILE NOTES )
|
_ |
| QuickTime Java Extras |
Adds support for Java in QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime MPEG4 |
Adds MPEG-4 playback capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
.M4A is a file extension used
to represent the new
international audio standard
called MPEG 4 Audio.
like
this file
.MP4 extension is for a
MPEG-4 film file
liket
his one from NASA |
| QuickTime MPEG4 Authoring |
Adds MPEG-4 Authoring capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
MPEG-4 video takes time!
but I can do it |
| QuickTime Music |
Adds Music and MIDI capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Player Extras |
( NO PROFILE NOTES )
|
_ |
| QuickTime QD3D |
Lets QuickDraw 3D applications use the Apple
QuickDraw 3D Hardware Accelerator Card on
PCI PowerPC based computers.
For best results turn VM off if you use the Apple
QuickDraw 3D Accelerator Card. |
not having this card
this should be trashed ! |
| QuickTime Streaming |
Adds Streaming capabilities of video and audio files
to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Streaming Authoring |
Adds Multimedia Authoring capabilities to QuickTime
Streaming.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
I'm not intending to be an internet
radio station ~ so into trash |
| QuickTime Streaming Broadcast |
Adds Broadcasting capabilities to QuickTime .
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
Again I'm not intending to
be an internet radio station
~ so into trash |
| QuickTime Streaming Extra |
( NO PROFILE NOTES )
|
_ |
| QuickTime VR Authoring |
Adds Video and Audio capture capabilities to QuickTime.
This extension should be located in the QuickTime
Extensions folder. |
_ |
| QuickTime Web Helper |
( NO PROFILE NOTES )
|
_ |
| QuickTime FireWire DV Enabler |
Allows applications to capture and export DV material,
and control DV equipment over FireWire. |
My mac isn't capable of firewire
~ so again this is for trash |
| QuickTime FireWire DV Support |
Allows applications to capture and export DV material,
and control DV equipment over FireWire. |
My mac isn't capable of firewire
~ so again this is for trash |
| QuickTime |
Provides the basis of all multimedia features used
by many applications. With the additional
QuickTime extensions, allows the capture, editing
and playback of digital video and audio. Also provides support for
compressed images and music
synthesizers.
Furthermore, it is needed to use Sherlock and
Desktop Pictures in Mac OS 8.5 and later.
QuickTime. It's everywhere! |
On my desktop I use
Quicktime Pro
version 6.0.3
and in my 68K powerbook 160
QT version 2.1
QuickTime is merely a container
for multimedia files
It's an open standard -- it embraces other
standards incorporating them into its
environment It supports every major file
format for pictures, including BMP, GIF,
JPEG, PICT, and PNG.
It also supports every important professional file format for video
QT is not a proprietary environment.
QT movies can be played back on both Mac and Windows systems
Unlike more limited or proprietary formats,
QT makes it easy to combine media types |
| QuickTime MPEG Extension |
This system extension is used by QuickTime to enable
playback of video and audio files in MPEG 1 format. |
watch those VCDs on your Mac |
| QuickTime Musical Instruments |
Provides the default Music Synthesizer used by QuickTime |
Plays those MIDI files |
| QuickTime PowerPlug |
Used by QuickTime on Macintoshes equipped with the
PowerPC processor to greatly enhance performance and
provide additional features. |
_ |
| QuickTime VR |
Extends QuickTime to allow display and manipulation of
virtual reality panoramas and objects.
This version replaces the files QTVR and QTVR
Components, which should be removed, if present. |
here's
a QTVR from the Mars
rovers produced
by NASA. |
|
ASTOUNDING SOUNDS, AMAZING
MUSIC
Quicktime in versions 3 and above comes in 2 varieties,
QUICKTIME STANDARD or QUICKTIME PRO
What's the difference?
The PRO version player has the 'EXPORT'
features in the file menu enabled, if you pay some money to Apple and enter a
registration number into the Quicktime prefences. It's
still capable of import/playback, etc. ~ it just can't create.
However the last 'un~nobbled' version of QT movie player, which is/was version 2.5, will still work happily with later versions with its 'save as', etc. in working order.
My own opinion is that the creation of a 'paid-for' element was
not a good idea and creates some confusion amongst casual users.
SONIC ATTACK
After my encounters with some WMA files I found out that version 3.02 of Audion can convert them into nice normal MP3 files.
This is a Mac only beastie that the website http://www.panic.com/audion/ says
has been retired and is no longer being actively developed/supported. It
is provided as-is and without warranty.
It may be necessary to alter the date and time control panel at some point to encourage things.
HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN GRILL
Some of you will now be asking what a Quonset is when
it's at home? ~ it's just the American version of the good old Nissen hut
that the older readers amongst us will recall with fond memory.
Yes, I know that a Quark is also a sub atomic particle, but it was a great narrative hook to start off with!
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